This post contains an affiliate link.
Title: Luther: The Graphic Novel: Echoes of the Hammer by Susan K. Leigh
Martin Luther becomes an Augustinian monk, under the leadership of the Catholic church. When he starts studying the Bible for himself, he comes to question some of the church’s teachings. Luther seeks reform within the Catholic church to return to a form of worship and practices which more closely mirror that of the early church. Eventually he is excommunicated and ends up being a very important contributor to the Reformation.
This is a dense graphic novel! It includes a lot of Luther’s timeline and other facts which have a bearing on his story, so it can feel more like textbook reading than a comic book at times. Even though the interest factor wanes a bit when they have to provide some deeper explanations, I think they did a fair job of balancing the action with the information. The illustrations were very nicely done, too.
The story of Luther’s life was quite interesting. I didn’t remember much about what he accomplished, except that he translated the Bible into German so that everyday people would have access to it. I think this is an excellent book to introduce young people to Luther’s life, but it is not without bias. I noticed a few statements when the author inserts their personal opinion into the narrative, instead of just sharing the facts. I’m not too surprised though, since the book is published by Concordia.
I recommend Luther: Echoes of the Hammer to parents who want to introduce their kids to the history of Martin Luther and the Reformation. Personally, I would talk with my kids about the fact that the book is a bit biased. It’s good for kids to be able to identify when opinion is being presented as fact. 😉
Rating: 3 1/2 Stars
Until next time…