NY Times Interviews Siku, Artist of The Manga Bible

Given the generally dismal review I gave to The Manga Bible by Siku, I give my chances at about... slim to none that I'll ever interview the guy. But thank goodness for The New York Times, who have taken the time to get Siku's side of the story:

Mr. Akinsiku says his Son of God is "a samurai stranger who’s come to town, in silhouette," here to shake things up in a new, much-abridged version of the Bible rooted in manga, the Japanese form of graphic novels.

"We present things in a very brazen way," said Mr. Akinsiku, who hopes to become an Anglican priest and who is the author of The Manga Bible: From Genesis to Revelation. "Christ is a hard guy, seeking revolution and revolt, a tough guy."

But what really made me cringe was his plans for his follow-up to The Manga Bible:

His book has been criticized by some manga bloggers as too wordy. Mr. Akinsiku said the exposition gave readers a quick understanding of the Bible. His next project is a manga life of Christ. He has 300 pages to lay it out, which means there will be a lot more action, a lot less talking, something like Clint Eastwood in the Galilee.

Clint Eastwood Jesus? Samurai Jesus? What's next? A Vin Diesel Buddha? Most of the articles from the mainstream media about The Manga Bible pretty much take this book at face value -- "It says it's manga on the cover, so therefore it is." Boy. We've got a long way to go. In any case, it got a lot of people's attention, so maybe that was the point more than creating a story with relevant ties to manga artwork or storytelling as we know it.

Image credit: © Siku / Doubleday