Book Review: The Truth Is Out There
Not Just Another Apologetics Book
I’ve seen a lot of apologetical texts in my two and a half decades as a Catholic. A few are great, some are serviceable, others are forgettable. Truth be told, it’s hard to get me excited about a new apologetics book—not because apologetics isn’t important, but simply because the market is so flooded with these texts that they are a dime a dozen. So a few months ago, when Catholic Answers Press sent me a review copy of their apologetical text The Truth is Out There, I didn’t expect anything out of the ordinary.
A Graphic Novel That Surprises
Boy, I was wrong! Once I picked up The Truth is Out There, I couldn’t put it down. I plowed through its 123 pages in a single (prolonged) sitting. It made me wish I’d gotten to it sooner.
So what’s so special about The Truth is Out There?
For one thing, this is an apologetics text written entirely in graphic novel format. The Truth is Out There is volume one in a three-part series published by Catholic Answers and produced by the Maronite Monks of Adoration, a religious community from Petersham, Massachusetts. Doing an apologetics text as a graphic novel is an interesting concept, and I was curious about how well they’d manage. As I’ve noted before, graphic novels can be done very well or very poorly. Pulling off a successful graphic novel requires a genuine love of comics and an appreciation for the medium. I don’t know who the writer and artists were on this project (they chose to remain anonymous), but they certainly executed their vision superbly!
Brendan and Erc: A Journey to Truth
The Truth is Out There follows the adventures of two interplanetary mailmen named Brendan and Erc. The two friends couldn’t be more different in likeness and temperament. Brendan is a diminutive idealist, while Erc is a huge, muscle-bound materialist. Brendan is interested in truth, and Erc in partying. But one day, while making their regular cargo run to the moon and back, they suddenly find themselves on a journey they didn’t expect—a journey to the truth.
Troubled by a disturbing dream, Brendan begins asking questions about whether men have souls. Erc angrily denies the existence of the soul, insisting that the meaning of life is found in pleasure and bodily delights. The debate sprawls into a running conversation that follows the pair to the moon and back and introduces a host of colorful characters in their search for the truth.
The book is essentially structured as a dialogue, with Brendan as the truth-seeker and Erc as the naysayer. Erc contests Brendan’s faith journey every step of the way, throwing up objection after objection to his friend’s inquiries. Erc’s challenges force Brendan to sharpen his thinking, while Brendan’s responses compel Erc to reluctantly admit the reasonableness of faith.
Philosophy Meets Comics
One word I would use to describe this book is substantial. Whenever I pick up a graphic novel, I’m always on the lookout for fluff—for flimsy, superficial content dressed up in pretty colors to mask its banality. I am happy to say that The Truth is Out There was the opposite of this! From page one, this book fearlessly dived into some pretty intricate philosophical debates.
As I went through this book, I was repeatedly impressed with the depth of the arguments presented through the dialogue between Brendan and Erc. The best classical arguments from the Catholic and classical tradition are presented. I recognized Plato’s argument for justice, Aristotle’s teaching on the soul, Augustine’s definition of happiness, apologetics from C.S. Lewis, and Aquinas’s five proofs for the existence of God. And those are just the ones I can remember off the top of my head. But what is amusing is the arguments are not identified as such. They are simply worked into the natural dialogue between Brendan, Erc, and their friends. Kids reading this book will get fantastic exposure to the arguments of the West’s greatest thinkers without even realizing it.
Not Your Typical Graphic Novel
The book’s greatest asset is also what parents need to be aware of before purchasing it. When I describe the book as a dialogue, that’s precisely what it is and a little more. It’s 127 pages of conversations between Brendan, Erc, and various interlocutors. There are occasional cut-scenes where we see the two delivering packages, entering a cafeteria, or doing other activities. Still, these are always brief set-ups whose only purpose is to set the stage for the next phase of the dialogue. This isn’t bad by any means.
The book functions exceptionally well as a dialogue; honestly, it needs to be dialogue-focused to cover the breadth of apologetical material it contains. But people often assume that a graphic novel will have a lot of action, like an old-style comic book. So please be aware it’s not that kind of comic. It’s essentially a 127-page philosophical-theological discussion presented in graphic novel format.
Final Thoughts and Recommendations
If you have a teen interested in the real meat of apologetics who loves graphic novels, The Truth is Out There is an excellent resource. You can also access a downloadable study guide that Catholic Answers has available for free, which is a fantastic value added. Catholic Answers also sells the entire trilogy of Brendan and Erc graphic novels as a set if you’d like to pick up all of them. I certainly want to get my hands on the rest of these!
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