I first saw The New St. Joseph Baltimore Catechism Volume 2 for sale at a little book stand located in a tiny Traditional Latin Mass chapel. Being about fourteen years old, and trying to keep up bad appearances, I paid very little attention to it. But, one day, I saw a relation of mine reading it.
He remarked about how he loved its clear presentation of the Truths of The Faith. I found this remarkable. This relation of mine never had a positive thing to say about much of anything. I read parts of it and I found what he said to be true.
Over the years, I looked at this book whenever I found it, but I didn't read it all the way through. It wasn't until almost twenty years since I first discovered this book that I actually read it in its entirety. The comics and illustrations always stood out to me.
Some contend that the book does not contain comics. They argue that the images are all illustrations. I disagree. If a political cartoon qualifies as comics, then many of these illustrations qualify as comics. And, even if political cartoons are not comics, there exist plenty of examples of sequential art that qualify as comics in this book. To one degree or another, comics exist in The New St. Joseph Baltimore Catechism Volume 2.
At this point in the article, I usually mention who made the comics. But, the book does not credit any artist. Did the artists wish to remain anonymous? The reason for this is unclear. I'm sure a few artists contributed work, as a whole. But, judging based on style, the majority of the comics and illustrations on the inside of the book are the work of one cartoonist. It appears to be the same artist that (also anonymously) illustrated the majority of the St. Joseph Daily Missal.
Do you want to know how I found out the name of the artist? Of course you do! Here goes:
I loved the work of this artist so much, I went on a little quest to find out his name. I wanted to find more of his artwork. I wanted to find out his backstory. I posted on internet forums and social media sites, inquiring if anyone had any information on the artist's identity. No one had an answer.
Then, one day, the person who runs the Ascent to Mount Carmel page on Facebook provided the answer. On January 17th, 2025, Ascent to Mount Carmel posted a comic on St. Anthony of the Desert. I recognized the style as the same style of the illustrator of The New St. Joseph Baltimore Catechism Volume 2. The person who runs The Ascent to Mount Carmel account provided me with the name of the artist when I requested it. Apparently, even though the artist did not receive credit for illustrating The New St. Joseph Baltimore Catechism Volume 2, he did receive credit for illustrating a comic on St. Anthony of the desert.
The name the artist is Sidney R. Quinn. He also made comics an illustrations for Highlights magazine. He's dead now. Please pray for the repose of his soul.
OK I'm done with that story. On to the book review!
First off, the illustrations demonstrate a high level of understanding of visual metaphor. When we see a comic about What is God and Who is God it's hard to deny this fact. When we see the image of a boy labeled “sin” nailing Christ to the cross it's even harder to deny this fact. I can't say if the artist came up with the ideas for these comics. But, even being able to communicate these ideas with comics proves that the artist is worth his salt.
The renderings of brush and pen evoke a bygone era of magazine illustration. The art is awkward at times. But this is the good kind of awkward art that I talked about in my review for The Truth is Out There. The awkwardness is endearing. It humanizes the art. It looks like a person made it. Sometimes heads are a little too big. Most of the time, stoic expressions grace the faces of the figures. People with huge religious import stare at each other with dot eyeballs. There is an artistic precedent to this, though. The same imperfect depictions exist in illuminated manuscripts.
Another thing that makes these comics great is their directness. Most religious art of our day is a visual depiction of being mealy-mouthed. The comics of The New St. Joseph Baltimore Catechism Volume 2 are the opposite of this. The comics cut right to the point and do not shy away from hard teachings. The face of Christ is right there telling a couple that they are still married when they are trying to get a divorce. The worship of money, Buddha and public opinion are called idolatry. They are part of the road that leads to Hell. Black is black, white is white. You either follow God or you serve Satan. “You cannot serve two masters.” The depictions follow this teaching of Our Lord in the most literal way.
The third thing that makes these comics great is the strength of the imagery used by the artist. The imagery is strong because it is instantly identifiable. The devil is a red guy with a pointy tail, a pitchfork and wings. The gates of heaven are like the gates to some rich guy's house in a cartoon. It's the visual language employed by Looney Tunes. Does this diminish the seriousness of these comics? No. Because the stakes are eternally higher than in any cartoon. And the text proclaims this quite clearly.
When we see Bugs Bunny come before St. Peter it's a joke. It's comfortable. When someone comes before St. Peter in this book, the same visuals are used, but eternal salvation is at stake. The imagery is jarring because, what was once associated with something comforting, is now associated with potential damnation.
I highly recommend The New St. Joseph Baltimore Catechism. The text is solid and the comics and illustrations pound out the beauty of the narrow path that leads to Heaven. When contemplating the best Catholic art of the 20th century, I can't help but place these comics and illustrations up there with the best. They will probably never receive the recognition that they deserve, but God knows, full well, what they are worth.
-George Tautkus
The New St. Joseph Baltimore Catechism is available here
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