A popular retelling of the Bible in comic book form just hit a major milestone, selling more than three million copies in the United States.
“The Action Bible,” first released in 2010, continues to dominate Amazon bookselling charts, remaining in the top 100 among all books.
Brock Eastman, senior director of The Action Bible brand at David C. Cook, said he believes the project’s success is rooted in its unique approach to bringing the Gospel to young and emerging generations.
“What strikes people that read ‘The Action Bible’ is just the beautiful, full action-packed [presentation] and our illustrations that really bring the story to life,” he said. “And we like to think about … bringing the Bible to life in a different way.”
Eastman continued, “For this generation, specifically, who is involved with graphic novels, this Bible appeals to them because they like that kind of, ‘Oh, I can see the images of the story moving,’ and there’s a narrative, like a paraphrase narrative of the Bible story that’s easy to understand and sounds like a conversation.”
This all creates what Eastman called an “inviting” experience that allows young people to fully immerse themselves in this Bible version, including 230 stories from Scripture and extends to 830 pages.
The roots for “The Action Bible” were set in the 1970s with a preceding project known as “The Picture Bible.” With young people diving into the comic book world — and with new ways of evangelizing emerging — “The Action Bible” was seen as an innovative tool to build upon successes with “The Picture Bible” and deliver timeless truth to a new generation.
As a dad of four kids himself, Eastman said, “The Action Bible” does two important things: it seizes upon the interest of youths in graphic novels while also delivering hope to youths who desperately need it.
Many of the popular graphic novels and comics of the day simply don’t offer “hope,” he said.
“Those stories don’t provide the hope and the beautiful story that God does and the redemptive story … of the plan of bringing Jesus and our salvation,” Eastman said. “And, so, the Bible does that.”
This is especially important right now, as young people in Generation Alpha — those born between 2010 and 2024 — recently dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic and other struggles. Hopelessness, for some, has been a result of the chaos, with Eastman believing “The Action Bible” holds power and sway to help ease some of this pain.
“Something like ‘The Action Bible’ that has these graphics that the kids … are drawn to, telling this narrative of this beautiful story of redemption, of hope, of stories and the characters in the Bible that are just like them — people who struggled with things, who had fear but overcame it with courage because they were empowered by God,” he said. “These fantastic stories that kids are connecting to. They’re like, ‘I see myself in that story and I can be that.’”
“The Action Bible” has carefully worked to ensure it keeps “true to what God’s word is.”
“There’s a lot of careful effort put into not only the language and the words, but also the imagery that took those pages and basically … brought them to life,” Eastman said.
The impact of “The Action Bible” has been undeniable, with the project being translated into 108 languages around the globe. While the book has sold 3 million copies in the U.S., the worldwide number is “much larger.”
“In the last four years alone, we’ve sold 1.1 million action Bibles around the world,” Eastman said, explaining this is in addition to the 3 million sold in America.
Ultimately, Eastman said the mission of “The Action Bible” — to bring Jesus’ story to the masses — is being recognized, with stories of the project’s impact continuing to reach his team.
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“This is meant to be an evangelism tool because that’s our goal,” Eastman said. “‘The Action Bible’ is a significant tool, and it’s for parents, it’s for churches, it’s for all to get that to a young person and say, ‘Hey, the Bible is pretty interesting. There’s some really awesome stories in here.’”
He said kids all over the world are being impacted by the Bible. For instance, a 6-year-old from Nairobi, Kenya, wrote in to say “The Action Bible” has “nice pictures and stories.”
The child continued, “I like it because it is from God and teaches us good manners, and has taught me to forgive others. It has taught me to love other people.”
Eastman said this is just one of hundreds of impact statements from young people. He hopes “The Action Bible” serves as an introduction to kids — and that they go deeper with other more complete forms of Scripture.
“We always tell kids, ‘Hey, your next step is: you graduate to one of these study Bibles … you get a study Bible and you go into God’s word as a whole,’” he said.
”The Action Bible” and additional resources can be found here.
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