SOURCE: "Eaten by a Lion or Something," in New Statesman, Vol. 114, Nos. 2960-2962, December 12-25, 1987–January 1, 1988, pp. 41-2.

[Below, Kaveney reviews several graphic novels including Outrageous Tales from the Old Testament from Knock-about Publishers and Jose Munoz and Carlos Sampayo's collaboration entitled Joe's Bar.]

When we were all very young, the reverend Marcus Morris attempted to channel our taste for comics into that brand of liberal Christian imperialism so skillfully preached in Eagle and Girl. In between Belle of the Ballet and Dan Dare, we had to sit more often than we cared to through famous stories from the Bible, all of them done in excruciating, stilted good taste.

And some of us grew up to be the artists and writers who have contributed to Knockabout's Outrageous Tales from the Old Testament, which goes to show that blasphemy is a matter of having a complex relationship with your...