Review by ReyvrexQuestor Reyes -- Child of the Sun Compl...
Posted: 06 Feb 2020, 08:02
[Following is a volunteer review of "Child of the Sun Complete Edition" by Michael Van Cleve.]
Child of the Sun Complete Edition by Michael Van Cleve started with Israel, transgressing again, doing evil in the eyes of the Lord, that they had to be delivered into the hands of their enemies. This time, they came under the rule of the Sea People, worshippers of Dagon. It came to pass that a certain man in the tribe of Dan, named Manoah, (Manoe in the Latin Vulgate Bible) who after years of childless marriage, was promised a son through a divine messenger. Thus came Samson into this world.
In due time, Samson came across Heracles (Hercules in the Roman mythology), and they became friends. Together, they made the rounds of the temple of Astarte, the goddess of love and sex. And there, Samson met Adriana, the temple harlot which Samson proposed to his parents to marry. And so, arrangements were made, for the wedding to follow after a seven-day feast, with Heracles as the best man. However, things turned sour when Samson lost a bet after being cheated upon by Adriana’s countrymen. He had proposed a riddle for the men of Timnath (Thamna in the Bible) to solve before the seventh day of the feast was over. But the men prevailed upon Adriana to coax Samson into giving her the answer, so Samson called off the wedding due to her disloyalty, then went away to kill thirty Philistines for their garments to pay the lost bet. And when Samson came back to Adriana, after some time, he found Adriana already wed to Heracles. So he burned the wheat fields of the Philistines, which angered Bacchus, whereby Bacchus sent Theseus to kill Adriana and her family, but Adriana committed suicide. In a rage, Samson inflicted a great slaughter of the Philistines.
This part of the graphic novel parallels the Hebrew account of Samson’s life in the Old Testament. And aside from it being an illustrated version, Van Cleve went a notch higher in making it more exciting by naming the women in the story and letting legendary heroes in Greek mythology cross over to interact with Samson. For instance, Theseus was there, and so was Bacchus. Heracles was quoted to have proposed to Samson, “Heracles and Samson, a worthy team. What do you think?”
I think, if you want to appreciate fully this novel, it is a must to know first the Biblical story of Samson. Furthermore, some reading on mythology would also help in understanding the gods and godlike personages mentioned. I have to confess that I made a rereading of Samson in the book of Judges to get the straight version, without yet the twists and garnishing. This novel had merged together the Jewish legend with stories in Mythology.
I liked that there was a bonus chapter on “The Death of Gilgamesh” to follow chapters on “The Witch of Timnath,” and tales about the giants, the “mighty men” of old who were sired by the sons of God with the daughters of men. Then, there was the variant tale of Creation which depicted “Lilith” the defiant one that gave birth to the “Ancient Three.” (Some books refer to Lilith as the first woman paired with Adam in the concept of “dual creation” which theorized that a human pair was first created within the “six-day” period, then another pair was elaborately made — this time as Adam and Eve — in the succeeding chapters of Genesis.)
A lot of nudity could be found in this book — some as deliberate ploys in a seduction attempt, and some as merely wardrobe malfunctions — but these were apparently essential to the scene. Additionally, much gore and violence were depicted on the pages, blame it on the imaginative artistry of the illustrators, however, nude scenes were purposely taken on long shots. So, young adults may still read this novel, especially if they are inclined to art and fantasy. The adventures of Samson were embellished with more encounters outside of the Biblical account, which raised the issue that these were apocryphal. Other than that… well, they all glorified Samson and his God; as a Christian, I didn’t see anything inimical to the Christian faith with that.
I hereby rate Child of the Sun Complete Edition 4 out of 4 stars.
******
Child of the Sun Complete Edition
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Child of the Sun Complete Edition by Michael Van Cleve started with Israel, transgressing again, doing evil in the eyes of the Lord, that they had to be delivered into the hands of their enemies. This time, they came under the rule of the Sea People, worshippers of Dagon. It came to pass that a certain man in the tribe of Dan, named Manoah, (Manoe in the Latin Vulgate Bible) who after years of childless marriage, was promised a son through a divine messenger. Thus came Samson into this world.
In due time, Samson came across Heracles (Hercules in the Roman mythology), and they became friends. Together, they made the rounds of the temple of Astarte, the goddess of love and sex. And there, Samson met Adriana, the temple harlot which Samson proposed to his parents to marry. And so, arrangements were made, for the wedding to follow after a seven-day feast, with Heracles as the best man. However, things turned sour when Samson lost a bet after being cheated upon by Adriana’s countrymen. He had proposed a riddle for the men of Timnath (Thamna in the Bible) to solve before the seventh day of the feast was over. But the men prevailed upon Adriana to coax Samson into giving her the answer, so Samson called off the wedding due to her disloyalty, then went away to kill thirty Philistines for their garments to pay the lost bet. And when Samson came back to Adriana, after some time, he found Adriana already wed to Heracles. So he burned the wheat fields of the Philistines, which angered Bacchus, whereby Bacchus sent Theseus to kill Adriana and her family, but Adriana committed suicide. In a rage, Samson inflicted a great slaughter of the Philistines.
This part of the graphic novel parallels the Hebrew account of Samson’s life in the Old Testament. And aside from it being an illustrated version, Van Cleve went a notch higher in making it more exciting by naming the women in the story and letting legendary heroes in Greek mythology cross over to interact with Samson. For instance, Theseus was there, and so was Bacchus. Heracles was quoted to have proposed to Samson, “Heracles and Samson, a worthy team. What do you think?”
I think, if you want to appreciate fully this novel, it is a must to know first the Biblical story of Samson. Furthermore, some reading on mythology would also help in understanding the gods and godlike personages mentioned. I have to confess that I made a rereading of Samson in the book of Judges to get the straight version, without yet the twists and garnishing. This novel had merged together the Jewish legend with stories in Mythology.
I liked that there was a bonus chapter on “The Death of Gilgamesh” to follow chapters on “The Witch of Timnath,” and tales about the giants, the “mighty men” of old who were sired by the sons of God with the daughters of men. Then, there was the variant tale of Creation which depicted “Lilith” the defiant one that gave birth to the “Ancient Three.” (Some books refer to Lilith as the first woman paired with Adam in the concept of “dual creation” which theorized that a human pair was first created within the “six-day” period, then another pair was elaborately made — this time as Adam and Eve — in the succeeding chapters of Genesis.)
A lot of nudity could be found in this book — some as deliberate ploys in a seduction attempt, and some as merely wardrobe malfunctions — but these were apparently essential to the scene. Additionally, much gore and violence were depicted on the pages, blame it on the imaginative artistry of the illustrators, however, nude scenes were purposely taken on long shots. So, young adults may still read this novel, especially if they are inclined to art and fantasy. The adventures of Samson were embellished with more encounters outside of the Biblical account, which raised the issue that these were apocryphal. Other than that… well, they all glorified Samson and his God; as a Christian, I didn’t see anything inimical to the Christian faith with that.
I hereby rate Child of the Sun Complete Edition 4 out of 4 stars.
******
Child of the Sun Complete Edition
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon