King David (Paperback)

by Kyle Baker (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
The story of David and Goliath has a ring of inevitability about it that handicaps most attempts at retelling. But Kyle Baker's comic book version of King David renders that classic confrontation in 17 wordless pages, comprising one of the freshest, most suspenseful and thrilling descriptions of its subject that you are likely to find. King David is a biblically accurate, freewheeling, color-saturated biography of the boy who rose to become king of Israel. David begins the book as a scruffy Dennis-the-Menace-like kid and ends the book as a vain, hunky womanizer; King Saul is a glam-rock tyrant; his son Jonathan is a skinny punk rebel. (When he asks to borrow Saul's chariot and the king asks, "Where are you going, Jonathan?" he shoots back, "Out.") Many parents will deem the book's bloody battle scenes inappropriate for young readers. King David's candor, however, is a virtue. This is real religious literature: it describes David's relationship with God in a style that's fully alive for readers today. --Paul Power

From Publishers Weekly
Baker, the author of at least two graphic novel cult classics-Why I Hate Saturn and The Cowboy Wally Show-combines gag-a-minute, pie-in-the face humor with formidable drafting chops right out of the Disney cartoon virtuoso handbook for this new book. It's a retelling of the story of David of Israel, who is recast as a decent guy, devoted both to God and to the crazy, homicidal King Saul. Baker's young David is a smart-mouthed, harp-playing 11th century B.C. shepherd, who causes a ruckus and takes down names whenever he thinks the living God of Israel isn't getting proper respect. After David takes out Goliath, in a visually dynamic and hilarious sequence of comic carnage, nutty King Saul realizes this kid could be a threat. But David is both lucky and good, and as the scriptures remind us, Saul fails time and again to kill him before the pious but dim David realizes what Saul is up to. Baker's treatment of the biblical story is funny and irreverent, and Bible study has never been so hip. But the book's pace and wisecracks slow to a crawl by the end, and Baker starts to rely more on the scriptural text than his own zany wit. The artwork, a combination of hand illustration and computer manipulation, is absurdly rich in color and detail-as if this were a pitch for a big-budget animated film-while at times rendered in a brisk and cursory line. Baker has produced an engaging comic adaptation of a classic tale.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 104 pages
• Publisher: Vertigo (April 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563898667
• ISBN-13: 978-1563898662
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #376,803 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #66 in	Books > Religion & Spirituality > Bible & Other Sacred Texts > Sacred Writings > Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) > Biography
  #67 in	Books > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > Reference > Biographies > Old Testament

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning!, March 17, 2003

By	Lisa Lee (Tuskegee, Alabama) - See all my reviews

This book is awesome. I love the way Kyle Baker melds a variety of art techniques, juxtaposing lush Disneyesque renderings with rough charcoal sketches which recall the work of legendary cartoonist Harvey Kurtzman. Baker also employs a variety of narrative techniques in the text, ranging from the witty dialogue which is his trademark to multi-page wordless sequences (the Publishers Weekly review above details Baker's handling of the Goliath fight, and I loved the silent scene of Saul and David in the cave), all combined with a healthy portion of actual Biblical passages (which are already so beautiful, Baker was wise not to try "improving" the Word of God). The result is a delightful variety of rhythms which keeps the reader engaged. I hope there will be more Bible stories from Kyle Baker.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Astonishing! Another Breathtaking Triumph!, March 16, 2003

By	Marianne Sherman (Woodstock, NY) - See all my reviews

This is one of the most spectacular graphic novels I've ever seen! Of course, that should be expected from one of the pioneers of the medium, but still! I've had this book for three days now, and I can't stop staring at it! The amount of detail, labor and research that must have gone into creating this must have been, uh -- impossible! How could one man create the kind of product it takes 400 Disney animators years to produce? And the story is true to the Biblical source material! You could read this book in Sunday school or Hebrew school! I mean, sure there's a lot of sex and violence, but it's all from the Holy Bible. I can't say enough wonderful things about this book. If you love the Bible and the incredible story of one of the greatest leaders of all time, you will LOVE this book.

6 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A few glowing moments, largely mediocre, September 12, 2002

By	Jeremiah M. Bear "Jeremy Bear" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Touted as Kyle Baker's "Biblically Acurate Telling of the David Story", King David is an interesting read, but its stuttered rhythm and the inconsistent level of quality found in the artwork makes for an admirable, though somewhat ham-fisted, effort.

Long-time Kyle fans will pick this one up out of sheer duty to the man who brought us the hillarious now-classics Why I Hate Saturn and Cowboy Wally Show. However, in an obvious attempt to broaden his appeal, Baker has sacrificed the clever semantics and biting wit that caused us to fall in love with him in the first place.

Much of the art is beautiful, full-color work in which Kyle applies his signature cartoony style. Every 10 or 20 pages, he treats us to a gorgeous pin-up, deftly showing off his astounding skill. Unfortunately, littered throughout are pages on pages of cranked-out sketches with dumped-on color, barely worthy of a concept character-study, much less final art in this otherwise beautiful book. It's far too much visual whiplash, between the lovingly-rendered and the hastily-scribbled, and the storytelling is sacrificed as a result.

Also, Kyle makes poor use of the comics medium, awkwardly bouncing back and forth between illustrated prose and traditional comics conventions. The writing itself resembles the art... wonderful in certain spots, glaringly sub-par in others.

A valiant effort, I suppose, but for my money I'd have preferred a book half the length at twice the quality. Buy it if you must, but don't expect the Kyle Baker brilliance of yesteryear.