The Lone and Level Sands
Writer: A. David Lewis
Art: mpMann
Coloring: Jennifer Rodgers
Published by Archaia Studios Press; $17.95 USD

In The Lone and Level Sands, writer A. David Lewis has taken on an ambitious task - a re-examination of the Jewish exodus from Egypt. It's a tale familiar to some from the Biblical story in the book of Exodus, to others from the Qur'an, and to yet others, from a somewhat less venerable source, Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments. The Lone and Level Sands examines the Exodus from the point of view of the Egyptian leader, Pharaoh Ramses, attempting to fill in the gaps in the Biblical account to explore the story from the view of the vanquished. It's a bold attempt, and a serious effort, taking the source documents seriously while not being limited to them in terms of characterization and personal motivations, which largely go unexplored in the Biblical text. As a theologian who loves graphic novels of all kinds, and for many different reasons, I was particularly taken with Lewis's work, and that of the artists, mpMann and Jennifer Rodgers. This is narrative material, sacred history, if you will, that has helped to shape the belief of millions of people in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. For many, as God said to Moses from the burning bush, this is "holy ground."

Not only that, the tale of the Exodus is also one that has caused untold grief among interpreters of the Old Testament. There is an unrelieved tension in the Biblical account between the sovereignty of the Almighty and human responsibility, that has caused innumerable disagreements from adherents of various branches of Christianity and Judaism. In the Exodus story, this issue comes to play particularly in the interaction between the God of the Jews, his spokesman Moses, and the Pharaoh of Egypt. At various points, the Scriptural account speaks of the Lord "hardening Pharaoh's heart," while on other occasions the text speaks of the Pharaoh hardening his own heart. The question that arises from the complicated interplay between Moses and the Pharaoh is this: how does one reconcile the overarching power and control of God with the fact of human responsibility? How does one bring together human freedom, and divine omnipotence? How does one reckon with the Pharaoh's own ability to make decisions in this story? Is the Pharaoh merely a pawn in the hands of a vengeful God, or does he bear the responsibility for his own actions?

These questions have occupied the greatest minds in world civilization since time immemorial, and are likely never to be answered to anyone's satisfaction. So the real question here is not, "How did the authors of this work solve this conundrum?", but "Did the authors of this work adequately and honestly strive with the issue?" And the answer to the real question is a resounding "Yes." Lewis has done what I feel is a remarkable job of bringing together the elements of human responsibility and divine sovereignty, in a unique, insightful way. While I believe Lewis does an excellent job with this depiction, that's not to say that I agree with it entirely. The fact is, I don't. And when it comes right down to it, as a comic reader and reviewer, that fact isn't very important. But... and this is a very important "But", Lewis shows a depth of insight into the source material that is remarkable, and that is what I admire. He grapples with the issues, he works honestly with the historical record, and the final form of The Lone and Level Sands makes this very clear.

In his foreword, Ben Towle exhibits a fundamental, but unfortunately common misrepresentation of Torah (the five books of Moses that form the basis of Jewish belief). This reading dates back as far as Marcion, a prominent figure in the early Christian church who despised Jews and wanted to rid Christian Scripture of all of what he considered to be Jewish remnants that, he believed, adulterated the Christian message. It is a view that veers dangerously in the direction of anti-Semitic thinking, however unwittingly. When he writes, "Like much of the Old Testament, Exodus is a tale rife with brutal violence, searing conflict, and an often wrathful Deity whose modus operandi is more, 'An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,' than 'Turn the other cheek,'" he says nothing new, but places the God of Hebrew scriptures at a somehow lower, more brutal, and less evolved level than the God of the New Testament. He continues on, "The Ramses of Sands is not a straw man slave master, but a conflicted monarch who's inherited a conflict not of his making, and who's become an unwitting cog ground down in a divine clockwork." Unless I have fundamentally misunderstood the message of the book (and since we all bring our own peculiar presuppositions to any work of art, this may very well be possible), Towle is putting up a wall between Ramses' responsibility for his refusal to let the Israelites leave Egypt and the "Divine plan," a barrier that Lewis himself doesn't erect in his re-telling of this story. This will teach me forevermore to never read the foreword to a book before reading the book itself. Because these faux-intellectual parrotings of popular wisdom had me grinding my teeth in frustration before even making my way to the first page of the actual story.

My visceral personal reaction to the book's foreword aside, however, I unhesitatingly and enthusiastically recommend The Lone and Level Sands to readers of any and all faith commitments. Lewis provides a unique take on a familiar story, and mpMann's artwork is rich, unique, and takes full advantage of the vast resources provided by Egyptian iconography, hieroglyphics, and monumental scenery. His characterization leans toward caricature, but does so to good effect. While we get to see little of Moses himself, comparatively speaking, Mann's depiction of Moses meshes well with Lewis's enigmatic rendering of the Israelite leader. Moses is no Charlton Heston, and Ramses is no Yul Brynner, and the art of The Lone and Level Sands is all the better for it. Archaia Studios Press, which has re-issued Lewis's original self-published effort in this color hardcover edition, also deserves praise for the quality of presentation; this is a lovely, finely-crafted book, well worth the cover price. And while Mann's line work works very well on its own, Jennifer Rodgers' coloring adds atmosphere and flavor to Mann's drawings, adding a feeling of the shimmering desert heat, the light of the Egyptian sun and the palpable darkness of the ninth plague, which deepens feelings of raw emotion using a simple, unified pallette.

As for the plot, well, that's pretty familiar, so I need not fear offering spoilers to the unsuspecting reader. Moses, the adopted cousin of Pharaoh Ramses, returns to Egypt after forty years of exile, and confronts Ramses with the demand to let the Israelite slaves free to worship in the desert. The Pharaoh refuses, all manner of supernatural mayhem ensues, and the people of Israel escape Egypt after a miraculous crossing of the Red Sea. But while the plot is familiar to many, Lewis's success at getting inside the characters themselves is what makes The Lone and Level Sands compelling reading on an entirely different level.

-- Jim Witt

Send review copies to:
Jim Witt
3311 Springvale Crt.
Burlington, Ontario, Canada
L7M 3Y6

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