I Met... Wes Molebash!
A number of years ago, I stumbled upon a Facebook group about Bible journaling, which is a method of Bible study and reading in which you respond to a text in an artistic way on the page itself. For some, this means adding pre-printed scrapbook embellishments to the margins, or using water colors to create an image on the page, or writing out a verse in a fancy script. The vast majority of the Bible journalers in the group were (and probably still are) women, so much so that the founder and proprietor of Illustrated Faith addressed the group as "Hey Ladies and Wes..." Wes was one of the few guys in the group and the only one that posted on a regular basis. He had a wide-margin Bible and would draw funny cartoons during his lunch break. His artistic interpretations of characters like Job and the Apostles were drawn with thick black lines (Bible journalers tend to be concerned about ink bleeding throught the thin pages of Bibles) and colored with a non-photo blue-ish shading. It turns out this Wes character was a pretty talented artist who had been cartooning for some time. In 2016, he launched a Kickstarter campaign to collect his comic strips about parenting into a paperback book titled
Molebashed: Season One. But even more exciting, if the campaign reached the $15,000 level, Wes would throw in a copy of
Comix Exegesis: Bible Sketchbook 1 at NO Additional Cost! The Kickstarter campaign was successful and the
Molebashed: Season One book was great, but sadly the campaign did not reach the stretch goal... (sad face).
The following year, in September 2017, I arranged for Wes to come to Buckeye Central where my oldest son was attending school as an "artist of the month," sponsored by the PTO. The K through 4th grade students were invited to an assembly and "
were full of laughter and on the edge of their seats as the southern Ohio cartoonist let the kids make up a story, including the characters. As the story and illustrations unfolded, Molebash explained the process of making a book and how it all comes together. Mr. Molebash engaged all the students while encouraging them to help along with the story. The students thoroughly enjoyed the live, visual, art education experience."
Skipping over the dark years of Covid and fast forwarding to 2023, Wes has a new book out, the first graphic novel in a four-part series: Travis Daventhorpe for the Win! I was able to preview the book before it was released. It features amazing art, engaging characters, a bit of mystery, lots of Easter Eggs, and an underlying worldview that reflects the faith of its writer/artist. The kids and I were able to stop by the local bookstore for the release celebration and present Wes with a custom-made Funko Pop of Travis. On the way home as my oldest son, who recently was in Aladdin Jr. found an Aladdin Easter Egg!
So we will all be waiting for the next three books in the series, and after that, hopefully the long-awaited release of Comix Exegesis!
The following year, in September 2017, I arranged for Wes to come to Buckeye Central where my oldest son was attending school as an "artist of the month," sponsored by the PTO. The K through 4th grade students were invited to an assembly and "were full of laughter and on the edge of their seats as the southern Ohio cartoonist let the kids make up a story, including the characters. As the story and illustrations unfolded, Molebash explained the process of making a book and how it all comes together. Mr. Molebash engaged all the students while encouraging them to help along with the story. The students thoroughly enjoyed the live, visual, art education experience." 
Comments
Post a Comment