Thursday, June 27, 2013

The Tower Of Babel

(Continued from Noah)

One of the most bizarre stories in the entire BIBLE has to be "The Tower Of Babel".  It's also one of the most visually striking, in religious art, in Bible comics, and in the film THE BIBLE.. IN THE BEGINNING, where it opens the 2nd half of the picture.  It was even the inspiration (or sorts) for one episode of French-Japanese co-produced animated TV cartoon series, ULYSSES 31, a futuristic sci-fi take on Greek mythology.

As expected, it's been covered multiple times in the BOYS' LIFE series, starting with May 1954.  Strangely enough, like "Cain and Abel", it has not appeared since 1975.  Perhaps people who'd grown too jaded and insisted on literal interpretations of everything in literature and film were having increasingly difficulty coming to terms with what might simply be allegory?

I also note that only the 1st version seen here gives any kind of sensible, long-term reason for what happened.  One might say this relates to today's world more than most might think!

This is one particular instance where I feel cutting the series from a full page to half a page for most of its run really hurt.  A story about the tallest building in the world seems like it couldn't help but benefit from a "vertical" format...

At any rate, the various versions have all been collected here for handy comparison.  Enjoy!

VERSION 1
May 1954  /  art by CREIG FLESSEL
VERSION 2
July 1957  /  art by IRVING NOVICK
VERSION 3
July 1963  /  art by IRVING NOVICK
VERSION 4
December 1966  /  art by LOU FINE
VERSION 5
June 1975  /  art by (??)
(Continued in Abraham)

Copyright (C) BOY'S LIFE Magazine
Restorations by Henry Kujawa

Read the entire STORIES FROM THE BIBLE series from the beginning!

For More:
Read the Wikipedia page on Book Of Genesis
Read the Wikipedia page on Tower Of Babel
See various artists' depictions of The Tower Of Babel

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