My girls both love comic books, so it was a nice change of pace when we reviewed Rescue Me! What Superheroes Can Teach Us About the Power of Faith. This is Book 1 of the Captain Sun Adventures, and we received a digital copy.
Breeze, who is 8, read Rescue Me! on the iPad. It was a quick read for her; she went through it in about 30 minutes or less. "That was good," she said, after giving me back the iPad, "I like Captain Sun. His eyes are weird though. They glow!"
Breeze reading the comic book Captain Sun on the iPad.
Captain Sun is the hero of the series (there are two more books so far after Book 1, Captain Sun & the Army of Fear and Captain Sun and the Scourge of the Shadow Dragon. As with all superheroes, Captain Sun is the secret identity of Derek Duke, who came from another world to "help the oppressed, defend the weak, and uphold justice wherever he was needed."
In this first book, he meets his match in the villain Black-Out. Without giving any spoilers, I will just say that at the end of the book, Captain Sun has called in his superhero colleagues, and they fight together to overcome Black-Out. The books, naturally, ends with a cliffhanger.
This part stuck with Breeze; she told me that the comic is like the Bible, showing how you can love your enemies
As comic books go, Rescue Me! has good artwork, and a fairly simple plot (so far). I think the best thing about it are the devotionals that come in the guise of newspaper headlines and stories in the city paper, the Capital City Chronicles. Here, the stories of superheroes are correlated to the Bible, and how God and Jesus Christ save us. There are also questions that can help relate heroes and to real life experiences, and can help open up discussions. Finally, there is a related Bible verse. Breeze noticed this last one and commented, "This is cool. It has Bible verses."
The devotional can be found as part of the 'newspaper'
The books also ends with more questions for discussions.
More helpful questions that can lead to deeper discussions
Overall, we liked Rescue Me! Breeze thought it was a cool read, and she actually liked the fact that there were verses and "stuff about God in there." I also appreciated how God's word was woven throughout the story, and how it tries to bring together the fictional world of superheroes with the real lifesaving gospel. That isn't easy to do without seeming too preachy, or like you're trying too hard.
I personally thought that the story line could use a little more development. It seemed very Superman-ish, the origin story, even the costume (although one can argue that Superman is also the gospel story). I would have loved to see a fresher take on the whole superhero thing.
Nevertheless, it was a fun and easy read, and I look forward to discussing this more in detail with the girls (Raine, my 11-year-old, has been away at camp, among other things, and still has to read Rescue Me! What Superheroes Can Teach Us About the Power of Faith but I'm sure she'll enjoy it as well.)
Other families also received copies of Rescue Me! What Superheroes Can Teach Us About the Power of Faith. Click below to read about their experiences.
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