PowerMark: Series One

by benintendi-stephen

Book by Steve Benintendi

Genres: Graphic Novels

Paperback

First published March 1, 2004

Reviews

[Kalin Hendricks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like the folks that reviewed this comic in the past didn't recognize the target audience. It's obviously written for children. As such, I think it functions as exactly what it was intended to be: an action-adventure series for Christian kids.

I personally loved this series. It still holds up, although some of the writing is a little dated. There are some predictable character tropes and corny lines. None of that takes away from the entertainment of the story, though.

I also really appreciated the inclusion of the Biblical stories through the VRE's. As a kid, I used to skip past those sections to get back to the main story, but I actually stuck with them this time. Speaking of the writing, I really enjoyed Benintendi's take on a futuristic world. The artwork is exceptionally handled, as well.

My only real gripe would be the handling of some characters. There are two characters in the crew that are both boys of African descent, and I found them a tad misrepresented. One of the kids is simply a star athlete (basketball player). The other can't speak proper English (this continues into his adulthood, btw... smh). There's also another character who is Russian, and of course, he's the traitor (The way his story ends is frustratingly vague and depressing. I was extremely disappointed with how they handled his character.)

So yeah, aside from those issues, I really enjoyed this book. I would recommend it to anyone that is looking for higher-quality YA media with Christian messages.

[Ken · Rating 2 out of 5]

A commendable attempt to get children interested to reading books about Bible stories, but I don't see it working wonders. It's hard to buy the concept of making VREs (virtual reality episodes). The art is decent at most. The dialogues and character interactions leave much to be desired.

[raphaela · Rating 2 out of 5]

While not a bad seres in itself, the problem lies in how it portrays the Bible as a history book more that a book of myth and legend. Most of the children even come off brain washed and don’t seem to realize that most of the story’s they work on(like Noah’s arc) don’t paint there god in the best light. This is not helped by the fact that what the kids are doing is trying to help other kids be interested in reading the Bible, not promoting reading in general.