BattlePope

(Funk-O-Tron, 2000-2002)
™ and © Funk-O-Tron

It’s amazing that Robert Kirkman has gotten away with BattlePope for over a dozen issues, a St. Michael spin-off, and several trade paperbacks. When one considers the amount of flak that Warrior Nun Areala once received, one would think that the far more irreverent BattlePope might never have made it this far. But, despite its potentially offensive subject matter, it is a truly funny comic book.

Demons from Hell live on Earth. The Pope is a cigar-chomping, hard-drinking, gun-toting womanizer. His sidekick, Jesus, is a dimwitted surfer boy, sort of a Heavenly Maynard G. Krebs. A not-so-jolly old St. Nick has recently been added to the mix. Let’s not even discuss what they’ve done to Mary, mother of Jesus.

If the preceding paragraph doesn’t render the reader righteously indignant, then BattlePope is potentially a lot of fun. It’s not necessarily more disrespectful than a book like Preacher: just far less subtle about it.

The “Wrath of God” storyline starts two back-up strips. “Immigrant Song” by Joe Casey and Jason Latour looks as if it’s going to develop into a dysfunctional family take on Superman. (Fans of Latour’s quirky art should check out his online comic strip, 4 Seats Left, at www.4seatsleft.com.) “Chaser’s Moon” by Kimo and Pernilla Poblenz is sort of a modern-era fantasy strip. They’re both good, but a larger dose of either might have been preferable to what amounts to a teaser for each.

— Jack Abramowitz

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