Is my idea for a webcomic offensive?

Question

A few years ago, I had an idea for a comic I wanted to write and draw called Losing My Religion. The story centered around Bellaluna, an angel demon hybrid who, because she could travel to either heaven or hell, was a Reaper, and collected the souls of those who had died. However, because she was half demon, she wasn't really trusted by the other angels and had a hard time fitting in. The whole story pretty much revolves around the ideas of good and evil, free will, death, life, love, hate... you get the idea.

Anyway, I was wondering if this comic would be offensive to those more Christian minded than I am. It would be portraying some demons (such as Bella's mother and half brother, as well as her love intrest) in a sympathetic light, as well as portraying some angels as not-so-nice. I never meant for the comic to be a serious portrayal of the Christian faith, but rather use some of the cool "mythology" bits of the faith, if you will, for my story.

I'll post some links to my art too.

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/14063437/?qo=9&q=by%3Asporkpirate+sort%3Atime+-in%3Ascraps
Chapter cover. Featuring Bellaluna and her human roommate, Rodney.

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/11345063/?qo=20&q=by%3Asporkpirate+sort%3Atime+-in%3Ascraps
Bellaluna again, when her job gets to be too much for her.

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/8889082/?qo=29&q=by%3Asporkpirate+sort%3Atime+-in%3Ascraps
Ariel, Bella's love intrest. he's a demon called a Destroyer, but he pretty much has no control over the evil things he does and wishes he could stop. Bella tries to help him.

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/6421258/?qo=40&q=by%3Asporkpirate+sort%3Atime+-in%3Ascraps
Early drawings of Bella's full angel sister, full demon brother, and Ariel.

Answer 1

The concept is certainly NOT patently offensive, and it sounds very interesting. Your drawings look good. Do it. Don't worry about offending the fringe! Also, I love REM too, but you might want to re-focus your story concept with a new title, perhaps rather than 'LMR' it might be Finding ----------. (?) Or maybe its Seeking ------- or Searching ----------. But if you remove the word "religion", it won't so easily be a lightning rod. Good luck!

Answer 2

Cool stuff, Girl Wonder. You might get some resistance from uber-Christians, but the chances of them being in your key target audience anyway are fairly slim. If you have a story to tell, you can't let yourself be constrained by the fact that some people might be offended by it. As we're dealing with faith in humanity this morning, this is your chance to put faith in yourself, in what you have to say and how you say it. I'm doing the same at the moment, writing about the mythology of the "Devil" and portraying demons in a fairly sympathetic light. You can't self-censor if you have something to say. Do you have any way of keeping your potential audience, including me, in the loop about Bellaluna's adventures and when they'll be available to check out fully?

Answer 3

I don't think it's offensive. It might not be my cup of tea, but I'm sure there's far more offensive work out there. What would be offensive would be any portrayal of Christianity that doesn't portray it accurately deliberately. In other words, if your goal is to insult Christians, then that would be offensive. If your goal is to be creative, that's a different story all together.

Answer 4

Who cares if it offends someone? I think youre onto something here - I, for one, would be interested in reading your comics....they sound interesting. While I am NOT religious at all, I am fascinated by the topic.....my fav movie was Constantine, about an exorcist!

I say write on, baby! Sounds like a great idea~!!!!!!

Answer 5

if it were offensive, would it make a difference to you? i mean, would you not do it or would you do it because it was offensive? not offensive, i probably wouldn't buy it. i'm not really into comics. if you hadn't said anything about it now, i'd probably never even know of it. it'll probably offend some, not every one. like other media that utilize "cool 'mythology' bits of the faith". City of Angels and Constantine come to mind.

Answer 6

Hey, that sounds cool!

I don't think it's necessarily offensive to Christians to use the ideas of angels and demons. I don't believe they would approve, though. At least, my parents wouldn't have let me read it.

There's a difference between that and offensive, though.

Answer 7

No.Whoever isoffended by it shouldnt be looking at it anyway.Good luck!
Oh,and by the way your art is beautiful.
I really like the one with her by herself looking like shes crying.
It would look alot better though if you did it with art software on the computer,but its still awesome as it is!Please post the comics,because I would really love to see them!

Answer 8

We need things that are offensive to religions because religions are just humans banding together to believe in something that can not be proved or disproved... Therefore, they need to be humbled now and then because they actually start to believe that their man made beliefs are something that should be forced on all of us.

GOOD IDEA !!! DO IT !!

Answer 9

nice art work..what comic aren't ...strange , and controversial???, thought Ariel was supposed to be a good guy??

good idea..you draw good.

for art class...cartooning 101, at college i drew, .

BRICK-MAN LOSES HIS EGO

based on the movie THE WALL...pink floid

and MR GU...a middle class guru living on a mountain top .in the suburbs, with his girlfriend ...Sheila shakti.
_______________________________________

please continue the are work..mine will never ..be finished.

Answer 10

sounds interesting to me! your art looks great. all art is going to offend someone but don't let it keep you from expressing yourself. i'm sure there are many more offensive comics out there then yours would be