Bible Stories, 1993

(Continued from 1992)

The latest retelling of the story of "Elijah" continues once more.  This marked the 5th time the BOYS' LIFE series would cover this material.  As before, the stories of "Elisha" (4th version), "Isaiah and Hezekiah" and "King Josiah" follow.

The trend of REUSED text and NEW or REDRAWN art continues. If you click "Open Link In New Window" for each pair, you can flip between them and compare.

January 1993 with January 1983
February 1993 with February 1983
March 1993 with March 1983
April 1993 with April 1983
May 1993 with May 1983
June 1993 with June 1983
July 1993 with July 1983
August 1993 with August 1983
September 1993 with September 1983
October 1993 with October 1983
November 1993 with November 1983
December 1993 with December 1983

Story by (??)  /  Art by FRANK BOLLE
BOYS' LIFE  /  January 1993

BOYS' LIFE  /  February 1993

BOYS' LIFE  /  March 1993

BOYS' LIFE  /  April 1993

BOYS' LIFE  /  May 1993

BOYS' LIFE  /  June 1993

BOYS' LIFE  /  July 1993

BOYS' LIFE  /  August 1993

BOYS' LIFE  /  September 1993

BOYS' LIFE  /  October 1993

BOYS' LIFE  /  November 1993

BOYS' LIFE  /  December 1993

(Continued in 1994)

Copyright (C) BOY'S LIFE Magazine
Restorations by Henry Kujawa

Read the Bob LeRose page at Wikipedia
Visit Frank Bolle's website!
See a collection of Frank Bolle's TIM HOLT covers at this very blog!  

Bible Stories, 1992

(Continued from 1991)

The latest retelling of the story of "David" continues once more.  This marked the 7th time the BOYS' LIFE series would cover this material.  As before, the stories of "Solomon", "Jeroboam" and "Elijah" follow.

The trend of REUSED text and REDRAWN art continues. If you click "Open Link In New Window" for each pair, you can flip between them and compare.

January 1992 with November 1981
February 1992 with December 1981
March 1992 with January 1982
April 1992 with February 1982
May 1992 with March 1982
June 1992 with April 1982
July 1992 with May 1982  (this one was more different than most)
August 1992 with June 1982  (this was had entirely NEW art!)

"The Queen Of Sheba Visits King Solomon" (July 1982) was skipped this time.

September 1992 with August 1982  (NEW art)

"Rehoboam Causes A Revolt" (September 1982) was skipped this time.

October 1992 with October 1982  (REDRAWN art)
November 1992 with November 1982  (NEW art)
December 1992 with December 1982  (NEW art)

This makes me wonder if Frank Bolle's schedule may have gotten in the way of his doing entirely new art on all of these.  He was doing a daily comic-strip at the same time.  Given that Ernie Colon was doing more and more features for BOYS' LIFE around this time, Bolle may have been slowly cutting back on his BL work.

Story by (??)  /  Art by FRANK BOLLE
BOYS' LIFE  /  January 1992

BOYS' LIFE  /  February 1992

BOYS' LIFE  /  March 1992

BOYS' LIFE  /  April 1992

BOYS' LIFE  /  May 1992

BOYS' LIFE  /  June 1992

BOYS' LIFE  /  July 1992

BOYS' LIFE  /  August 1992

BOYS' LIFE  /  September 1992

BOYS' LIFE  /  October 1992

BOYS' LIFE  /  November 1992

BOYS' LIFE  /  December 1992

(Continued in 1993)

Copyright (C) BOY'S LIFE Magazine
Restorations by Henry Kujawa

Read the Bob LeRose page at Wikipedia
Visit Frank Bolle's website!
See a collection of Frank Bolle's TIM HOLT covers at this very blog!  

Bible Stories, 1991

(Continued from 1990)

The latest retelling of the story of "Samuel" continues once more, including the story of when The Philistines stole "The Ark of God".  This marked the 7th time the BOYS' LIFE series would cover this material.  As before, the stories of "Saul" and "David" follow.

The trend begun 5 years earlier continues, of reusing IDENTICAL text from earlier installments, with new art.  To see what I mean, compare...

January 1991 with October 1980,   

However, beginning with the February 1991 episode, the art appears to have either been REUSED as well, with some changes, or REDRAWN to look like the previous versions.

February 1991 with November 1980,
March 1991 with December 1980
April 1991 with January 1981

Here, they skipped a month-- "The Lord Rejects Saul As King".  Considering what follows, you'd that that was a crucial part of the story!
 
May 1991 with March 1981
June 1991 with April 1981
July 1991 with May 1981,   

With August 1991, they started to have NEW art again...

August 1991 with June 1981,
September 1991 with July 1981,

Then it was back to REDRAWN art...

October 1991 with August 1981,
November 1991 with September 1981,

...and then NEW art again...   (What was going on here, anyway?)

December 1991 with October 1981.

If you click "Open Link In New Window" for each pair, you can flip between them and compare.

Personally, looking back, I think the story of Saul's "problem" with David was better told in the October 1970 and November 1970 installments.  The 1981 and 1991 versions make it seem like Saul tried to kill David right after David killed Goliath, rather than the resentment / paranoia building up over time.
And, there's no mention in the newer ones of David having MARRIED  
Saul's daughter, Michal.

Further, the later versions inexplicably have David stealing Saul's cloak, AND stealing Saul's spear, indicating he had to "prove" himself to Saul not once,
but TWICE.

Story by (??)  /  Art by FRANK BOLLE
BOYS' LIFE  /  January 1991

BOYS' LIFE  /  February 1991

BOYS' LIFE  /  March 1991

BOYS' LIFE  /  April 1991

BOYS' LIFE  /  May 1991

BOYS' LIFE  /  June 1991

BOYS' LIFE  /  July 1991

BOYS' LIFE  /  August 1991

BOYS' LIFE  /  September 1991

BOYS' LIFE  /  October 1991

BOYS' LIFE  /  November 1991

BOYS' LIFE  /  December 1991

(Continued in 1992)

Copyright (C) BOY'S LIFE Magazine
Restorations by Henry Kujawa

Read the Bob LeRose page at Wikipedia
Visit Frank Bolle's website!
See a collection of Frank Bolle's TIM HOLT covers at this very blog!  

Bible Stories, 1990

(Continued from 1989)

The latest retelling of the story of "Moses" concludes once more.  This marked the 7th time the BOYS' LIFE series would cover this material.  As before, the stories of "Joshua", "Hannah" and "Samuel" follow.

The trend from the previous year continues, of reusing IDENTICAL text from earlier installments, with new art.  To see what I mean, compare...
January 1990 with October 1979,   
February 1990 with November 1979,
March 1990 with December 1979,   
April 1990 with January 1980,
May 1990 with February 1980,   
June 1990 with March 1980,
July 1990 with April 1980,   
August 1990 with May 1980,
September 1990 with June 1980,   
October 1990 with July 1980,
November 1990 with August 1980, and  
December 1990 with September 1980.

If you click "Open Link In New Window" for each pair, you can flip between them and compare.

Story by (??)  /  Art by FRANK BOLLE
BOYS' LIFE  /  January 1990

BOYS' LIFE  /  February 1990

BOYS' LIFE  /  March 1990

BOYS' LIFE  /  April 1990

BOYS' LIFE  /  May 1990

BOYS' LIFE  /  June 1990

BOYS' LIFE  /  July 1990

BOYS' LIFE  /  August 1990

BOYS' LIFE  /  September 1990

BOYS' LIFE  /  October 1990

BOYS' LIFE  /  November 1990

BOYS' LIFE  /  December 1990

(Continued in 1991)

Copyright (C) BOY'S LIFE Magazine
Restorations by Henry Kujawa

Read the Bob LeRose page at Wikipedia
Visit Frank Bolle's website!
See a collection of Frank Bolle's TIM HOLT covers at this very blog! 

Bible Stories, 1989

(Continued from 1988)

The latest version of the story of "Moses" continues.  This marked the 7th time the BOYS' LIFE series would cover this material.

Frank Bolle appears to be playing a bit with the visual format of the strip.  For the first time in ages, the narrative text began appearing INSIDE the frames, rather than entirely floating outside them.  Also, I wonder if they changed editors here, as several of these installments have titles that are not only shorter than usual, but slightly awkward in phrasing.  "Moses Shatters Tablets"-- not "Moses Shatters The Tablets" ??  Odd, to say the least.

With the July 1989 installment, Frank Bolle had come full-circle to the first episode he did back in April 1979.  I wonder how many artists on this series this happened with?  (If credits were more prevalent, this would be a lot easier to answer.  Once again, NO signatures for this entire year's worth of episodes.)  Note that while the art is new, the text is IDENTICAL to the previous version!

The same is true for the March 1979 and June 1989 episodes (although the format is slightly different, and studying the art, I don't believe the earlier one in this case is the same artist).  As far as I've noticed, this was the FIRST time in the entire series this kind of thing had happened.  (Once before, when "starting over", a version of "The Creation" had reprinted the artwork from an earlier version-- but the text had been re-written.)

Story by (??)  /  Art by FRANK BOLLE
BOYS' LIFE  /  January 1989

BOYS' LIFE  /  February 1989

BOYS' LIFE  /  March 1989

BOYS' LIFE  /  April 1989

BOYS' LIFE  /  May 1989

BOYS' LIFE  /  June 1989

BOYS' LIFE  /  July 1989

BOYS' LIFE  /  August 1989

BOYS' LIFE  /  September 1989

BOYS' LIFE  /  October 1989

BOYS' LIFE  /  November 1989

BOYS' LIFE  /  December 1989

(Continued in 1990)

Copyright (C) BOY'S LIFE Magazine
Restorations by Henry Kujawa

Read the Bob LeRose page at Wikipedia
Visit Frank Bolle's website!
See a collection of Frank Bolle's TIM HOLT covers at this very blog!