Canticles
By Nick Zou

http://www.drunkduck.com/Canticles/

Benjamin Hall is a recovering heroin addict, chain smoker, semi-professional gambler, and a linguistics genius. After a brief incarceration, he is hired by the Twenty Second Ecumenical Council to work on a new translation of the Bible.

After the death of Pope Benedict the XVI, the Roman Catholic Church found itself facing an uncertain future. With the world turning its back on religion due to fanatics and a revival of rationalist thought, the Vatican calls upon Christian denominations from across the globe to come together and unite as one. The Twenty Second Ecumenical Council was the result of this calling. Issues of faith, practice, and governance were to be discussed.

Pope Leo XIV, known as a reformer in his time was hopeful for a positive outcome. As a part of his many ambitious undertakings, the new pope wanted to re-translate the Holy Scriptures, one that would be suitable for all Christians across the globe. He chose his good friend Pastor John Erwin of Calmouth Baptist Church to head this project. Pastor Erwin proceeds to assemble a team of scholars, theologians, and linguists to help him in this task. He recruits one, Benjamin Hall.

Along with his criminal record, Benjamin brings with him an series of bad habits that taint the reputation of Pastor Erwin's organization, the International Pan-Christian Bible Translation Committee. Erwin, however, is the least of Ben's concerns. Ben is trying to rekindle a relationship with his ex-girlfriend from high school and college, the only woman he's ever truly loved, who is now a born again Christian and about to marry another man.

Author's Note: I know this is quite heavy. You don't have to read the plot premise if you want, but because I have so few pages I was hoping that this would shed some light on the comic itself. All of this will be explained later within the pages of the comic, but as of now, those do not exist. Anyways, lay it out on me, I'm plugging it but at the same time go ahead, criticize all you want. I know this can be better, I imagined it better in my head. Forgive my poor inking skills, I'm really working hard on making them better.

The premise sounds really original!

I think you could benefit a lot from shading. It'll add visual interest and could make it more dynamic. Lineart by itself might not hold interest as well.

In case you don't get a lot of replies, you might get more if you bump this or make a new thread in a month when there are more pages to comment on!

Thanks for taking the time to look at my comic.

Anyways, I know there isn't much in terms of actual pages in my comic right now but I'm working on it. Also the plot synopsis is a bit lengthy, I should really cut down on that. Plus yeah my inking is the main problem. I frankly don't have the skill to create depth with pen at the moment. I can only do simple shading but I'm definitely working on that right now.

Anyways, thanks for reviewing, I hope it interested you enough to keep you reading.