Between the Panels

I was given this odd comparison meme ( look to your right ) by one of our Graphic Word crew that looked at some connections between Loki from the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) and Moses.  The challenge was to see if there was anything that could be taught about this, so... here we are.  First, let's look at Loki: the God of mischief (really lives up to his title) is an adopted son of Odin and was supposed to be prince of the Frost Giants.  Growing up, he felt like the odd one out, but had a inkling in his heart to be a ruler/king.  However, whenever he attempted this (usurping Odin's thrown, trying to taker over Earth, disguising himself as Odin) it would always go badly. Loki had a struggle with this identity; that he was supposed to rule, this is who he is, what he is meant to do . Sadly this would leave him broken and often trying to break others to accept his self-defined identity. It's actually difficult not to pity him in all of his efforts. Moses on the othe...

Ever had an amazing teacher that moved you to tears? I have found one in nerd culture and his name is Koro Sensei . This yellow, octopus-shaped fellow is not just strange for his appearance, but also for the fact that he is a master assassin who is teaching a junior high class (the lowest in academic standing).  Did I mention that his class is tasked with assassinating him within a year or the world will be destroyed? You may ask, why I would recommend watching this extremely unorthodox anime? Two words; Koro Sensei .  Koro Sensei takes any and every opportunity to invest in his students. His attention to his students' growth is not just for academics or assassination skills, but in their personal lives, often speaking into who they are and what they can become. During this series, I had a lot of misty eyed moments (it was soooooo good), just from the times of direct investment Koro Sensei had with his students. So how do we go from yellow, octo-teacher to Jesus? Well Jesus ...

I have yet to find someone who does not like lightsabers.  It's true! There is something amazing about wielding light as a weapon to fight enemies: a real sense of power and beauty all in one. You may have grown up watching Star Wars and wish you had a lightsaber, or had a toy lightsaber and wanted to duel with someone.  One of the biggest discoveries was that there are several colours of lightsabers (not just original blue, green, and red).  In the lore of Star Wars it is the kyber crystal that determines what colour the lightsaber blade will be and that is set by the user's heart (intentions). Something that really stood out to me was that the red lightbers only turn red when they "bleed" and this is because the darkside of the user forces the crystal to bleed.  Really, the lightsaber crystal is a reflection of the user's heart and their motives. Jesus once said that "Out of the abundance of the heart , the mouth speaks"( Luke 6:45 ). This is connec...

Got this recommendation from one of our youth to talk about Giyu Tomioka (Demon Slayer character) and to be honest I had to do a bit of research on this guy. In short, he is a background character who pushes the main character (Tanjiro) to be a demon slayer.  Tomioka went through a lot of loss (death of sister and friend) and is driven with loyalty to support those around him even if it goes against the Slayer Corp. However, this young man thinks nothing of himself, despite being one of the high ranking slayers (hashiras), and is always looking to push either himself or others to grow. Tomioka reminds me of a mix of Gideon and Samuel.  Gideon because he was from a small tribe of Israel and was called to be a warrior for God, even though he thought of himself as nothing special, let alone a soldier. The part that reminds me of Samuel is the resolve to loyalty for what really matters.  Samuel was raised by Eli who was not the best at leading his own kids or a being a spirit...

A classic read for anyone who might be thinking of jumping into comics would be DC's Blackest Night .  Essentially, we find out there is not only the Green Lanterns, but multiple lanterns that stretch across the emotional spectrum. One of these other lanterns are the Black Lanterns which represent death and feed on all emotions to destroy them, turning them into Black Lanterns.  I am not going to lie, it gets real dark (sorry for the pun), but it's bleak and the universe is taken over by all these death lanterns.  However, there is hope in the discovery of the White Lantern , which represents life and restores life where there was death .  It is an amazing and inspiring reminder in what seemed like a nightmarish, no-win scenario. Checking out certain parts of the Bible you can feel like you are reading a page from the Blackest Night comic, especially when the Israelites are sent into exile.  There is a lot of doom and judgement for the decisions they made in ...

One of my favourite games to get into is Kingdom of Amalur Reckoning for several reasons. First, the art work is done by an amazing comic artist (Todd McFarlane). Second it's an open world RPG (role-playing game, one of my favourite genres). Lastly, there is a Tree of Fate that shows your character's progression in abilities/skills for game play (becoming a rogue, warrior, mage, ect.)  I love that kind of customizability with characters in games like that; it challenges you to have a plan for what you want your character to become as you guide them in this fantasy world.  What I love even more is that your character in the game is called a Fate Weaver in different interactions because it's your actions that can change the fate of the game.  So cool! Is this really any different than the way we are approaching our relationship with God?  I have said before that life is like a giant RPG in preparation for our real life (eternity). But if that's the case is God the on...

Lets face it, at times we can feel like the world is out to get us and we are the underdog of our own story.  It can be pretty hard to get motivated to push/do something when it is already an uphill battle.  Personally, I like to think about characters as a motivation (both fictional and real). Look at Asta from Black Clover; this guy had no ounce of magic in him and yet he has one of the most powerful magic items in the series with the drive to be the best mage in the world! Or Class 3E from Assassination Classroom, who are the runts of the school both socially and educationally, but are tasked with saving the world in under a year. Or look at Red Hood (Jason Todd) who was a street kid taking the wheels off of Batman's batmobile and is now a major member of Batman's allies in fighting crime.  Finally Captain America, going from this scrawny kid who just wanted to serve his country to becoming one of the   most iconic heroes of our time! However, there are not just ...