The Church of the Comic Spirit

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Some of our viewers might not know the whereabouts of Bear Lake. Which is what happened. God came through for you. The story is, I enrolled for the night at this establishment in Bliss Beach—… no, check that, first I had a bite to eat, etcetera, maybe a coupla beers, and then I went over to this sleeping establishment, I cannot for the life of me remember its name, except that the word Motel figured prominently, and checked in. You could buy beer in Utah? This was on the Idaho side.

On the Idaho side? Lots of tourists dish out big bucks to be at the site where the Almighty has been known to surface. Anyway, at the stroke of midnight this angel showed up in my room. Out of the clear blue? This is how it happened, I was in the process of calling upon the name of the Lord when suddenly there was this great and boundless light appearing at the foot of my bed and then all of a sudden, poof, this angel emerged out of thin air and just stood there, hovering about six inches off the ground and kinda smiling. Why not a ten? You got lotsa company there, buddy.

Angels are known for having wings, are they not?

Did your angel have wings? Come to think of it, her shoulder blades stuck out a coupla inches more than the average. You sure it was the shoulder blades? I could be mistaken. Maybe she was there to make a buck? No, she was an angel, all right. How do you know? She show you her feathers? She gave me her name and address. She introduced herself as Michelle and said she was sent by God, with a message. I guess that proves your point. That, plus the name Michelle, which is the feminine derivative for Michael, which happens to be the name of one of the top archangels.

So how about the message? She had it all written out. There were these four major points. Am I making myself clear? Hey, that was some automobile. Kids used to tie raccoon tails to the antennas, remember? Yeah, and hang furry dice from the rear-view mirror. Had is the operative term. Okay, so she gives you this message. What happened to Michelle? After delivering the message she ascended into heaven, whence she had come.

After goodbyes were said. Which reminds me, gotta get to this. Divine manifestations are not as common today as they once were. Classical cases include the revelations to Moses, to the prophet Isaiah, to suffering Job, to the three main disciples of Jesus, to St. Most of these displays of divine power are accompanied by miracles: The time of the revelation is also important.

In almost every instance the revelation occurs while the prophet has been in a state of anguish or some other form of spiritual distress. And the substance of the manifestation is most often a marvelous, sometimes secret, message that is of extraordinary significance for a decadent but waiting world.

The Church of the Comic Spirit : Including the Bear Lake Scrolls

The prophet is commonly not a hero but is an ordinary, flawed human being. Peter, the chief disciple of Jesus, lacked loyalty to his master. Paul persecuted the Christians before joining them. The next part of his story provides further confirmation. So what happened next, Al? You do what the lady told you? Follow the rest of her instructions? This was in Beverly Hills?

It was in Pocatello, Idaho, population 46, Oh yes, I had the screen test, all right. In fact, they pointed out I had talent—was loaded with it, actually—but they said somebody had already played the part I was cut out for. In The Ten Commandments. So Charlton beat you to it. Then they suggested I get a job in the religion sector of the economy, which I ended up doing, having an uncle in Boise.

This was Uncle Schlomo, who knew somebody who knew somebody in Pocatello, which is how I happened to spend the next ten years there as a rabbi, in deep scholarship, conjugating the Ur-Hebrew parts of speech, not much else to do, the ponies not being a part of the Pocatello scene. You ever get in touch with Michelle again? Exactly ten years later, March 31, , I go back to the same little town, Bliss Beach, and check into this sleeping establishment—.

The one whose name slips your mind, except for the word Motel. Lots of people could identify. Whatta you got against waitresses, Al? I demand a certain level of class in my angels. So I place an order for a Waldorf salad and a Manhattan, just to see her reaction, and then I ask her when she gets off work and what her plans are for the evening. She show up on time? She knock, or she come in with all guns blazing?

Some women have a tendency to grow on you. On my knowledge of the Ur-Hebrew. A-plus, he said proudly. Then what she does is, she pulls this sheet of paper out from somewhere under her robe and reads me the latest instructions from On High. Point one, go back to the cave and find this briefcase, which will contain the Bear Lake Scrolls, in Ur-Hebrew. Any mention of the bear? Point two, spend the next ten years translating the Scrolls. Into the going language.

First the language lessons, then the translation…. Restores your faith in God. God as all-knowing, God as the ever-present provider, God as the great taskmaster. That would be the tough part. Ten years, but a more upscale place. You carry out the instructions? To the jot and tittle. The good old American work ethic. You still allergic to large furry carnivores? Hey, once allergic to the big bruins, always allergic. You remember to bring the popcorn? Forget the popcorn, but I remember the Remington Model , which I use to good advantage, and pretty soon I come strolling out of that cave with this large briefcase containing what later turned out to be a dozen rolled-up sheepskins decorated with bits and pieces of the Ur-Hebrew alphabet.

She ascend into heaven about the time you took off for the cave? Yes, but this time not as quickly. Getting sentimentally attached, was she? That too, but mainly because she was lugging the dictionary, plus the granite slate covered with the chicken tracks. This second section of the Lustlieb story provides still more evidence that he did indeed experience a divine manifestation. Heston] had already done the part I was cut out for [i. The religions of the world all possess holy writ: These writings share many, sometimes all, of the following traits:.

Judging by these traits, the Bear Lake Scrolls are clearly holy writings. They contain a revelation that is of utmost importance Mr. And they were written on ancient sheepskin scrolls. Significant, too, is the fact that there are exactly twelve Scrolls—twelve being a sacred number there were twelve tribes of Israel, Jesus had twelve disciples, there are twelve signs of the Zodiac, etc. But there is more to the demonstration, as we find in the next portion of the transcript. Ten years it took, Larry. Still working part time as a rabbi?

No, just about the time I started translating these sheepskins, I decided to go with the Catholics. They cut you a better deal? You had this relative, Uncle Pete, who knew somebody who knew somebody in the hierarchy? Conversion, divorce, new job—these events happen in any particular order? The main point is, there were no kids involved, fortunately, and I got them all translated, the Scrolls, it took me the whole ten years but I finished the job, and on the evening of March 31 in the Year of Our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-eight I drove back to Bliss Beach in a Mercedes coupe with less than five thousand miles on it and checked into the finest motel in town toting a briefcase full of newly-translated sacred literature and some very musty, pored-over sheepskins that have seen better days.

Michelle still slinging hash? Michelle is nowhere to be found. I make the rounds of all the eateries and none of the guys have even heard of her. I go back up to my room and hit the hot tub and crack open a carafe of aging grape fluid and settle back with the Book of Mormon. And about midnight Michelle shows up. At the stroke of midnight the strobe lights go on and poof, out of the midst of nowhere comes an angel, decked out in a ph. The diminutive of Cherubim.

Educate me here, would you? Aristotle puts them in the same category as the nymphet. She a fan of hot tubs? Actually, she spends most of the rest of the night sitting on the bed, cross-legged and in the lotus position, grading my translations from the Ur-Hebrew. A-plus again, in spite of a few typos. Point one, assemble a committee of four disciples, using affirmative action and ecumenical principles. Keeps you on the side of the law. I thought disciples came in twelves. Downscaling is the name of the game. She mentions that last time they went with twelve, it turned out to be a disaster.

Point two, convene this committee regularly.

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Take ten years to study the translations prayerfully and figure out the theological meaning behind the Scrolls. Point three, tell no one. Point three, write a letter of resignation to the pope—. Solves the problem of divided loyalty. Less competition, for one thing. Also, Reno is a step up the career ladder. Lots of people would agree. Come back in ten years for further instructions. What about the cave? You drive back up there in your slightly-usedMercedes coupe? Wanted to see if there was anything I missed the first coupla times.

Mind telling us why? I had this hobby as a kid. Probably kept you outta trouble. She ascend into heaven next morning, like her momma? That, plus bring top dollar. We have to take a break. This third part of the story supplies yet more confirmation of the legitimacy of both Father Lustlieb and the Scrolls. But here we also find a new element in the story: In Hinduism, gurus of old had disciples to whom they taught the rudiments of yoga. In Buddhism, the Buddha had five disciples.

In Christianity, Jesus had twelve. Of course all the religions of the world have had holy men. Thus it should come as no surprise that Father Lustlieb would also attract disciples—whom he, like Jesus before him, would send out into the world. The only surprise lies in the small number four , which, of course, the angel Cheri explains in a perfectly logical way.

But to proceed to the fourth and final part of the story. Al, we got to the part where Cheri gives you the directions for the next ten years. Follow them to the t again, did you? And you started your church out there in Reno? Mostly I just made sure everybody showed up at the monthly meetings and prayerfully did the assignments. And of course on our free evenings we occasionally hit the tables. Any truth to the rumor that you guys were known as the High Rollers? Actually, it was the High Holy Rollers, and there was also a lady.

So who exactly were these disciples? Just three guys and a gal. We gotta move on, not much time left. Right date, right automobile, wrong angel. Gabriella, which is the feminine derivative for Gabriel. Gabriel… Why does that name sound familiar? He was the archangel who played the trombone. What happened to Cheri? Gabriella equally talented, generate a lot of voltage, bring an important message, capable of floating in the air, ascended into heaven without too much difficulty, that type of a thing?

She was everything you could hope for in all those categories. You heard the man, folks. Religions fall within two categories: As the demographic data shows, missionary religions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and the Latter-Day Saints, tend to grow more quickly than ethnic religions. Thus it should come as no surprise that the Church of the Comic Spirit, the fastest-growing religion in America, falls within the latter category. Its stunning successes can be attributed to its application of contemporary techniques in promotion, fund-raising, electronic bulletin boards, etc.

Pilgrimage, the journey of the faithful to a holy shrine, is another widespread religious phenomenon. My attorney went to 'Busy' Arnold and his family, and they all signed a release agreeing that they would not pursue the question of ownership. Mystic " and " Lady Luck. Selling his share of their firm to Iger, who would continue to package comics as the S. Comic books were a ghetto.

I sold my part of the enterprise to my associate and then began The Spirit.

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They wanted an heroic character, a costumed character. They asked me if he'd have a costume. And I put a mask on him and said, 'Yes, he has a costume! The character and the types of stories Eisner would tell, Eisner said in , derived from his desire. I always regarded comics as a legitimate medium, my medium. Creating a detective character would The syndicate people weren't in full agreement with me The character's name, he said in that interview, came from Arnold: He said, 'How about a thing called the Ghost?

The Spirit , an initially eight- and later seven-page urban-crimefighter series, ran with the initial backup features "Mr. Mystic" and "Lady Luck" in a page Sunday supplement colloquially called "The Spirit Section" that was eventually distributed in 20 newspapers with a combined circulation of as many as five million copies. Eisner was drafted into the U. Army in late , "and then had about another half-year which the government gave me to clean up my affairs before going off" to fight in World War II.

Eisner's rumpled, masked hero with his headquarters under the tombstone of his supposedly deceased true identity, Denny Colt and his gritty, detailed view of big-city life based on Eisner's Jewish upbringing in New York City both reflected and influenced the noir outlook of movies and fiction in the s. I never felt The Spirit would dominate the feature. He served as a sort of an identity for the strip.

The stories were what I was interested in. Yet along with violence and pathos , The Spirit lived on humor , both subtle and overt.

He was machine-gunned , knocked silly, bruised, often amazed into near immobility and constantly confused by beautiful women. The feature ended with the October 5, , edition. Eisner hired Jerry Grandenetti and Jim Dixon to occasionally ink his pencils. Had me penciling 'The Spirit'. Later on it was Wally Wood", who drew the final installments.

The Spirit, referred to in one newspaper article cited below as "the only real middle-class crimefighter", was the hero persona of young detective Denny Colt. Presumed killed in the first three pages of the premiere story, Colt later revealed to his friend, Central City Police Commissioner Dolan, that he had in fact gone into suspended animation caused by one of archvillain Dr.

When Colt awakened in Wildwood Cemetery, he established a base there and, using his new-found anonymity, began a life of fighting crime wearing only a small domino mask , blue business suit , red necktie , fedora hat , and gloves for a costume. The Spirit dispensed justice with the aid of his assistant, Ebony White, funding his adventures with the rewards for capturing villains.

Not tied to one locale, his adventures took him around the globe. He met eccentrics, kooks, and femme fatales , bringing his own form of justice to all of them. The story changed continually, but certain themes remained constant: The character's name is a racial pun , and his facial features, including large white eyes and thick pinkish lips, are typical of racial blackface caricatures popular throughout the " Jim Crow " era.

Eisner later admitted to consciously stereotyping the character, but said he tried to do so with "responsibility", and argued that "at the time humor consisted in our society of bad English and physical difference in identity". Ebony debuted as a resourceful taxi driver in the first Spirit Section. He became a mainstay of the strip and a principal member of the Spirit's supporting cast until Eisner phased him out of the narrative in mid and replaced him with another assistant, a Caucasian boy named Sammy.

Ebony's last "starring" role in a Spirit story a semi-regular event in which he was the focus of the story rather than The Spirit himself was "Young Dr. Ebony", published on May 29, Sammy first appeared in "The Ballgame", published July 31, , part of a six-episode arc set in the South Seas, in which Ebony does not appear. Ebony makes two wordless, one-panel appearances in the next two installments, "The Candidate" and "White Cloud" August 21 and 28, before making his final appearance in five panels of "Lurid Love" September 18, After this and apart from one final mention of his name in the text-based splash page of "The Inner Voice", published November 6, , Ebony left the strip without fanfare or explanation, and Sammy functioned as the Spirit's assistant for the strip's final three years.

In an accompanying feature article in issue of the New York Herald Tribune , Eisner's former office manager Marilyn Mercer wrote, "Ebony never drew criticism from Negro groups in fact, Eisner was commended by some for using him , perhaps because, although his speech pattern was early Minstrel Show , he himself derived from another literary tradition: Several Spirit stories, such as the first appearance of Sand Saref, were retooled from a failed publishing venture featuring an eyepatched , pipe-smoking detective named John Law.

Law and his shoeshine-boy sidekick, Nubbin, starred in several adventures planned for a new comics series. These completed adventures were eventually adapted into Spirit stories, with John Law's eyepatch being changed to the Spirit's mask, and Nubbin redrawn as Willum Waif or other Spirit supporting characters. Like most artists working in newspaper comic strips, Eisner after a time employed a studio of assistants who, on any given week's story, might draw or simply ink backgrounds, ink parts of Eisner's main characters such as clothing or shoes , or as eventually occurred, ghost-draw the strip entirely.

Eisner also eventually used ghostwriters, generally in collaboration with him. Jules Feiffer , who began as an art assistant circa and later became the primary writer through the strip's end in , recalled, "When I first worked for Will there was John Spranger , who was his penciler and a wonderful draftsman; better than Will.

There was Sam Rosen , the lettering man. Jerry Grandenetti came a little after me and did backgrounds, and Jerry had some architectural background.

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His drawing was stiff but loosened up after a while, but he drew backgrounds and inked them beautifully. And Abe Kanegson , who was my best friend in the office, was a jack-of-all-trades but mostly did lettering and backgrounds after Jerry left. Abe was a mentor to me. Eisner's studio also included: Harvey Comics reprinted several Spirit stories in two giant-size, cent comic books published October and March , each with new Eisner covers. The first of these two page issues opened with a new seven-page retelling of the Spirit's origin by writer-penciler-inker Eisner with inking assist by Chuck Kramer.

Seven — Spirit stories were reprinted.

The second issue opened with a new seven-page story by writer-artist Eisner, "Octopus: Reprinted were seven —50 Spirit stories. From onward Denis Kitchen 's Kitchen Sink Press and James Warren 's Warren Publishing published extensive Spirit reprints, first as large black-and-white magazines the Warren part of the run eventually having a color section , then as trade paperbacks.

The magazines often featured new Eisner covers. The first ongoing series, started by Warren and picked up by Kitchen Sink, ran 41 issues from — Eisner produced two new stories during this period: The Spirit plays the EC host , introducing "true" stories of haunted houses. The series featured color stories in its first 11 issues, but switched to black-and-white from issue 12 on.

The New Adventures March-Nov. Lansdale and Paul Pope. In the mids, DC Comics began reprinting The Spirit chronologically in the company's hardcover Archive series, in an approximately 8xinch format, smaller than the Kitchen Sink and Warren publications. This 6-page story featured a crossover between The Spirit and the book's lead character The Escapist.

Bone introduced the Spirit into the DC Universe. The first issue of the ongoing series The Spirit , written and pencilled by Cooke and inked by J. Bone, debuted the following month.

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