Inquisitor vs. Jesus
Review of the Plough Publishing House eBook (June 23, 2020), a graphic novel adaptation based on the 1912 English language translation by Constance Garnett of the Russian language original Братья Карамазовы (1880).

Tomorrow Thou shalt see that obedient flock who at a sign from me will hasten to heap up the hot cinders about the pile on which I shall burn Thee for coming to hinder us. For if anyone has ever deserved our fires, it is Thou. Tomorrow I shall burn Thee.

The Grand Inquisitor is the most famous chapter from Fyodor Dostoevsky's final work The Brothers Karamazov. In the book's section Pro et Contra, the brothers Ivan and Alyosha Karamazov meet at a tavern to discuss faith and belief. The novice monk Alyosha is tested by the worldly Ivan with various invented tales, one of which takes place during the period of the Spanish Inquisition (1478-1834) when Catholic Spain was especially ruthless in persecuting those whom it believed to be heretics to their church orthodoxy.

In the fictional tale, Jesus has returned to earth and reassumes his wanderings and healings in Catholic Spain. He soon comes to attention of the authorities and is arrested at the orders of the Grand Inquisitor. The Inquisitor visits him in his jail cell and says that Jesus had no business returning to earth and interfering with the church's control over society and that as a result he would be burned at the stake the next day as a heretic.

This graphic novel adaptation provides an excellent Introduction (see link below) followed by illustrations which place the story in a more modern setting of a pub. Various affectations are used to enhance the story. The bartender is drawn the same as the Inquisitor (and both of them have a rather satanic look, especially due to the pointy ears). A silent observer in the pub looks like the Jesus in the story (and both of them look a lot like John Lennon of the Beatles, especially with the long hair and round glasses). In a corner of the pub, there is a writer who may be taking down the conversation. He looks a lot like Dostoevsky.

The modern touches might be a bit disconcerting to some readers, but anything that serves to introduce Dostoevsky to a larger audience is worthy of support as far as I'm concerned.

See illustration at https://www.plough.com/-/media/images/plough/article/2020/summer/morson/morsonem...
A sample page from The Grand Inquisitor. Image sourced from Plough Publishing House.

Trivia and Links
You can read Gary Saul Morson's Introduction to the graphic novel at Plough Publishing House. At the bottom of the Introduction there is a link to download a free pdf copy of the graphic novel.

The source text for the graphic novel is from the first English language translation of The Brothers Karamazov (1912) by Constance Garnett which is in the public domain and can read online at various sites such as Project Gutenberg. ( )