With Alter Boy!

April 9, 2005 10:12 PM

"Pope John Paul II is being reborn in a Colombian comic book as a superhero battling evil with an anti-Devil cape and special chastity pants." Well, of course he is.
posted by XQUZYPHYR (19 comments total)

I've wanted to do something for a while called surf pope where the new pope is really young, and fights crime from his surf board. His sidekick is dick cheney dressed in a Robin costume.
posted by drezdn at 10:16 PM on April 9, 2005

Are those two bulges? /makesasignofthecross


posted by AlexReynolds at 10:17 PM on April 9, 2005

Sample page
posted by rolypolyman at 10:26 PM on April 9, 2005

Is this for real? Come on, Pope based comic book [anti]heroes have been done.
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 11:07 PM on April 9, 2005

"He isn't John Paul II any more," Leon said. "From now on, he's the Incredible Popeman."

... and that means that I don't have to worry about the deceased Pope's personality rights or other rights that might be used to put a stop to all this. Because, you see, it's not the pope in the comic. It's the incredible Popeman.
posted by sour cream at 11:12 PM on April 9, 2005

What do they mean RE-born? Isn't this essentially what the pope has always been?
posted by jonson at 11:22 PM on April 9, 2005

I don't think he used to wear the lycra santa.
posted by hattifattener at 11:46 PM on April 9, 2005

Actually, it's been done a long time ago (from here). Had one of these when I was young and just remembered it.
posted by ontic at 11:46 PM on April 9, 2005

Ontic, I still have that comic book. My grandmother gave it to me, "You like comic books, right?" My favorite part is that it's labelled Issue #1. I guess I can stop waiting for Issue #2.

I dug it out the other day, figuring it would be prime material for eBay. Unfortunately, my copy doesn't quite measure up to the competition.
posted by uhnyuftz at 12:19 AM on April 10, 2005

Holy ermm Holy stuff your Holiness.
posted by seanyboy at 12:40 AM on April 10, 2005

Heh, yeah, my comic books got thrown out at some undiclosed time. If I recall, there was a St. Francis one too ...

Sure enough, "Brother of the Universe".
posted by ontic at 1:46 AM on April 10, 2005

Homopater = Gay Dad?
posted by biffa at 2:01 AM on April 10, 2005

Homo Sapiens = Gay Tree.
posted by seanyboy at 2:05 AM on April 10, 2005

Homoerectus = ...err, never mind
posted by ElvisJesus at 3:34 AM on April 10, 2005

*looks at sample page* Wow, they're really going for an Alex Ross sort of style, huh? Strangely appropriate, but...
posted by May Kasahara at 7:08 AM on April 10, 2005

I cannot wait for the battle royal!
posted by Decani at 10:03 AM on April 10, 2005

I've been trying to find any reference for a book a friend gave me called "High Hat" published by Dime Store novels. Its a tiny little book that could fit in one's pocket and it depicts the Pope as a hard boiled detective. The prose is a one off from Hammet/Chandler and just nails the premise. Here's the back jacket:

He's ready for mystery. He's ready for danger. He's ready for lent. He's the High Hat, a hardboiled Pope with a night job, the Vatican's only private eye, and he's up to his pointy dome in trouble.

Deep in the bowels of the Holy City, the big pontiff comes face to face with his nemesis, the Amish Mafia, and uncovers a fiendish plot to steal St Peter's bones. Now the hardboiled holy man must slip into his alter ego to crack a caper that mixes dangerous dames, creepy Cardinals and the Mennonite Menace with a load of dynamite and a very hunger octopus...."
posted by elwoodwiles at 11:36 AM on April 10, 2005

I like how the cover illo preserved that "how much longer do I have to sit on these hemorrhoids" grimace and slump that so became the pope the last 15 years of his life.
posted by telstar at 1:57 PM on April 10, 2005

You have to admit that's a bit...bulge-y...for a set of chastity pants.
posted by jonp72 at 6:54 PM on April 10, 2005