It's rather comical (pun intended) that as my family has been reviewing The Captain Sun Adventures Book 1 Rescue Me! What Superheroes Can Teach Us About the Power of Faith, my husband and I have determined to chronologically make our way through all the Marvel Superhero movies. With these films fresh in my mind every week, it was encouraging to work through this comic book which is aimed at helping kids connect classic superhero themes with the supremely heroic message of the Bible.
Captain Sun Adventures Book 1 Rescue Me! What Superheroes Can Teach Us About the Power of Faith seeks to lay out the foundational message of the gospel of Jesus Christ portraying Him as the ultimate superhero in the fight against sin and death. This vibrant, animated booklet attempts to remind any and all superhero fans when they see a caped rescuer or an iron plated defender that Jesus Christ is the superior savior and we are the ones who need saving.
The "Introduction" to this book encourages parents to use the comic as a devotional with their children. Younger children are urged to meditate on one chapter at a time, whereas older children can take in more then one chapter in a sitting. After reading this several times, I definitely recommend taking this book little by little discussing themes along the way.
Every chapter is 2-3 pages in length and takes 5-10 minutes to read. As expected, the pages are full color, glossy, attractive and action-packed. At the conclusion of every chapter is a "Capital City Chronicle" depicting a short devotional/gospel message that correlates with what the superhero, Captain Sun, preformed in the previous pages. These "Chronicles" include topics such as:
(1) The Origin Story: how superheroes have an origin story and what the Bible says is our origin story and how Jesus wants to give us a new heart
(2) The Greatest Rescue: The only hero that can save us from sin is Jesus, who was both fully man and God
(3) The Bad Guys: We are all sinners and sin is not only failing to do what God wants, but first, it's failing to honor God as God.
(4) The 'Super-est' Power: The most important kind of power described in the Bible is not the power to demolish stone walls or call down fire from heaven. It is the power to live like Jesus. It is the power to love and obey God.
(5) For the Good of Others: Real heroes use their power to help those in need and our greatest need is the rescuing that Jesus offers us.
(6) Your Secret Identity: Our secret life should be one that glorifies God and seeks His approval over man's approval
(7) A Team Of Heroes: God's design for the church
(8) Being A Real Hero: Motivating children to live a life of faith as a true hero for God's glory and the good of others
The main story line of Rescue Me! takes place at Capital City on a normal, not so normal day when a peculiar darkness creeps upon the city. In desperation, citizens begin looking to the sky for Captain Sun. This darkness has a name: "Black-Out". His spread is gripping the city in a terrifying shadow.
Captain Sun, like any virtuous superhero, fights to defeat Black-Out. However, unlike other superheroes, he shows compassion on his victim and sacrifices his life to save Black-Out's.
Captain Sun washes up on the edge of the city and Black-Out is locked in prison only to escape and wreck havoc on the city once more. Captain Sun's team of superheroes are radioed in to assist in this (possible) final stance against their villain.
I say "possible" because the story sadly ends with a cliff hanger...
We are unhappy about this, but it does motivate us want to purchase the other books in this series including Captain Sun And the Army of Fear: More Lessons on Heroes and Faith as well as Captain Sun And the Scorge of the Shadow Dragon.
How We Used This Book This short, sweet comic books is great for just a story time, or can be used as a nightly devotional when you need to change things up for a week.
I read this with all six of my kids. It was so good we ate it up in one sitting (with a short break half way through since I needed to turn the stove off - you know how moms need to multitask constantly - someone should write a superhero book about us... lest I digress...).
My husband actually took this comic to work with him and said he couldn't put it down! Haha! He loved the applicational pages.
My kids have each taken turns reading it independently.
It was one of the few books that made the cut for our family vacation. :)
What We Thought
Over all, we liked this book a lot! These are the kinds of superhero books I would want my boys to spend their times mulling over. Instead of filling their heads with mindless violence, it's filling their spirits with scripture and a solid foundation in Jesus Christ, His Word, His supremacy, and is building up their faith in Him.
I usually spend about a month or two using a product, then a week or more writing my reviews. As I pieced this one together, I kept getting the picture of my kids book shelf in their rooms. Books open up worlds of influence for our kids on a number of topics and in endless ways. Stocking those shelves with quality books is worth the effort and the financial commitment required;this book is one of those books.
One criticism I have of this comic book is the price in relation to how short the book actually is. I was very surprised to find that Rescue Me! is only about 30-pages in length and costs $7.99 on amazon. I would expect to pay $3.99-$5.99 at the most for a comic book as thin as this one. I would like the cost to be more reasonable, or the book to include more content. It can be read in it's entirety in under 30 minutes. The price is what makes me hesitant to purchase the other books in The Captain Sun Adventures series.
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