HAVE YOUR SAY: The Cover to the Gospel of Matthew

In 2018, thanks to your opinions and suggestions a template was established. Each Gospels cover will have the same format but the elements within it will be relevant to that specific Gospel.

These Elements are:

A- Jesus' appearance
B- The circle/halo behind Jesus
C- The significant event or place of this Gospel
D- The most significant female character
E- A period image to incorporate
F- What colour scheme (Mark was Blue)

When making suggestions think about if the element is better suited to another Gospel (E.g. Mary the mother of Jesus might be significant in Matthew, but she is more central in Luke). I'd love to hear your thoughts. You can add comments below, or head over to the Facebook post to see more comments and join the discussion there:

https://www.facebook.com/wordforwordbiblecomic/photos

More info:

A- Jesus' Appearance: In Mark, he was portrayed as the suffering servant. In John, he will be more divine looking as The WORD. In Matthew, the focus is on how he is the fulfilment of the OT Hebrew Scriptures, the King and the promised Messiah. The book is focused on the Jewish reader. So how should he look?

B- The Circle/halo: In Mark, this is the full Moon that hung overhead during the Passover where Jesus was arrested and tried, it forms a sort of halo. I was planning to do this on each but need 4 types to make it work. Alternatively, this could just be in Mark and there could be something else (a scroll etc) or nothing. Things I was thinking of was the Sun, the crown of thorns, a halo, a coin....... what' you got?

C- Significant event or place or beginning: In Mark, this was John the Baptist as it is the opening scene rather than the nativity. In this book, it could be the nativity to parallel the "beginning" aspect, or it could be another unique event of the Gospel (like the Magi visit), or it could be a significant place as the Mark image includes the Jordan River.

D- Significant Female Character: To balance the cover gender-wise its fun to include a female character. In Mark, it was Mary Magdeline as there is a lot of detail about her at the Ressurection. As mentioned, in Luke it will be Mary the mother of Jesus as she is so central there. But who should it be in this book?

E- Period Image: On all the covers we've done on all the books there are period images incorporated in the cover. In Mark, it was some contemporary philosophers and some original text from the Gospel of Mark in Koine Greek. Any suggestions for this one?

F: Colour scheme: As well as adjusting the elements the big thing will be choosing a dominant colour. As you can see Mark had dark blue as it matched the night sky that the Moon was in. What colour might suit this Gospel the best and way?

January: New year, new book

January Newsletter 

Now that it is the new year, we will be focusing on our next book, The Gospel of Matthew! It is now the run-up to the Kickstarter in March (details below).

New weekly LIVE videos!  

I am planning to post a live video once a week going through the pages of one of the comics, talking about things like the meaning of the verses and different scholars opinions, the historical references for the work, the creative choices like character design and colour pallets etc. I believe I will start with the Book of Judges. 

Please help me with your opinions on a few practical considerations in this 3 question tick box survey. (Estimated time to complete 1 minute) …

Take Survey

Below is a longer example from the Gospel of Mark. It was created for the patrons on Patreon. This one is a good example of the mixture of information about the scriptures, the historical period and some of the creative decisions involved. (Click on the image below) 

Video: Explaining the pages, Mark 8:9b-32

(You can get a video like this every two weeks if you become a patron and support the project for $5+ a month. Here: https://www.patreon.com/WordforWordBibleComic )

Kickstarter for The Gospel of Matthew MARCH! 

On Friday, March the 6th at 8 pm UK time (3 pm EST, 12 noon PST) we will be launching the next Kickstarter campaign! God willing!

That's only about 50 days away. 

This idea is that the book will be nearly finished and so you won't have too long to wait to receive it! Plus we've got plans to make the books received through KS extra special!

We've got lot's planned and special rewards and bonuses so it's going to be really exciting.

If you have a blog, YouTube channel or the like please let me know if you can feature the project at that time!

Follow me on Kickstarter :https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/word4wordbiblecomic/created
 

Sneak peek at the Book of Matthew

 

Matthew's Gospel begins with a genealogy of Jesus. But when reading it in the comic you won't be tempted to just skip over it as you'll even see many familiar faces! This is only two-thirds of the genealogy but many of these characters have actually been seen in the Bible comic before in one place or another.  

Progress

I have been able to make much more progress, as I have been able to incorporate the Mark pages into Matthew's gospel where the two coincided. You can see by comparing the two charts how much it has come along in just one month.

Prayer 

We are entering the last phases of potentially getting hold of the NIV translation, we believe it will be a step up for the project, so please pray God has his hand on the situation and it goes smoothly. 

As mentioned above this is the run-up to the Kickstarter, this is a great opportunity to pray into that. Please pray the campaign will get in front of as many people as possible, that it will really smash it's goals this time and exceed expectations! Please pray that Kickstarter add it to their "Projects We Love" and that I can wisely consider how to set the goals and design the campaign. 

Lastly, if you plan to contribute to the Kickstarter as a donation or pre-order, please pray on what you can pledge and if you can help us get the work out. 

Black Friday Flash Sale!

We’ve never done a sale this big before!

Not only are we giving 30% off everything (Code: BLACKFRI19), you super couponers can even stack this discount with our Christmas gift bundle offers. These bundles already have 25% off so you can get up to 47.5% off the RRP!

Shop : https://www.wordforwordbiblecomic.com/buy

Bundle Deals : https://www.wordforwordbiblecomic.com/offers

Ends Mon Dec 2nd 6pm GMT

November Newsletter

Events

In October it was exciting to do not one but two big Comic Conventions, Bristol and London. It was good to see a few of you there, especially those who signed up for this newsletter!

I saw a lot of great cosplay, some epic, some low-key, as you'll see below. I spoke to John Wagner again, (co-creator of Judge Dredd and Bible Comic Endorser) as he was one of the guests. I also backed his Kickstarter which was recently successfully concluded.

On Saturday I am trying out The Mega Mistletoe Market in Bristol, so if you are near. come along. 
 

Christmas Gift Bundle Offer

 

It's time to buy a Bible Comic gift for all your friends and family! 

As you will have so many friends who will love the Word for Word Bible Comic we are giving you 25% off when you buy 3 copies of any of the books.  
 

Extra 10% Discount...

In addition to those deals, our loyal email newsletter subscribers get an extra 10% off anything in the shop!

To Subscribe add your email below… 

Patreon exclusive hang out 

Within the next two weeks, we will be having this quarter's Patron-exclusive Hangout. It's a live video conference call where Patrons can hear about the upcoming plans, give opinions on those plans and get the inside track. In the past, the patrons have helped me decide which books to do next and more, so if you'd like to be involved in the discussion behind the scenes become a patron today! 
https://www.patreon.com/WordforWordBibleComic
 

Progress and Prayer

Progress: It may not seem like the progress is going quickly, but until a final decision is made about which translation we will use I am not updating the pages that will repeat from Mark's Gospel and with the text from Matthew's Gospel. That's why there is a little gap in the pie chart at the moment. When that decision is made you'll see the pie chart suddenly become a lot more full! 

Prayer: Firstly, please pray for the health of my family over this winter. My wife especially suffers from illness during the cold seasons and has been "struck down" this week. Obviously, when she is ill, I need to ferry the kids about and make the meal so productivity on the book can take a downward turn so good health is really important. 

Lastly, please continue to pray for God's provision to meet our needs financially in order to keep progressing well with this project, and that we can continue to build his Kingdom with the work. 
 

Get your Christmas Gifts!...

October Newsletter: Comic Cons, Customs and Questions

Peek at the Book of Esther

In this image, you can see the scribes writing in the ancient languages of the day, a messenger drawn from contemporary reference including a Persian rug that has been preserved for 2500 years! 

Here is a review of the Book of Esther, from Bible Scholar Christopher R. Smith who consults for us:

https://goodquestionblog.com/2019/09/13/esther-in-the-word-for-word-bible-comic-another-tour-de-force/?fbclid=IwAR2oYwB_UW41SoaUt6vfjIyOaoTne-InUBgWysgnB2j-RQoD_b_xRvRvE8A
 

Christmas post, Customs and Brexit. 

We'd love to ensure that if you live outside the UK that we can provide your Christmas orders on time.

Anything we post after October 31st may be delayed*

So please place your Christmas orders before the end of this month :
https://www.wordforwordbiblecomic.com/buy

*After Brexit everything posted out to the EU from the UK will be subject to new customs checks.

We have been advised by Royal Mail that all orders destined for the EU will have to be accompanied by customs paperwork (something we currently don't need).

We suspect that this extra documentation may create some delay in processing not just to the EU but all outgoing postage and the situation will be compounded by the busy period in the run-up to Christmas.

We are hopeful everything will turn out just fine but would hate for anyone to be disappointed.

Five Question Survey 

Please take a minute to fill in this very short multiple-choice survey. It is about the Bible translation inside the Word for Word Bible Comic and if you think it should change to a modern translation like the NIV or NLT.

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/BC3XTLM

Radio interview UCB2

At the end of September, myself and my wife Siân were interviewed on USB2 Radio. You can listen now to the interview about our journey, our faith and what it has been like working on the Bible Comic. (~35min, please listen before it expires) 

https://soundcloud.com/ucbmedia/this-is-my-story-sian-simon-amadeus-pillario-word-for-word-bible-comic?fbclid=IwAR0ls23ftwDn6XzU75jAXetsZ2-Y1doe6vIHRJBXKtO5MT32P02i82mNI_0

Comic Cons 

This month we have two big Comic Cons. 

First on Oct 19-20th, Bristol Comic and Gaming Con. This is the first con in Bristol from organisers UKCGF in Bristol and they seem to have gone all out to make it a big one. There are loads of big guests from Game of Thrones and a whole Wizarding World subevent happening at the same time at the con. If you're within a few hours drive of Bristol you should come down! (In this image you can see the GoT guests, unfortunately, James Cosmo had to cancel, but has been replaced by Julian Glover!) 

The next weekend, Oct 25th-27th, I will be in London for MCM Comic Con at the Excel arena. This is a huge event that claims to have 100,000 people passing through over the long weekend. I believe may table number is 150. So come along and come and find me. 

Progress and Prayer

I have been working my way through the nativity of Matthews gospel over the last few weeks. It has been challenging as there is so much misinformation and high expectations around this part of the story but it's looking good and now I'm just going on to the parts that cross over with Mark following Jesus' baptism.

Please pray for our time at these comic cons, that we can make the Bible available to people who would otherwise never read it and in practice that we get there ok, healthy and it goes well. 

Please continue to pray for God to have his hand on the situation regarding the Bible translations and making the right choices there, as well as helpful responses to the survey which can guide our decisions in that area. 

September Newsletter and Esther launch day!

Today is the official launch of the Book of Esther. Please help us get the words out this month! 
 

Sneak peek at the Book of Esther

This is the promotional video for The book of Esther. Please find it on YouTube and share it or go directly to it on Facebook and share it there! 

YouTube: Here
Facebook: Here   (Sharing from here on FB means the video will autoplay) 

Please tell your friends that they can preview the first chapter for free right now, by downloading the pdf here: 

• https://wordforwordbiblecomic.squarespace.com/free-preview

The book of Esther out now! Please share this video

Please be a massive help and review Esther ★★★★★

If you'd already read the book of Esther as a Kickstarter backer or preorder beneficiary please get on to Amazon and Goodreads and pop in a quick review.

It really helps the Amazon ranking and gives other prospective customers the confidence to buy a copy. We'd prefer you to purchase the book direct from our website than at Amazon though, as Amazon get about half the cover price if you do, so buying from us directly doubles your support.

Just a star rating is fine if you're in a rush.

• UK Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Book-Esther-Bible-English-Translation/dp/0995603553/

• USA Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Book-Esther-Bible-English-Translation/dp/0995603553

• Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48115736-the-book-of-esther

In the News

We are very blessed this month to have an article about the work go out in a Christian newspaper called Challenge: The Good News Paper. Click to enlarge

View fullsize

Events

Bristol Comic and Gaming Con Oct 19th - 20th

In October, Moose events are running a big comic con on our doorstep and we have a table they have some very impressive guest lined up click to link below to see the guest list. 

UKCCGF Guestlist for Bristol 

London MCM Comic Con Oct 25th-27th

Hurrah, we got in! We will be there in the Comics Village. It's a long old event so come and find me for a chat!  Here's me with Brian Azzarello (creator of 100 Bullets comics and many more) at last years con. 

Prayer and NIV update. 

The use of the NIV is currently hanging in the balance! We are at a good place because we have gone through all the negotiations and made headway, then at the last, they sent us the contract to sign. One of the points of the contract says the formatting of the text must be in columns and the capitalisation and punctuation completely unchanged. As this is integral to what we do we need this point taken out. In order for that to happen, it will need to get through the NIV committee. As my wife put it, "It will take a miracle to get it through there!". So now we will know, if we get through there the Lord is with the idea to redo everything in the NIV, if it gets shut down that will be a door firmly closed on the NIV option. 

So please pray the Lord has His hand on this situation to bring the outcome he desires for this. work. 

In the news

We are very blessed this month to have an article about the work go out in a Christian newspaper called Challenge: The Good News Paper. Click to enlarge the image

View fullsize

August newsletter

(Apologies if you are a blog only follower, I sent this out to the email list but forgot to cross post here til now, doh)

Sneak peek at the Book of Esther

The Book of Esther is now printed and in the hands of our Kickstarter backers. You can preview and preorder your copy now at https://wordforwordbiblecomic.com/free-preview

In this image is the one side of the Apadana (Great Hall) at the Palace of Susa. The colour of the columns and decoration fits the most recent finds at the site. In this scene, the King entertains his many royal guests at a great banquet. 

Endorsement

Here is a new endorsement for the Book of Esther from history expect and consultant on the project Prof. Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones which features on the back cover of the book. 

Supporting the Word for Word Bible Comic

Many of you who I meet face-to-face are keen to support the project to help to keep going and reach more people. Here is a way a you can do this. 

• Become a Patron 

In order to make it to March 2020 without a Kickstarter, we need your help and so we'd love you consider becoming a monthly patron of the comic!

Aside from supporting us financially, you will get access to pages before anyone, be part of the creative process and be invited to Patreon exclusive video conferences where we discuss various elements of the projects and really make a difference to the project.
https://www.patreon.com/WordforWordBibleComic

PS. In the image, you can see that with the new patrons recently we've climbed another place in the "bible" search top of the pops. Even $1 patrons help us climb the ranking.

Events

• Creation Fest

Last week we went to Creation Fest in Cornwall and met many of you there! We had a good time, despite being a little disappointed in the volume of footfall within the exhibition space. We were staying in our little caravan and so had to run home before the last day due to the extreme weather warning and high winds forecast in the area at the time. 
 

• Commission: Together at Westpoint

From August 22nd-26th, we will be at Westpoint in Exeter. Again many of you on this mailing list will be there so please come along and have a chat and bring a friend to see the comics.

• Comic Cons

I have just applied for London MCM comic con and am praying we get a place this year. I also really wanted to exhibit at Thought Bubble in November but at the moment I haven't made the cut so please I'm also praying I can get in there. 

Progress

Now that Esther is complete I have begun work on Matthew, you'll see this chart fill up on the newsletter, I'll tell you more about it closer to the date of the Kickstarter in March.

Matthew's Gospel is going to be a monster in size. The Gospel of Mark had 153 comic pages, but Matthew will have over 220 comic pages plus info pages and covers! 

Prayer 

Please ask God to help us assemble an awesome prayer team to get good spiritual guidance for the project and how He will use it in the years to come. 

Next month is the launch of Esther please pray there is a good uptake and magazines and media outlets will help us get the word out.