Bibleman


Bibleman is an American Christian direct-to-video children's series created by Tony Salerno that ran from 1995 to 2010 with the goal of promoting Christianity. The series centers around an evangelical superhero who fights evil, often by quoting scripture. The show had three incarnations: The Bibleman Show, The Bibleman Adventure, and Bibleman: Powersource. The series' titular character is played by Willie Aames and then by Robert T. Schlipp. Originally owned by Pamplin Entertainment then sold to Tommy Nelson, the series is currently owned by B&H Kids. It was re-launched in CGI format in 2016.

Plot

Miles B. Peterson, a wealthy man with the best the world had to offer, turned to God and The Bible in his most desperate hour and from then on pledged to fight evil with the word of God. Disguised in the full armor of God as Bibleman, Miles B. Peterson fights against enemies using scripture. Josh Carpenter finds out about the Bible when his parents are arguing about the groceries. He is a former children's pastor and is the second Bibleman.

Characters

Heroes

Miles Peterson/Bibleman : The first Bibleman. As depicted in the show's intro, Miles was described as a man who had success, fame and wealth, but was a frustrated and miserable man. After giving up and throwing himself to the ground in anguish, he discovers a Bible covered in mud. Upon finding it, he experiences a "burning desire to know God" and becomes a Christian. He then decides to fight evil in the name of God as Bibleman.
Coats : Miles Peterson's best friend and first sidekick, who coaches high school basketball on the side. Coats left the team for unknown reasons.
U.N.I.C.E : The A.I in the BibleCave and Mobile Mission Command Center who, for some strange reason, gives attitude to Bibleman's sidekick Coats. And, ironically, rudely insists on manners being used even if it wastes time.
Kerry "KT" Turner/Cypher : Bibleman's second sidekick.
Lia Martin/Biblegirl :. She first fights with a net, then a gun and then a side shooting weapon.
Josh Carpenter/Bibleman : The second Bibleman after Miles retires. He is depicted as someone who never understood the Bible until his darkest day where he read his Bible and accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.
Mel O'Shea/Melody. Biblegirl's cousin. She is the only sidekick to have never served alongside Miles Peterson.

Supporting cast

Dr. Decepto : A scientist villain with green skin. He only appeared in a flashback in Big Big Book, where he defeated Bibleman but Decepto was later seen behind bars.
Madam Glitz : A self-centred woman in Back to School. She captured Miles Peterson because she wanted the fame Bibleman had. However, Bibleman tells her that it is the Word of God that everyone desires and needs to hear. She was placed inside a T.V. set by God.
The Fibbler : A green-haired evil clown who influenced one of the Church singing group children into lying. After she asks her friends for forgiveness, he and Bibleman fight. The Fibbler was defeated and destroyed by his own sword of darkness.
The Gossip Queen : A villainess queen whose character design was later widely criticized for sharing many characteristics with traditional Jewish stereotypes. She tried to rip the Church singing group apart. She has two henchmen named Loose Lips and Blabbermouth and could fire Beams of Bitterness from her fingers. She was destroyed when she was hit by Bibleman's sword of the Spirit.
Luxor Spawndroth : A villain who takes on different personas after defeat. These incarnations include: The Shadow of Doubt, Master of Misery, Dr. Fear, El Furioso, The Prince of Pride, and finally his real name, Luxor Spawndroth. His weapon is the sword of darkness it’s either red or, in a couple of cases, purple.
Ludicrous : The evil sidekick of Luxor Spawndroth.
L.U.C.I. : is the evil counterpart to U.N.I.C.E and computer to all the villains starting with Dr. Fear.
Primordius Drool : is a green skinned demon with great powers including lightning who later in the series is punished becoming 'The Wacky Protestor'.
The Wacky Protestor : was a goofy, blue-skinned demon scientist who was formerly 'Primordius Drool' before he got demoted. His abilities include plasma balls. During his final scheme, he created a special portal to another realm to trap Christian students and turn them to atheism. However, he got caught in his own trap and was stuck there forever. He was the first villain fought by the second Bibleman, Josh Carpenter.
Rapscallion Polite Sinister : was the villain fought by Bibleman in the 2005 live show, hired by the Wacky Protestor to take out the source of Bibleman's power.He was defeated when placed inside a cage that sucked out his power.
Professor E. Meritus Snortinskoff : A mad scientist who's in charge of Snortinskoff Industries and makes kids disrespect their authorities. His henchman is Stench.
Stench : This character is a henchmen of Professor E. Meritus Snortinskoff.
2Kul 4Skul : A gray-skinned villain who devised a plan to establish a T.V. station with the call letters W.B.I.G. to block the gospel from reaching youth.
I.M. Wonderful: A vain woman who wears a gold mask and a cape.
The Whiner Brothers: Two villans who use a radio station broadcast to make children whine and complain.
The Cheater : Best among super villains, god among men. His tools are his "belittler," his flying cards, land mines, and a bouncy house gladiator club. If one is unlucky enough to get him angry, The Cheater will unplug his/her surge protector.
The Slacker : This senior villain makes kids lazy with his Lasers of Laziness. He carries a staff and goons to support him in battle.
Super Pro Gamemaster 2 : This villain was a cyborg who could control machines. He appeared in "Lambasting the Legions of Laziness".
Super Pro Gamemaster 3 : This robotic leader of the Evildoers Club was Super Pro Gamemaster 2's successor. He has powers similar to his predecessor and developed the video game Big Bad Bully.
Baron Ulysses Tantamont von Braggart : A sheriff-like pig villain with a golden head cap who lives in a castle. His weapons are his electric staff that he uses to battle Bibleman, and his electric chair that he uses to shoot at Bibleman and Cypher.
The Commandant of Confusion A gold skinned heavyweight villain who is very technical and has an evil sidekick named Chaos, who is dressed up in a black and red jumpsuit.
Chaos A Henchman in a black and red suit and mask, who is said to have worked with many villains, but is only seen with The Commandant of Confusion.
The Sultan of Selfishness An olive skinned, man with black, curly hair, black eyebrows and eyes, a black goatee, and wearing a green Nehru suit with gold trimmings. He speaks with a heavy, stereotypical Middle Eastern accent. He temporarily gains control of a school by posing as a motivational speaker who dispenses small stickers that cause all the students and faculty to become susceptible to the Sultan's 3Ds credo: Demand, Deserve, Dominate.

Reception

The program has been criticized for its format and production values, including in an August 2009 episode of the UK topical show You Have Been Watching, with panelist David Mitchell saying "The thing that struck me most about it is quite how badly it is made, to the extent that you must think it's been made by anti-Christian people to make Christianity look as naff and discouraging and artless as possible." The series has been described as dogmatically evangelical. In 1998, sales made up less than one percent of the Christian children's video market. Three years later, sales climbed to eleven percent of that market. It held third place behind first place Veggietales and second place 3-2-1 Penguins! The Dove Foundation gave the series its "Family-Approved" Seal for "this energetic battle against evil."
However, several adults have criticized the show's fight scenes as promoting violence, despite the fact one show, and its live counterpart, addressed the violence issue. Others criticized the franchise's drift toward secular content.
Of Bibleman, Marc Peyser of Newsweek writes,

''Bibleman Live'' performances

The live show has been described as falling between "a high budget Sunday school pageant, a Batman movie, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to even Power Rangers in how it comes across." The production borrows heavily from popular culture, including films, popular music and video games.

Merchandise

Action figures

In October 2000, Tommy Nelson released the first series of 5" Bibleman action figures starting with Bibleman and villain El Furioso. The series later included figures of Cypher, Biblegirl, and Temptation. The final figure in the series was a platinum version of Bibleman.

Board game

The Bibleman Adventure board game was released by Talicor in 2001. Players select a hero card and matching token to battle the "Bad Guys" while traveling quickly through the town of Shatzville in an attempt to "save the children." The first player to rescue six kids, deliver them safely to the town church and race back to the BibleMan Cave is the winner! The BibleMan board game is actually two games in one. Instructions are included for both a Basic Game, and an Advanced Game and allows for both age groups to play at the same time.

Video game

A Bibleman computer game was released in 2005 by Covenant Studios titled The Bibleman Video Game Adventure: A Fight for Faith. It received generally mixed reviews. Although it did receive some negative reviews, it was praised by some evangelical Christian gaming sites for "family-friendly" and "Christ-centered" gameplay.

Books

In 2000 Tommy Nelson published The Bibleman Bible, using the ICB translation text and featured 32 full color images from the show and mini-comic sections. Tommy Nelson then published The Official Bibleman Collector's Edition book the same year, then in 2001 published Bibleman Combat Manual, a book intended to aid in memorizing bible verses.

Episodes

The Bibleman Show