Are you wondering what super powers, reading, and values have in common? This review of Captain Absolutely from Focus On The Family will clear it all up for you!
There are some people who treat comic books as a substandard form of reading. They don’t count comics as real reading.
Me? I grew up reading loads of my Dad’s Disney comic books. I loved the adventures of Uncle Scrooge, Donald Duck, and Mickey Mouse–in comic form. So when asked to review Captain Absolutely I thought it’d be fun.
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, so when the comic arrived, I sat down and read it. Then I had Jayme read it. She’s my comic book girl.
It’s a fast read, with plenty of action to keep the attention. If you’re familiar with The Adventures in Odyssey series, you’ll probably recognize some of the characters mentioned in the comic.
The Making of the Superhero Captain Absolutely
Every superhero needs an alter ego, right? That’s Josiah King, the local librarian. He was working one night while the computer system updated the Dewey Decimal System. His friend, Darren Gray, was there too.
Everything is going well, until a little accident happens. There’s an explosion. Because what kind of superhero comic book doesn’t have an explosion?
The blast sends Josiah to a section of the library where the Bibles were hidden. His friend had a different experience. He got blown into the philosophy section. This event significantly impacted the world view of both friends.
After the explosion, Josiah turned into Captain Absolutely–a defender of the absolute truth found in God’s word. Darren? Well he became Dr. Relative, and stood for his belief that everything is relative; there is no absolute truth.
Battles
Captain Absolutely battles plenty of evil villains throughout the comic, the Legion of Bad Guys. Each time he faces a battle, he uses scripture to reveal God’s truth.
Each of the villains have a world view that goes against the word of God. Captain Absolutely helps them to see that absolute truth, God’s truth, matters. And will be triumphant.
My Thoughts
Though I read my fair share of Disney comics, I was never really into the superhero comics. But, I was pleasantly surprised by Captain Absolutely.
First, the book is high quality, with thick pages. As a mom to many, I appreciate that! I know that Jeff and Ellie will both want to read this book when their reading skills improve.
I liked how the differences in world view were found throughout the book. Kids reading Captain Absolutely can use the truths presented to help them build a solid foundation of God’s word. While reading, they’ll find verses throughout the story, and see how God’s word can be used to look at different problems that arise.
Captain Absolutely helps people dealing with:
- Fear
- Theft
- Selfishness
- Holding a Grudge
- And More…
As he does his superhero thing, he’s filling the city with the truth of God’s word. And readers are picking up on those truths as well. It was a fun way to open some discussions about world view and why we believe what we believe.
Downsides?
We’ve only seen a few things from Focus on the Family before, so we lacked some of the background knowledge about characters. There were some footnotes in the comic, referencing other material. It would have been nice if a wee bit more backstory had been included, so the footnotes wouldn’t be needed.
I also didn’t like all of the twists and turns in the plot, but Jayme did. She’s more into superheroes than I am, so perhaps it just goes along with the territory!
Favorite Parts
I really liked the discussion questions at the end of the comic. These “Big Questions” are meant to help readers learn more about God’s word. Each also has a page number next to it, so readers can go back in the book and reread the corresponding section. Here are some examples:
- If God is always with you, why do you still lose some battles?
- What is spiritual maturity?
- Which qualities should you look for in a godly sidekick (or friend?)
Some good things to think about there!
I also like that this is a fun way to get the kids practicing reading. While many of the words are currently too hard for my early elementary kids, I know it’s something they’ll be interested in when the time is right. And reading practice is reading practice, even when it’s a comic book!
Wondering if Captain Absolutely is right for your family? Check out what other Homeschool Crew members had to say by clicking on the banner below.
