The Guardian Line

You have seen the Genesis 5 section right? Looked at the preview pages and wallpaper? Teenage angels appear and they wear nothing? Why? What's the point? What purpose does it serve? I am really surprised that a Christian company would take this risk.

It is common for men to go without shirts as long as their loins are covered and not be considered naked. Also, I am sure than the women characters are covered. Just becuase one cannot see their covering does not mean it is not there. I believe that one may be putting way too much intuition into that picture. 

ajohnson:

It is common for men to go without shirts as long as their loins are covered and not be considered naked. Also, I am sure than the women characters are covered. Just becuase one cannot see their covering does not mean it is not there. I believe that one may be putting way too much intuition into that picture. 

I will say right off that I haven't read the first issue of Genesis 5.  (The comic shop will get it in next week.)  That said, the image of the teen angels seems pretty innocent.  Compare this to many comic covers, where partial, often female nudity is clearly intended to titilate readers. 

Besides, from the sneak peeks I've seen in Previews (the comics catalog), Genesis 5 is running around in stylish, yet conservative street clothes.  The same is true of the promo image that accompanied Black Enterprise's interview with Michael Davis.

So, I'm not offended by Genesis 5 being naked in this context.

zeraze

Well, the angels are definitely naked in issue one...carefully placed wings making for ridiculously posed panels. I showed the panels to my wife and she immediately pointed out that they were naked.

The story is confusing...the main character is apparently a non-Christian, but he is given the care of five (naked) teenage angels...not much else is given for reference. Then he enroles them in school. It just seems very silly, nothing you'd expect from reading about angelic visitations in the Bible. They each seem to have a superpower (air, water, cold, telekinesis, and a sword...or stuff like that)

The first issue has a gruesome scene with a message literally burned into a corpse. The second has the younger main character lying to his mom at the beginning of the issue. Lots of little faux pas make it not very good...character's names and powers are not made clear, their actual purpose is unknown, the angels fill up on junk food and TV, a typo by the artist showing poor editorial control. This isn't one that I'll be showing my kids any time soon or encouraging others to buy.

n0t0fth1s34rth, I thank you for your info on this. I am deeply disturbed that a Christian company would publish something like this. It seems artistic liscence has gone awry here and the sense to stay within Christian ideals has been forgotten. Indeed, why naked angels? Why awkward encounters with naked teen angels? This is totally not what encountering an angel has been like according to Scripture. As someone who is training for the ministry (and am preaching for a call shortly) I will not recommend this to anyone. Very disappointing. So do we try and dodge this by buying the other titles and just try to ignore this issue? Or do we avoid a company that says it is Christian yet produces things along the lines of Image Comics and their "morals?" I will have to ponder this long and hard if I could support this company now that the truth of issue 1 is out. So, what does this say about Christians to a non-Christian reader? What does it say about our morals? What testimony does it provide for Christ?

Very disappointing. 

n0t0fth1s34rth:

Well, the angels are definitely naked in issue one...carefully placed wings making for ridiculously posed panels. I showed the panels to my wife and she immediately pointed out that they were naked.

Yes, the angels are naked, but this is because of their naivete.  By Issue #3 (I missed #2), they're wearing human attire 24/7. 

The story is confusing...the main character is apparently a non-Christian,

Actually, the main character, Walter, is a Christian who lost his faith for reasons to be revealed later on.  Being chosen as the angels' guide on Earth is the first step in Walter reconciling himself with God.

This is biblical.  It's not impossible for a Christian to begin to question their faith, causing his relationship with God to cool.  But, there is hope since God will do something miraculous to reignite the Christian's faith.  Walter's situation is a more fantastic take on this event.

 but he is given the care of five (naked) teenage angels...not much else is given for reference.

God's Messenger clearly explains that the angels have been turned into humans to understand teens and thus better minister to them.  See page below:

 http://www.theguardianline.com/imgs/preview/GenFive01-02.jpg

The Guardian Line Alpha special (on sale now) further

The first issue has a gruesome scene with a message literally burned into a corpse.

Actually, the crucifixion in Passion of the Christ was far worse, yet I know parents who took their kids to the movie.

It should be noted that the corpse was a gangbanger named Quincy who was convinced by the messenger to spare Walter's life and repent of his sins.  Quincy's boss, businessman Steven Dark (Satan's emissary), was enraged by this conversion and murdered the ex-gangbanger.  Dark's act was to remind Quincy's fellow gangmembers of the penalty for trying to leave his employ.

This scene is quite realistic and even biblical.  Being saved does make you automatically an enemy of Satan and those who serve him, consciously or not.  Do you think it's a coincidence that teens that try to leave gangs are marked for death?

Now, if Quincy were killed by one of the angels, then I'd be offended.

zeraze

Ridiculous, nonetheless. Angels, created at the beginning of time, serving in the courts of heaven, have naivete? The writer couldn't think of a single reason to have them clothed at first to offset any awkwardness on the part of the reader? Naked angels were the best option for comics ostensibly geared towards adolescent males? These are actual questions I'd like answered.

I understand that the series wouldn't exist without the miraculous appearance of the angels, but why not then go with another story, one that follows biblical doctrine and logic better? Nowhere in the Bible does God give over the care of angels to humans, nor would they ever need to be. They are God's messengers, and are very plain in their messages. Why would God want them to "be hip", and why wouldn't God just either pick "hipper" angels or instill them with the appropriate "hipness"? Even typing that sentence felt ridiculous.

Your argument that there are worse depictions of gruesome scenes doesn't hold much water...The Passion was an R-rated motion picture about the worst murder of all time where anyone under 17 would need to be accompanied by a parent or guardian (no pun intended); this is a comic book about teen angels sold to anyone with no warning label whatsoever. I wouldn't let a child see either. In the scene where Quincy is last seen alive the messenger does what, orders him to change his life? Is that taking away his free will? It never appears that his is conviced of the messenger's words, but rather confused, and it never shows what happens to him before he is killed. He is never shown repenting his sins. And using red letters from the messenger's mouth...is that supposed to be Jesus' words? If so, wouldn't that be blasphemous, attributing words to Christ that He didn't say or use in that context? It is confusing at best. And technically, since the messenger ordered Quincy to leave the gang, isn't that tantamount to killing him, since Quincy apparently had no choice in the matter and the messenger should have known what would probably happen? You're right, very offensive that he died through the direct act of the angel.

In all seriousness, to get away from quibbling over stuff, I'm going to try to advise people away from this comic line. I'd like to have a hard interview with the creator/writers and get some of these questions answered. But until then, these comics are just too flawed spiritually to recommend to non-Christians (no real Gospel message), too convoluted to recommend to Christians (focusing on fantasy spiritual warfare and not on true spiritual things), and poorly written and plotted, for the most part (blasphemy in Code, scripture quoted out of context in Joe and Max in either laughable or cringe-worthy ways, and you can guess my impressions of Genesis 5), to recommend to people who just want a good read. I had high hopes for this line, but it's too problematic for me to share with anyone else. I've read a lot of comic books, and a lot of Christian comic books, and these are poor representations of both.

n0t0fth1s34rth:

I understand that the series wouldn't exist without the miraculous appearance of the angels, but why not then go with another story, one that follows biblical doctrine and logic better? Nowhere in the Bible does God give over the care of angels to humans, nor would they ever need to be.

But the Bible does say that Christians will ultimately judge angels. 

 They are God's messengers, and are very plain in their messages. Why would God want them to "be hip", and why wouldn't God just either pick "hipper" angels or instill them with the appropriate "hipness"? Even typing that sentence felt ridiculous.

I honestly think that the guides, Walter and Aaron, are being tested more than the angels.  The angels seem to have adjusted to current trends in fashion and culture awfully fast.

Your argument that there are worse depictions of gruesome scenes doesn't hold much water...The Passion was an R-rated motion picture about the worst murder of all time where anyone under 17 would need to be accompanied by a parent or guardian (no pun intended); this is a comic book about teen angels sold to anyone with no warning label whatsoever. I wouldn't let a child see either.

Fair point.  Though the website clearly rates Genesis 5 as "Teens and Up," that rating isn't listed on the comic itself.

 In the scene where Quincy is last seen alive the messenger does what, orders him to change his life? Is that taking away his free will? It never appears that his is conviced of the messenger's words, but rather confused, and it never shows what happens to him before he is killed. He is never shown repenting his sins. And using red letters from the messenger's mouth...is that supposed to be Jesus' words? If so, wouldn't that be blasphemous, attributing words to Christ that He didn't say or use in that context? It is confusing at best.

The Messenger said that God permitted him to command Quincy to leave the gang and do what his mother told him.  If God were against this, then the Messenger wouldn't and frankly couldn't have thwarted Quincy's attempted murder of Walter.

 And technically, since the messenger ordered Quincy to leave the gang, isn't that tantamount to killing him, since Quincy apparently had no choice in the matter and the messenger should have known what would probably happen?

So, was it was "wrong" for Jesus to instantly convert Saul (a persecutor of Christians) on the road to Damascus?  Saul technically didn't have any choice in this.

You're right, very offensive that he died through the direct act of the angel.

Actually, God was to "blame" for Quincy's death, not the Messenger.

In all seriousness, to get away from quibbling over stuff, I'm going to try to advise people away from this comic line. I'd like to have a hard interview with the creator/writers and get some of these questions answered. But until then, these comics are just too flawed spiritually to recommend to non-Christians (no real Gospel message), too convoluted to recommend to Christians (focusing on fantasy spiritual warfare and not on true spiritual things), and poorly written and plotted, for the most part (blasphemy in Code, scripture quoted out of context in Joe and Max in either laughable or cringe-worthy ways, and you can guess my impressions of Genesis 5), to recommend to people who just want a good read. I had high hopes for this line, but it's too problematic for me to share with anyone else. I've read a lot of comic books, and a lot of Christian comic books, and these are poor representations of both.

Actually, I started reading the Guardian Line's books because of a positive review of Code by a non-Christian:

http://hudlinentertainment.com/smf/index.php?topic=1467.msg26128#msg26128

And here are some other discussions of the books which include some good reviews:

http://hudlinentertainment.com/smf/index.php?topic=2154.0

http://www.blacksuperhero.com/bsh/viewtopic.php?t=6678

So, I think the Guardian Line is beginning to make headway to the larger comic fanbase.  That's no small feat since Christian comics are largely ignored even in Christian media.  Apart from Left Behind, I honestly didn't know their were any Christian comics. 

zeraze