Church Comics

Both cartoons created by Jonny Hawkins.

Chewbacca's Troubles

"Mother Goose and Grimm"  Friday, April 25, 2014

Cher = Potiphar's Wife

Cher and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

On Friday, April 25, 2014, the following two images appeared in the same section of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

 

The first image is of Cher and her latest touring stage show. The bottom image is from the current touring production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Both will be in St. Louis this spring. I saw these pictures and my first thought was, "When did Cher join the cast of Joseph?"

Graphic Novel Review: LEGO: NINJAGO MASTERS OF SPINJITZU #9: NIGHT OF THE NINDROIDS

Based upon the hit series LEGO NINJAGO: MASTERS OF SPINJITZU that airs on the Cartoon Network, LEGO NINJAGO: MASTERS OF SPINJITZU #9: NIGHT OF THE NINDROIDS centers around Zane. Zane is actually a robot (I did not know this until reading this comic). While scouting out Ninjago City, the Overlord approaches Zane with an offer: he will transfer his mind into the body of a real person so that he can be human if Zane helps the Overlord capture the rest of the Masters of Spinjitzu. Zane isn't sure what to do. He likes his friends, but he wants to be able to understand jokes, to taste food, and have feelings. The dark side is so appealing.

LEGO NINJAGO: MASTERS OF SPINJITZU #9: NIGHT OF THE NINDROIDS is a book written towards those who are already fans of the cartoon series. I had read previous graphic novels in this series, but this book doesn't exactly follow what happened before in the graphic novels. I mean, in #8: DESTINY OF DOOM the Garmadon helped the Masters defeat a robot he created when he was evil. There's only a brief mention of that in this book and that's when Lloyd, the Green Ninja (he was gold in the last book) decides to go visit his dad, Garmadon, and try to spend some quality time together. So, although LEGO NINJAGO: MASTERS OF SPINJITZU #9: NIGHT OF THE NINDROIDS is an interesting story, I am disappointing that this series of the graphic novels no longer is following an overarching plot: I liked it when the graphic novels followed in line with each other better.

Overall, if you're a fan of the animated tv show LEGO: NINJAGO: MASTERS OF SPINJITZU, you might enjoy this book. However, if you're unfamiliar with the series, you might want to skip this book and read on of the earlier one.

Book Review: AMUSING GRACE

I first became acquainted with some of Jonny Hawkins' cartoon through a daily calendar for teachers. The style in AMUSING GRACE is the same as on those calendars, but instead of schools and academia, the setting has changed to church. There are 160 pages in the book. The book has a short introduction and then the cartoons start on page 4, so there's a grand total of 157 cartoons in the book. These are one-panel comics. They're short and pithy. Some of them are groaners, others cause a chuckle, while there are a few that are belly-laugh-inducers. I enjoyed some of these comics so much, I'm going to copy them and submit them to my church to see if they will print them in a bulletin or newsletter some time.

Graphic Novel Review: ARIOL: JUST A DONKEY LIKE YOU AND ME

Originally published in France, Ariol is a children's comic about a little blue donkey named Ariol. In this collection of Ariol stories we are introduced to Ariol's parents, his best friend, Ramono (a pig) and several of his other classmates, including his crush, Petula (a cow). The stories in this collection are:

"Match Point" – Ariol plays tennis with himself.

"Rise and Shine" – It's winter and Ariol's parents have a difficult time waking him up for school.

"Thunder Horse" – Ariol and Ramono discover that Battlemess (a horse) doesn't watch tv and has never seen Thunder Horse.

"Moo-Moo" – Ariol comes over to visit Petula at her house and learns her pet name from her mom.

"Bucktooth Goes to Town" – Ariol's teacher attempts to teach his class about coordinating conjuctions.

"Operation ATM" – Ariol goes with his Dad into town and to the ATM.

"RAMONO's Stupid Game" – Ramono has a game to play that he says everyone can play, but only a few really can.

"ZOOTZOOT" – Ariol wants to enter a contest with Ramono to win a pair of new ZootZoot shoes.

"As Dumb as a Donkey" – Ariol asks his mom if donkeys are less intelligent than other animals and she becomes very upset by the question.

"Granny Annie" – Ariol and Ramono go to the movies with Ariol's maternal grandmother, Granny Annie.

"Vomit" – Ramono and Ariol try to pull a plank during swimming by placing fake vomit in one of the stalls.

"You Gotta Choose, Ariol" – While on his way to try to run into Petula, Ariol upsets Bizzbilla (a female fly who has a crush on Ariol) and tries to talk his way out of it.

Overall, "Ariol" is a fun and down-to-earth little comic. It's a comic book collection that both kids and adults will enjoy.

Graphic Novel Review: LEGO: NINJAGO MASTERS OF SPINJITZU #8: DESTINY OF DOOM

Based upon the hit series LEGO NINJAGO: MASTERS OF SPINJITZU that airs on the Cartoon Network, LEGO NINJAGO: MASTERS OF SPINJITZU #8: DESTINY OF DOOM features the return of Garmadon. Purged of the evil that was in him, Garmadon is back to his former self before he was poisoned by the serpents evil venom. However, a weapon he created while he was evil, that would destroy the world should he ever be destroyed, threatens to destroy all of Ninjago. Only Garmadon knows the weapon's secrets, but neither Garmadon's son, Lloyd, or the Masters of Spinjitzu (Jay, Cole, Zane, and Kai) will let Garmadon fight alone. LEGO NINJAGO: MASTERS OF SPINJITZU #8: DESTINY OF DOOM is a book written towards those who are already fans of the cartoon series. I had read the previous graphic novel in this series, but this book doesn't exactly follow what happened before in the graphic novels. Instead, LEGO NINJAGO: MASTERS OF SPINJITZU #8: DESTINY OF DOOM is a direct sequel to the end of the second season of the LEGO NINJAGO: MASTERS OF SPINJITZU animated series.

Graphic Novel Review: THE SMURFS CHRISTMAS

THE SMURFS CHRISTMAS is a collection of several Christmas Smurf stories and a few other ones. The stories in this book are:

"Little Peter's Christmas" – Santa catches a cold and falls asleep at Gargamel's, so Gargamel steals his suit and his sleigh and attempts to find the Smurf village. Also, Smurfette and Lumberjack Smurf try to help a poor family.

"The Ogre and the Smurfs" - an ogre catches Gargamel and plans to eat him, but lets him go when Gargamel promises the ogre that he can lead him to the Smurf Village and Smurfs are much more delicious than people.

"Strange Snowmen" – some Snowpeople come to life after being made by the Smurfs. Gargamel uses them in an attempt to capture the Smurfs.

"Hibernatus Smurf" – Lazy Smurf just wants to sleep while a hunter tries to capture some animals and the Smurfs.

"The Little Tree" – Smurfette sends Lumberjack to find a Christmas tree, but the tree he almost chops turns out not to really be a tree at all. He ends up going on a quest to find some golden pinecones to keep Gargamel from destroying the little tree.

"The Smurfs Christmas" – Santa Claus seeks out the aid of Gargamel in exchange for his promise of good behavior. It's Gargamel like you've never seen him before.

THE SMURFS CHRISTMAS is a decent collection of Smurf stories. I just wish they were all Christmas or winter related (I guess 5 out of 6 stories that are either Christmas or winter related isn't bad).