Continuing on with my reading of works picked up at the 2005 Alternative Press Expo, I read The Lone and Level Sands today (A. David Lewis (w), mpMann (a)).
TLaLS is a retelling of the Exodus story, relayed largely from the Egyptian perspective, focusing in particular on pharaoh. There's a substantial forward explaining the motivation behind the work -- it's intended to not just switch the point of view, but to also humanize the story, adding grays to the traditional black-and-white view.
All in all, I think it's fairly successful. Ramses is perhaps a bit too nice, but he is definitely written as a human character. Moses is pleasingly strange, with Aaron there to translate from Moses-speak to normal-people speech. I think these characterizations represent the strength of the book.
On the weakness side, I think some of Ramses' actions were not adequately realized. This is a problem inherent to the story -- after all, what does it mean that God "hardens" pharaoh's heart? In TLaLS, this is represented by God speaking through those around Pharaoh, directing him away from reasonable courses of action he had intended to take. In general, it's a cool concept, but in practice, Ramses acquiesces too readily after he's figured out what's going on when God tells him to do things. I really like the idea that Pharaoh is exhausted and willing to play along by the end, but I don't know if that mindset is earned by the story leading up to it.
On a more prosaic note, the lettering is bigger than it needs to be.
Overall, a good reinterpretation of a classic story, and more fun and merit than watching Charlton Heston rain fire down on Yul Brynner.
The Lone and Level Sands is published by Caption Box. You can see their page for it here: