“This is a story all about how the Wesleys got flip turned upside down.

So I’d like to take a minute just sit right there, I’ll tell you how John and Charles got that swell hair.”

Will Smith, quote unconfirmed…

It’s here! Wesley Bros Comics proudly presents: Submitting to Be More Vile: The Illustrated Adventures of John & Charles Wesley (Abingdon 2019).  It’s like church history, theology and polity, but with comics making fun of all that stuff.

Wesley Bros Comics began in April 2013. I’d wake up at 5am with my two-year old daughter and scribble these weird comics that seemed really funny to me, but maybe because I was so sleep-deprived? Over time, a growing audience of church history geeks began sharing the comic with others, and what do you know? John and Charles Wesley alive in today’s world isn’t so crazy an idea after all!

There’s a lot of work to do in this world…maybe even more in the church. Grace is free for all and free in all. And yet, the cost of discipleship is crazy steep. So, I give a hearty “Thank you” to my longtime audience, and a “Welcome aboard!” to noobs just discovering the Bros through the book. Keep up the daily work of Christ, and have the humility to bring some humor into it!

Strangely Warm Praise

After several years of trying to get this stuff published and publishers not knowing what to do with Wesley Bros, help came from strange places. Dr. Scott Ryan, a Baptist friend of mine, had been using the comics in his church history class at Baylor University. Dr. Ryan sent me an abstract explaining why professors in a University setting should be using comics like mine to help students connect to the material. It was this document that helped convince Abingdon Press to publish Wesley Bros Comics.

“The comic medium offers students an example of how church can be interesting (and even fun!) and it gives them a model of someone using his or her artistic gifts in innovative ways related church history.”

Dr. Scott Ryan, Asst. Professor of Religion and Biblical Studies, Claflin University

Next thing you know, the very guy who’s book Responsible Grace convinced me to remain United Methodist, Dr. Randy Maddox, agreed to write the Foreword to the book!

“I am confident that the Wesley brothers would recognize their missional spirit, with its openness to new forms of sharing God’s saving concern, in this collection of comics! To be sure, they would likely be surprised by it as well…”

Dr. Randy Maddox, William Kellon Quick Professor of Wesleyan and Methodist Studies, Duke Divinity School.

Praise for the comic also came in from three of my heroes in comics:

• from David Hayward of nakedpastor.com, whose brilliant one-panel comics have long challenged the church to radical inclusion…
• from 2019 Pulitzer nominee, 2017 Herblock Prize and RFK Journalism Award-winner, Ruben Bolling of Tom the Dancing Bug. Google his God-Man comics.
• from Mike Friedrich, a fellow UM Deacon with a former career as a DC & Marvel comics writer…and did I mention co-creator with Jim Starlin of Marvel’s ultimate bad guy, Thanos.

 

So, thank you.

I hope you enjoy the book as much as I’ve enjoyed putting it together for you. And I’ll see you back here next week!

Submitting to Be More Vile is now available through Cokesbury and Amazon.

Visit the Wesley Bros Comics store for all other WBC merchandise, including brand new Liturgical Calendars, Playing Cards, and more.