Around here, we’re huge fans of the saints. We’re also huge fans of graphic novels and comic books. So a new comic about a favourite saint is pretty much the best thing ever! Voyage Comics is a family-run start-up business that is producing awesome comics like you read when you were a kid—clean and fun. The Mission of Joan of Arc is a two-part comic that tells the story of this amazing fifteenth-century French girl.
I received this comic book for review courtesy of Voyage Comics; all opinions expressed remain my own. This post contains affiliate links; as a Voyage Comics affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
The Mission of Joan of Arc overview
I gotta say—I love that cover image of Saint Joan of Arc! She looks like she could stand up to any superhero. This is definitely the girl who’d lead a French army against the even bigger English armies that have been terrorizing her country for over a century. She’s gonna need that sort of determination to succeed at the mission God has given her!
And yet… that’s not the girl we see in the opening pages of this comic book. While French soldiers fight the attacking English at Orleans and discuss the legend of a maid who will save France, Joan is sitting at home in a field, enjoying her life as a shepherdess. When St. Michael the Archangel appears to her to give her a mission, Joan says no.
Only later when St. Catherine appears to Joan of Arc does she accept the mission and go to find Lord de Baudricourt. He needs a sign before he’ll accept she was sent by God and takes her to meet the crown-prince Charles. Charles also needs a sign from God before agreeing to Joan’s mission. Throughout the comic book, we see St. Michael guiding Joan, either showing her what she needs for her mission or giving her glimpses of the future.
The Mission of Joan of Arc has everything we’d expect of a comic book… a determined (yet humble) superhero fighting for what’s right, a nasty villain who wants to stop her, and a monumental challenge that will require superhuman (or supernatural) strength to succeed. Joan relies heavily on St. Michael’s guidance, prayer, and Mass to fulfill God’s call on her life.
A great introduction to a great saint
This comic book is sure to grab the attention of any child. The art is detailed and fantastic, telling as much of the story as the speech bubbles. It’s a quick, easy read, with just enough dialogue and description to tell the story. I love the way St. Joan of Arc’s faith is portrayed throughout the comic book. For example, we may wonder why God chose a simple French peasant girl to lead an army against the English. St. Michael tells Joan,
That made me think of the story of Gideon in the Old Testament. God chose the youngest son of the smallest tribe in Israel to lead an army of a few thousand against the hordes of Midianites oppressing His people. Like Gideon and so many other Biblical heroes and saints, Joan is a small and unlikely figure. On her own, she would have never pushed the English from France. All she did was to encourage her people to trust in God, who fought for them against the English. The victory wasn’t Joan’s, but God’s.
Unfortunately, Joan of Arc doesn’t get a superhero ending. She’s burned at the stake after being betrayed, falsely accused and unjustly tried. It may seem like God abandoned her. We don’t like suffering and failure, so we often try to avoid them. And yet even in suffering and apparent failure, God has a plan. We see St. Michael comforting Joan while she’s in prison, and we see her trusting in God, even as she faces death:
The Mission of Joan of Arc is a quick, easy read, and yet there is plenty in this comic book to contemplate, discuss, and inspire our faith. At the end of the comic book, writer Philip Kosloski includes two essays. The first shares St. Therese of Liseiux’s devotion to St. Joan of Arc and how her play about St. Joan inspired this retelling of St. Joan’s story. The second essay compares St. Joan to Rey of Star Wars.
More about Joan of Arc
Saint Joan of Arc was born in France in 1412 and martyred in 1431. She began seeing visions of St. Michael the Archangel when she was only 13 years old and began to lead the French army when she was 16. After her martyrdom, her ashes were scattered in the Seine River. Just fifteen years after her death, she was declared innocent of the charges she’d been killed for. She was canonized in 1920 and her feast day is celebrated on May 30. She is the patron saint of soldiers and France.
Grab Your Copy Today
The Mission of Joan of Arc is available on the Voyage Comics website. You can preview more of the artwork there and read the other rave reviews from parents. If your kids love St. Joan of Arc, you’ll want to check out the companion activity book and T-shirt. You’ll also want to check out the other books and comics available from Voyage Comics, especially if your kids love superheroes and fantasy stories as much as mine do.
Do your kids love saint stories and graphic novels or comic books?
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