No, it’s not a bird, or a plane, or even Superman. It’s the Evangelical world’s superhero, Bibleman! When he is not busy battling superscum Rapscallion P. Sinister, he can be found evangelizing with Billy Graham and introducing children to the superpower that can be found in knowing their Bibles:
He fights bad guys for a living! He’s got a light saber! He wears a silver spandex suit and a shiny yellow helmet! No wonder kids were enthralled by the masked superhero Saturday morning, even though he also sings ballads, quotes Bible verses and has no real superpowers — just the ‘armor of God.’
"Bibleman, the Christian superhero, swooped into Queens’ Flushing Meadows Park to help that other Crusader — evangelist Billy Graham — spread the message of God. Graham’s three-day crusade will be his last in the United States, and he has drawn record crowds.
"Thousands braved the sweltering heat to see Bibleman, including children decked out in purple and yellow Bibleman outfits, and a few curious adults.
"’I’m finding myself enjoying it,’ said Greg Packer, 41, of Huntington, N.Y. ‘It’s like a religious version of Star Wars.’"
(Nod to Holy Weblog! for the link.)
I found myself wistfully thinking that Bibleman should team up with Tradition Man and Magisterial Man to fight off the evil Sola-Scriptura Man. But then I remembered! The Curt Jester was on the case and showcased the results!
Bibleman used to be played by Willy Aames, btw, but he laid down the role a few years back.
Shoudn’t “Bibleman” have a black outfit with gold trim? That seems to be the color scheme for most bibles. The cape could be maroon, like that little ribbon that hangs out, marking your page.
Hopefully, Bibleman is not weighed down with needless introductions and dubious footnotes, as some of my Bibles are. That would make it hard for him to fly.
I actually saw some of these action figures (along with his sidekicks) a couple weeks ago at a bookstore in Cleveland.
–arthur
OK-I’ll admit it–we own some copies of Bibleman. My kids want superhero type stuff and there is nothing out there that they can see–Spiderman, Batman, et al. are rated PG-13–my kids won’t be seeing them for a long time. My husband I and previewed the videos before my kids watched them–are they are pretty good.
Bibleman and his team, whose Captain is God, goes up against some bad guys who use a computer named LUCI to tempt the good guys to be afraid, to lie, to boast of their achievements and be prideful, to be untrusting, etc. They always realize that God is the answer to combatting any bad guy.
It’s better than anything I can find for them to watch and I don’t see that it goes against the magisterium.
My husband I and also noticed some images of statues and things that looked really Catholic in some of the earlier videos.
Am I wrong to let my kids watch these?
Given all the stuff out there, I would feel safe letting my kids, if I owned any, watch the show. It seems that even on the most innocent cartoons, the characters are wear less and less every year…
I think you’ve answered your own question, Suzanne =).
I just hope that he wasn’t deceived by Mad Prof. L. Reformius Uther into going to the ‘dark side’ and become Sola Scriptura Man. If that ever happens, we can always call on the Super Cardinals of ‘The Council Rangers’ (With Tradition Man and Magisterial Man, of course).