Al Hartley and Archie Christian Comics

[Cleopatra7]

Almost everyone knows Jack Chick and his freak show tracts, but Al Hartley is more well known among comic aficionados. He started out working at a number of comic book houses, including Marvel where he worked on girls' comics like the Patsy Walker series. Harley would also work on erotic cartoons for men's magazines, at least until he became a born again Christian and decided that he couldn't do that anymore. Family-friendly Archie Comics offered Hartley a job, which he interpret as god looking out for him, and this is where the story gets really interesting. Hartley would pepper his Archie stories with Christian messages, something that got him in trouble with the Archie executives, who thought that the comics should stay agnostic on such matters. However, they did allow Hartley to use the Archie characters in a number of Christian comics for Spire Comic Company, and they're pretty weird, to say the least:

http://generationexploitation.blogspot.com/2006/06/history-of-christian-archi_114951302719460209.html?m=1

(Long but excellent article on all the Hartley Archie Christian comics as well as his other Christian comic works)

These links are all snarky commentary on said comics that FJers should appreciate, and fairly short:

http://www.misterkitty.org/extras/stupidcovers/stupidcomics71.html

http://www.misterkitty.org/extras/stupidcovers/stupidcomics112.html

http://www.misterkitty.org/extras/stupidcovers/stupidcomics141.html

http://www.misterkitty.org/extras/stupidcovers/stupidcomics268.html

[katilac]

Interesting! I read some Archie comics in the 70s, but I don't recall running into any of these gems. 

That site is a huge time suck. I may have wandered off from Archie to check out the Brady Bunch comics and other horrors. 

 

[Cleopatra7]

2 minutes ago, katilac said:

Interesting! I read some Archie comics in the 70s, but I don't recall running into any of these gems. 

That site is a huge time suck. I may have wandered off from Archie to check out the Brady Bunch comics and other horrors. 

 

I've collected comics of all sorts since I was young, and I accidentally bought some of the Archie Christian comics, because simply based on the covers, there's no indication that the comics are anything but regular Archie fare. Needless to say, I was extremely disappointed when I read them. Unlike Jack Chick comics, which are over the top in terms of offensiveness and often sport crude artwork, Hartley's comics are well-illustrated morality tales, with more than a dash of reactionary politics. I think the reason why Spire Comics failed is that the fundies who share Hartley's worldview aren't going to read comic books, not even Christian ones.

[PennySycamore]

I must admit that I never read Archie comics as a teenager or even as an oldster, but these are bad!  I was more a DC girl myself and I read bit of R Crumb and other underground stuff.  Anyone remember the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers?  The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers

[kpmom]

Loved secular Archie as a kid and currently have an app on my phone where I can buy and read Archie comics.

I never knew there were alternate Christian Archies.

That's interesting because there is currently a gay Archie character, Kevin, who has a series of his own. 

[polecat]

"I'm hooked on sex and drugs"
"GIN! Look out!" 

*thunk*

Meanwhile, the bottle says "whiskey." Heh.

 

 

[Cleopatra7]

27 minutes ago, polecat said:

"I'm hooked on sex and drugs"
"GIN! Look out!" 

*thunk*

Meanwhile, the bottle says "whiskey." Heh.

 

 

That has to be one of the most unintentionally hilarious things I've seen in any medium. I should really suggest "I'm hooked on SEX and DRUGS!" as a post count title.

[Imrlgoddess]

This is awesome...I've collected Archie's for years.  I'll have to dig up the older ones and see if I have any of these gems. 

 

[smittykins]

I remember reading one of them--either my grandmother gave it to me, or it was laying around at her(Presbyterian)church.  It was...weird.

[ADoyle90815]

I've only read the secular Archie comics, didn't realize these Christian ones existed. As far as offensiveness goes, nothing can top Jack Chick in my opinion.

[smittykins]

2 hours ago, polecat said:

"I'm hooked on sex and drugs"
"GIN! Look out!" 

*thunk*

Meanwhile, the bottle says "whiskey." Heh.

 

 

I actually think she's saying "Gini"(short for Virginia, maybe?).

[TeddyBonkers]

My brother and I had several of those Archie comics growing up. Come to think of it, my mom probably still has them at her house. As an adult, the heavy-handedness is appalling. 

[Black Aliss]

3 hours ago, PennySycamore said:

 Anyone remember the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers?  The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers

Remember them?!? I named a cat Phineas.  Kicking myself for having gotten rid of those comics. Cannot believe what they sell for now!

[Grimalkin]

     Some of them don't even make sense, or I'm not Christian enough to get it. IDK.

[Lurky]

I love the idea that "the decline of the United States as a world power" is a sign of end times...  That's right there in Revelations, I'm sure....

[heidi]

Growing up our church's library had these comics. There are more than the ones that were posted at those links above. There was one that was went into detail about then end times and how the Catholic church was the Whore of Babylon. It scared me to death as a kid. I was certain my Catholic family members were all evil and going to go to hell. After my parents saw what I was reading they had a long talk with me and discouraged me from reading the comics (but didn't forbid it, it was important to them that I learn to choose my own reading materials). I took the comics to the church's librarian and told her that they were scary and full of lies and they shouldn't be on the shelves. I still remember how disappointed I was in her when I saw them right back on the shelves the following Sunday.

[Lurky]

@heidi I'm so sorry you went through that

[TeddyBonkers]

I hear you, @heidi. My parental family was Catholic since forever, until my Grandma converted. My mom still remembers my great grandmother sobbing at her (my mom's) wedding because my dad was marrying outside of the faith . 

[Cleopatra7]

"Hansi, The Girl Who Loved the Swatstika" is a pretty notorious entry among bad comics aficionados, especially because of its eye-catching cover. While few people would argue that Al "Fightin' Jesus" Hartley was an excellent comic book artist, his politics and theology leave much to be desired, as the plot of Hansi demonstrates. Here's a full scan of the comic:

http://flashbak.com/hansi-the-girl-who-loved-the-swastika-the-full-comic-10700/

My thoughts:

1. Hartley seems to think that the main problem with the Third Reich was its "pagan nature," not the industrial scale extermination of minorities and political enemies. The Holocaust is barely alluded to, and has no relevance to Hansi's moral thought process. This doesn't surprise me, since fundies have to make all historical events about themselves and their beliefs. In fact, the only real bad guys in the comic are the godless, commie Russians, with the Nazis being hardly more than a blip on the radar.

2. Hansi comes off as incredibly stupid. She joins the Nazis because she gets a Nazi book and then becomes a Christian because her fiance Rudy gives her a Bible. Each time she does a 180 in her beliefs with no explanation given. One wonders if she would have joined the Jehovah's Witnesses if they had knocked on her door.

3. The comic shows the threat of rape that German women and girls lived with as the Russians marches West, which is historically accurate, but in typical fundie fashion, Hartley sends a horrible message about the importance of maintaining one's "purity." The use of cartoony sound effects doesn't help either.

4. Of course, once Hansi and Rudy get to the US, the first thing Hartley does is emphasize what a moral cesspool it is, what with the hippies and rock music.

5. To call the ending unrealistic would be an understatement, where Hansi managed to convert a whole prison full of "militants" (presumably a dogwhistle for Black Panthers and anti-war protesters)

Hansi is actually based on the true story of Maria Anna Hirschmann, but I would hope that Hirschmann was a more interesting and complex character than Hansi was.

[Lurky]

That's such a weird comic - it's more pro-America than pro-Christianity.  And yeah, what @Cleopatra7 said, she seems incredibly stupid (and the idea that it was only Russian soldiers who used rape as a weapon of war is ridiculously naive)

[refugee]

Interestingly enough, it's based off a real person. I remember seeing Hansi and Betti (I think that was how it was spelled; it might have been Betty or I might even be remembering the second name wrong) speak in the 1980s about Hansi's wartime experiences and their later ministry smuggling bibles into Eastern Bloc countries.

She explained that she grew up as a neglected orphan, and the Nazi youth movement offered her an identity and a purpose. I don't remember much else, except that yes, the danger of rape from the advancing Russian soldiers did sound horrifying, the way she described it.

[Cleopatra7]

25 minutes ago, refugee said:

Interestingly enough, it's based off a real person. I remember seeing Hansi and Betti (I think that was how it was spelled; it might have been Betty or I might even be remembering the second name wrong) speak in the 1980s about Hansi's wartime experiences and their later ministry smuggling bibles into Eastern Bloc countries.

She explained that she grew up as a neglected orphan, and the Nazi youth movement offered her an identity and a purpose. I don't remember much else, except that yes, the danger of rape from the advancing Russian soldiers did sound horrifying, the way she described it.

According to the information I've found online, Hansi is based on Maria Anna Hirschmann. However, it's quite possible that there were several ex-Nazi youth turned American-style fundie activists. As I recall, Hansi has a mother in the comic, the stock "pious Christian mother," but she's too busy being in love with the swastika to pay attention to old mom.

I think the main problem with the Hansi comic book (aside from the atrocious political and theological beliefs Hartley is trying to peddle) is that one that's common to fundie media in general, namely that fundegelicals are terrible at storytelling. They're so intent on beating you over the head with the "turn or burn" message that there's no room for the kind of nuance that makes for a compelling plot or interesting characters.

[polecat]

I remember reading an actual book about Hansi (not a comic book) when I was in junior high. It was based on an actual person, and her story was quite difficult and painful, iirc. I can't even imagine how fundies have perverted it. I wonder if they bothered to get permission or if the book is now in the public domain. (or maybe they're protected under fair use? Not sure about these things).

[Terrie]

Hmmm, based on the below article, they fictionalized it, but not sure how much they perverted it.

 

http://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/press-releases/gazette-com-caved.html

[Soulhuntress]

10 minutes ago, polecat said:

I remember reading an actual book about Hansi (not a comic book) when I was in junior high. It was based on an actual person, and her story was quite difficult and painful. I can't even imagine how fundies have perverted it. I wonder if they bothered to get permission or if the book is now in the public domain. (or maybe they're protected under fair use? Not sure about these things).

Apparently a true story but wow.  This is a great recap:  http://www.gaiaonline.com/journal/?mode=view&post_id=24111615&u=2007940