Review of "Some New Kind of Slaughter ~ or ~ Lost in the Flood (and How We Found Home Again)" by mpMann & A. David Lewis

Review of

Some New Kind of Slaughter ~ or ~ Lost in the Flood (and How We Found Home Again) by mpMann & A. David Lewis ISBN 9781932386530

Four out of five stars

This book reminded me of one written by astronomer Carl Sagan many years ago. He was debunking the pseudoscientific theories of Immanuel Velikovsky, yet he pointed out one significant feature of Velikovky’s writings. This was the listing of many of the cultures that had the common myth of “the flood,” one so vast and deadly that it nearly wiped out all local life, if not all that on Earth. Sagan stated that this common myth is something that should be examined.

 This graphic novel expresses a few of those storylines. The main story is from the Sumerian version of “Epic of Gilgamesh,” and features the Sumerian king, Ziusudra. As the water rises, he has visions of other floods, such as that featuring Noah. There is the Asian tale of the Chinese creator goddess Nuwa and the modern story of a female scientist desperately trying to convince people of the dangers of climate change.

 The storyline moves rapidly between the various threads, sometimes popping from one to another within a linking context and other times with  little to nothing in common. It is a valid learning experience, for it points out that there is a common link to the human experience, dramatic changes in the weather that threaten the very existence of humanity. However, the rapid shifts from track to track and the similarities sometimes make them difficult to follow.

 In the myths, the floods are a consequence of the wrath of the gods due to human misbehavior. The only difference in the modern reality of climate change is that the human misbehavior is the direct cause of the massive shifts in weather.