''Battle Pope'' is an independent

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

series created by

Robert Kirkman Robert Kirkman (; born November 30, 1978)Löchel, Ingo"The Walking Dead: Die Comic-Serie – Robert Kirkman" Zauberspiegel. Retrieved February 17, 2013. is an American comic book writer, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for co-creat ...

and Tony Moore, which was published by their own small press company under the moniker of Funk-O-Tron originally in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

. The series was reprinted in color by

Image Comics Image Comics is an independent American American comic book, comic book publisher and is the third largest direct market comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry by market share. Its best-known publications include ''Spawn (comics) ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, with plans to possibly continue it with new stories after collecting the original material. The book tells the tale of a hard drinking, womanizing

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

, condemned by

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

for his own evil ways, who is called to action to save

Saint Michael Michael, also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel and the warrior of God in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in third- and second- ...

, with the help of Jesus H. Christ, becoming mankind's final hope in a world overrun by

demons A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in media including fiction, comics, film, t ...

following the

Rapture The Rapture is an Christian eschatology, eschatological position held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of an end-time event when all dead Christian believers will be resurrected and, joined with Chr ...

. The comic was adapted into a season of eight animated webisodes that appeared on Spike TV's website in 2008.

Plot

The opening panels show Pope Oswald Leopold II sitting in a bar drinking and reminiscing. There is a flashback to a young child preparing to accept the mantle of

. He undergoes martial arts training from Bruce Lee, because "The Pope needs to be ready for anything." After becoming Pope, Leopold leads a life full of drinking, sex and debauchery. Eventually, God casts judgement on the entire human race, condemning them all. He allows the

gates of Hell ''The Gates of Hell'' () is a monumental bronze sculptural group work by French artist Auguste Rodin that depicts a scene from the '' Inferno'', the first section of Dante Alighieri's ''Divine Comedy''. It stands at 6 metres high, 4&nbs ...

to open and the world is invaded by swarms of

. After a great war, a treaty is formed and Hell's gates are closed. Human and demon survivors roam the Earth together and co-exist. After the flashback, Pope witnesses a gang kidnapping a young woman. When Pope tries to stop the group, they summon the demon Belaam. Pope beats the demon after a brief fight by cutting off his right arm with a sword. The woman expresses her gratitude and goes back to Pope's house. Later that night, Belaam ambushes Pope, killing the woman. While distracted by her death, Pope appears to be killed. As Belaam relishes his triumph, he is shot from behind by Jesus. Pope soon awakens and finds he is in the presence of

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

and

. They reveal to him that God sent

to watch over the good people left on Earth. Lucifer was able to overpower and capture the saint. God gives Pope super-strength and tells him that if he rescues Saint Michael, he will get into Heaven despite his deplorable life. As Pope and Jesus search for Hellcorp – Lucifer's headquarters on Earth – they are attacked by the Zombie Twins, Lucifer's henchmen. Pope dispatches the duo, but they were not beaten and summon all of Earth's corpses to form a giant, writhing zombie monster. Pope can't stop this new monster, but Jesus is able to destroy them in a brilliant explosion when they try to eat him. After killing the zombies, Pope and Jesus are once again attacked by Belaam, now with a robotic arm, but he is easily defeated. Finally at Hellcorp, Jesus and Pope enter, only to have to fight waves of demons waiting for them. After putting up an incredible fight, Pope and Jesus are incapacitated and brought before Lucifer. They then discover Lucifer's plan: to steal Saint Michael's halo and combine it with his own demon horns, expanding his powers to godlike proportions. Pope escapes, but is unable to prevent

Lucifer The most common meaning for Lucifer in English is as a name for the Devil in Christian theology. He appeared in the King James Version of the Bible in Isaiah and before that in the Vulgate (the late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bib ...

from donning the

halo HALO, halo, halos or haloes may refer to: Most common meanings * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head * ''Halo'' (franchise), a sci-fi video game series (2001–2021) Arts and en ...

and he is banished. Pope then spends what seems like a long time in Hell, fighting every day to survive. But just 17 seconds later on Earth, Pope is rescued by God, who increases his powers by granting him a halo of his own. With his new-found power, Pope defeats Lucifer and saves Saint Michael. God grants Pope access to Heaven, but he turns it down to stay and protect the people of Earth. Afterwards, Pope returns home and Jesus becomes his roommate.

Adaptation

''Battle Pope'' was adapted into a season of eight animated webisodes that appeared on Spike TV's website in 2008.

References

External links

''Battle Pope'' at Image Comics

''Battle Pope'' at Skybound Entertainment
{{Skybound Entertainment 2000 comics debuts Comic book limited series Skybound Entertainment titles Depictions of Jesus in literature Comics by Robert Kirkman Fictional popes Religious parodies and satire Parody comics Satirical comics Comics about God Comics critical of religion Post-apocalyptic comics Comics characters introduced in 2000 Comics adapted into animated series