Man Martin, author and cartoonist, has made a name for himself as one of the great illustrators of the human condition as it concerns how we treat one another – with a specialty in Christian foibles – has a new project.
Unfortunately that means a brief suspension of his Man Overboard comic strip.
Today on Man’s Man Overboard Facebook page:
Not an April Fool’s Joke. For some time now, I’ve been aware that I’ve begun repeating myself in Man Overboard, so I’ve decided to take a two and a half month hiatus from April 12 to July 1.
The three month sabbatical ends with some major Good News:
When the strip reemerges, it will begin an ongoing humorous graphic novel based on The Book of Genesis. I’m very excited about this new project and think it will be a lot of fun. It will appear in serial form three days a week, and when it has run its course, I hope to see the completed work bound and published.
Man Martin’s skewed (we hope), but respectful, interpretation of the first book of The Bible from a Christian perspective is something all believers, former believers, and non-believers should look forward to.
Here is Man from nine years ago writing about his teaching Sunday School:
I’ve signed up to teach Sunday School at my church – the first grade class. Ah, the little darlings. I don’t do it all on my own; there are two other teachers and we work in rotation. Also, an older boy, Thomas is his name, is there to assist.
Anyway, the very first lesson I taught covered Abraham’s journey to Canaan up to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. It’s a very interesting story in many respects. Of course, the verses selected by the diocese or whoever selects these things left out all the most salacious stuff. For example, as Abraham is traveling around with his wife Sarah, whenever some potentate asks, “Is that your wife?” Abraham always comes back with, “Wife? Heck no. She’s just my sister.” And then Abraham sits outside the tent or city gates, twiddling his thumbs, while Sarah and the potentate get better acquainted inside. Then Abraham and Sarah go to the next city over where the same thing happens. Better, I suppose, then saying, “Heck yes, this is my wife! Hands off, buddy!” and getting whacked by the potentate’s henchmen, but not the sort of thing you can explain to a bunch of six-year-olds…
But we can expect the Genesis adaptation to be more adult oriented.
Man Martin and Man Overboard is a favorite here at The Daily Cartoonist and this is a project we can look forward to with eager anticipation. In the meantime check out the Man Overboard archive with displays of the hilarious, tragic shortcomings of man, both modern and ancient.
We can only hope that Man moves on to Exodus after the first book of The Torah.
