Luther

by Rich Melheim

the Medieval Era ended and the Modern Era began with one stormy monk and these three words, "Here I Stand."

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, History

76 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2016

Reviews

[Rick Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have had the chance to look at a few Martin Luther comics which were published for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation this year. Most of them were pretty cheesy. When I saw this one, I had high hopes for this one, but was a bit disappointed.

To begin with some positive comments, this comic actually has some good length to it. Most of the Luther comics I've seen this year are 10-13 pages, and so they don't have much in the way of story. They end up reading more like an illustrated timeline of Luther's life. This one is graphic novel length, and so it can treat the story in much greater detail. Also, the art is fantastic. The scenes, cities, towns, and characters are beautifully realized, and the pages burst with action. The comic is worth reading for the art alone.

Unfortunately, despite all the talent, effort, and money on display here, the story itself is filled with historical errors, ranging from simple little nitpicks to glaring mistakes. Here are a few of the many problems I noticed while reading:

- The comic says that Luther was called to Leipzig to meet privately with the famous cardinal, Eck. When he got to town, he heard a rumor that Eck was going to have him arrested as a heretic, so he slipped out of the city secretly and escaped back to Wittenberg....
In reality, Eck was not a cardinal, and Luther was not called to meet with him privately. Karlstadt, Melancthon, and Luther (all professors in Wittenberg) were called to debate Eck (a Dominican friar). The debate spanned weeks. In fact, the disputation started in June, and Luther didn't arrive to join until July. Nobody had to sneak away afterward.

- In the comic, while Luther is staying at the Wartburg, he asks to be brought Erasmus's Greek and Hebrew New Testaments. I had to read this line a few times to make sure I was understanding it correctly. The New Testament...in Hebrew????

- The comic shows Luther returning from the Wartburg to put an end to the violence of the Peasant War. In reality the Peasant War didn't begin until 2 years after Luther returned to Wittenberg.

-(A nitpick) In the comic, the students in Wittenberg all gather at the Lion's Pub to talk theology. In reality the Wittenberg pub was The Black Eagle which is still there in Wittenberg today, but now goes under the name of The Black Bear.

One other thing that bothered me was that Luther's personality early on in the comic is sarcastic and cynical, and he has a huge chip on his shoulder. Now, while Luther was a master of satire and said many sharp things in his writings, people who knew him described his personality quite differently. One person who met Luther at the debate in Leipzig (the one that doesn't happen in the comic) described him this way, "He is affable and friendly, in no sense dour or arrogant. He is equal to anything. In company he is vivacious, jocose, always cheerful and gay no matter how hard his adversaries press him."

All in all, this comic has great artwork and gets the broad outline of Luther's life correct. I wish they had put a more effort into the actual history of the story.

[coala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Passend zum Lutherjahr bringt der Brunnen-Verlag eine mitreißende Graphic Novel über das Leben von Luther heraus. Angelehnt an den Luther-Film mit Joseph Finnes begleitet man Luther auf der Suche Erlösung. Unangepasst und mit ganz eigenem Streben bringt er dabei die damalige Welt ziemlich durcheinander.

Die Geschichte ist dabei natürlich komprimiert dargestellt und kann dennoch überzeugen. Man versteht Beweggründe und aufgeworfene Fragen und Zweifel. Luther als Mensch und Begründer der Reformation wird durch die dargestellten Ereignisse viel besser greifbar und verständlicher. Hier wird Geschichte verständlich und unterhaltsam vermittelt. Die farbenfrohen und sehr überzeugenden Illustrationen setzen die Geschichte dabei perfekt in Szene. Atmosphärisch wird die düstere Zeit, in der Ablass und Korruption Alltag waren, perfekt rübergebracht; aber auch den Aufruhr, den Luther durch seine Thesen entfacht.

Luthers Geschichte sehr gut graphisch aufbereitet, schafft es die Graphic Novel, Geschichte erlebbar zu machen. Vieles wird angerissen und Fragen aufgeworfen und beantwortet, sodass vieles besser verständlich wird. Man bekommt zudem Lust, sich noch näher mit Luther, der Reformation und dem großen Wandel in der Religion zu beschäftigen. Die wirklich sehr gelungenen Illustrationen unterstreichen die Geschichte und Grundstimmung dabei perfekt.

Ein rundum gelungenes Werk über Luther und wie er die Reformation startete. Perfekt als Einstieg in das Thema oder als optisch sehr ansprechende Ergänzung.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some spelling mistakes and historical issues. Some funny moments.

human rights and individual conscience
first picture: burning of Jan Hus (swan will rise 100 years from now [1415])
lightning strike
Augustinian monastery at Erfurt
teaching moral philosophy (Aristotle) at the University of Wittenberg
trip to Rome
tower experience dated May 1513
Tetzel and indulgences
95 Theses
printing press and new postal service: 95 Theses spread across Germany in two weeks; in three weeks it was translated into twelve languages
Cajetan
Eck
death of Maximilian > Charles V > politics between Pope Leo X and Frederick
papal bull burned
Diet of Worms
Wartburg
Tyndale visited Luther?
Peasants' War
overlap with Henry VIII
Diet of Augsburg
[book is honest and specific about Luther's failings]
Luther's death
Peace of Augsburg

[emyrose8 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gets pretty deep into Luther's story; it doesn't 'dumb' the story down for readers. I've been a Lutheran my whole life, gone to Lutheran school, and learned about the Reformation every year. Still, I learned some things from this book. The illustrations are great and really help you make sense of the story. There are connections to other parts of world history (like Suleiman the Magnificent's attempts to take over Europe) and lots of facts balanced out within the story. Definitely a higher level read, high school for sure. I would share it with my 5-6th graders because I know they'll get something out of the book, but the true depth that's in here will probably only be understood by older readers.

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful introduction of Martin Luther, this historical-fiction graphic novel doesn't have to make up much in the full life of martin Luther, only slightly modernizing the language to make it easy to understand just how personal the political always is.

The angle here is how much a type-A perfectionist Martin Luther was, always finding fault with himself as he strove to do better and constantly asked questions out of sincere curiosity and wanting to know what was right and what was good, and in the process, almost accidently, created a new way of thinking and a new church.

The story pulls no punches on how angry and afraid everyone was, the corruption and violence, and how much true reform was needed.

[Davinia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Está bien para entender la historia de Martin Lutero y la división entre la iglesia católica y el protestantismo. No me ha resultado fácil de leer en alemán.

[Shawn Bain · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great telling of the life of Martin Luther. It covers the hard-hitting stuff like the martyrdom of Jan Hus and the struggles Martin Luther had with reconciling his sin, his works, and his salvation while not getting overly dark.

The art in Luther is fantastic, and I don't feel like a lot of the story gets left out between panels as it can in comics. I would definitely recommend this to any of my historically-inclined friends that enjoy graphic-novel format.