iPlates offer the Book of Mormon as comic books

(To see Cal Grondahl’s cartoon that goes with this post, click here.) Perhaps the best endorsement for iPlates, the Book of Mormon comic book series from Stephen Carter and Jett Atwood (here), is that my seven-year-old son, Joe, can’t get enough of Volume 1, which culminates with the story of the wicked King Noah, the prophet Abinadi, and the reformed priest Alma’s escape from his former confederates.

Not only does Joe insist I read a chapter of Volume 1 to him each night, he then grabs the slim comic book and reads the whole shebang himself. Older Mormons are urged to read The Book of Mormon as many times as possible, so it’s not a bad idea to have a comic book version that youngsters can enjoy over and over.

Atwood is a skilled cartoonist, able to convey the “good guys,” “bad guys” quality in her drawings. And Carter is skilled at making the characters appeal to modern times. He candidly admits a lot of what he puts in the characters’ mouths is literary license, but it works. Particularly fun are scenes of a young, petulant, bratty Noah.

iPlates should be a big seller with proper distribution. I already am planning to buy the entire set for Joe.

… courtesy of reader Tom Owens, I was provided a copy of the very interesting, How to Win an Election: An Ancient Guide for Modern Politicians. From Princeton Press, it’s penned by Quintus Tullius Cicero, the brother of Marcus, translated by Philip Freeman. It has bipartisan appeal, endorsed by Karl Rove and Gary Hart.

The book can be read in an hour. Although Gary Wills, in a New York Times review, was critical of Freeman’s translation, it provides nuggets of wisdom that seem to apply today as well as they did thousands of years ago.  I particularly Cicero’s advice No. 21, which reads, “There are three things that will guarantee votes in an election : favors, hope and personal attachment. You must work to give these incentives to the right people.” No. 53 is interesting as well: “The most important part of your campaign is to bring hope to people and a feeling of goodwill toward you. On the other hand, you should not make specific pledges either to the Senate or the people. Stick to vague generalities …”

I’ll guess we’ll know in 8 days which candidate, Obama or Romney, followed Cicero’s advice to victory.