Comics / European Comics

Antityp

By Hervé St-Louis
June 25, 2022 - 19:15

Antityp is the story of the apostle Paul who once falling off his horse, has an epiphany, thinking that God spoke to him, and thus decides to proselytize the world with a new religion called Christianity. Having not witnessed the first happening in this religion, through sheer force of will he crafted it. But on his way Greece, he is faced with the wretched decadence of man-to-man love and much more sins, and thus makes it his mission to demonize the old Greek and Roman gods. Will he succeed in banishing the old gods and gay love?

Antityp is the third chapter of the Bible trilogy crafted by German cartoonist Ralf König. In previous instalments, König began explaining Christianity and its war against homosexuality. He finishes the job here with the most annoying of them all, Saint-Paul. Of course, König being one of Germany’s most insightful and critical cartoonists, the whole thing turns into a masterpiece of a parody, which although I read in the original German language was a beauty to savour.

König has explored homosexuality in many previous comics using a style closer to classic cartooning and parody than realism. You can feel the jokes and the exuberant images, showing how much of an apt human being Paul was. At the same time, the art is creative and dynamic. You will not be bored reading this comic, originally published in 2012. It has since been translated at least in French but marvelling at the work of this classic cartoonist in any language is a joyful experience. My German is rusted, and I had some trouble picking up the subtilities of the words, but the cartoons helped a lot with providing readers with the context of Paul’s shenanigans.

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12