Battle Pope, Volume 1: Genesis

Battle Pope #1

by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, Val Staples (Artist)

If you missed out on Battle Pope the first time around, now is your chance to find out what everyone was talking about! It's the end of the world and few are worthy of passage to heaven, not even the Pope. God leaves behind Saint Michael, the leader of his army, to act as a guardian for the humans. He fails, and is held captive by Luicfer. God then enlists the aide of the Pope to rescue Michael, and leaves his son Jesus H. Christ to assist him in his quest. Now presented in full-color!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Humor, Graphic Novels Comics, Religion, Comedy

120 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Robert Kirkman is an American comic book writer best known for his work on The Walking Dead, Invincible for Image Comics, as well as Ultimate X-Men and Marvel Zombies for Marvel Comics. He has also collaborated with Image Comics co-founder Todd McFarlane on the series Haunt. He is one of the five partners of Image Comics, and the only one of the five who was not one of the original co-founders of that publisher.

Robert Kirkman's first comic books were self-published under his own Funk-o-Tron label. Along with childhood friend Tony Moore, Kirkman created Battle Pope which was published in late 2001. Battle Pope ran for over 2 years along with other Funk-o-Tron published books such as InkPunks and Double Take.

In July of 2002, Robert's first work for another company began, with a 4-part SuperPatriot series for Image, along with Battle Pope backup story artist Cory Walker. Robert's creator-owned projects followed shortly thereafter, including Tech Jacket, Invincible and Walking Dead.

Reviews

[Chad]

It's hard to believe this was the same creative team who made The Walking Dead, even if it was years earlier. Maybe Kirkman and Moore created this while they were still in high school? That's how juvenile it feels. Like they were rebelling against their parents and the Catholic Church, trying to create the most offensive comic they could. It's too childish to be satire or even funny.

[Jan Philipzig]

This book reads like the attempt of a ten-year-old, raised on a steady diet of superhero comics, to impress his friends with what he considers outrageous jokes about the Catholic Church. Unaware of the in many ways problematic history of the Catholic Church, he instead fills page after page with over-the-top violence (the Pope battles Lucifer, etc.) because, well, over-the-top violence is always hilarious, right? Hard to believe this was done by the same creative team that gave us the patiently developed and rather restrained The Walking Dead.

[Christine]

If you are very religious, you should avoid this.

If you aren't or don't mind people poking at religion, check out. The humor was a little crass and the disposable woman was a bit annoying, but it wasn't bad.

[Myles Gerber]

3.5/5

Honestly being religious made this way funnier, but I know not everyone shares that sentiment. It’s a bit too sex and swears = funny at times but is overall pretty funny and the ridiculousness sos more often a positive rather than a negative.

[Rev Gary]

Why did I ever start this???

[Komuniststar]

Kirkman je to pa mora bit nešto zabavno. Ništa. Superheroj koji mlati demone i ponasa se nepristojno.

[Thomas]

For GOD, GLORY and a good CIGAR

Battle pope demands to not be taken seriously. The name alone raised a smile in me and upon reading it I was not disjointed. This volume really contains some laugh out loud comedy. The story is well told and while a little predicable does a good job of taking you on this journey.

The real start of the show is the art work. It is gorgeous in it's simplicity and clarity. With so many little details hidden that it's a joy to come back to.

In conclusion if the title made you laugh then check it out. I promise you'll get a laugh out of it

[⋆☆☽ Jen ☾☆⋆]

This one's so dumb.. I LOVE IT! AHAHAH 😂

[Peter Derk]

This book is over 20 years old. Something y'all gotta understand about comics, when they're "edgy," they won't be in 20 years. And what's edgy 20 years ago will go one of two ways:

1. It's now offensive.
2. It's now tame.

The edge that edgy comics live on, think about it like a beachfront viewed from overhead. Over a couple decades, some parts erode and are covered over and over (become tame), and in some places, the water moves out and away and are exposed (these things are offensive).

A thing is fixed in a medium, and the world changes around it.

We can argue semantics about things "becoming" offensive or always being inherently offensive, or maybe that some things are always offensive but it's only now that some of us realize it. I think when something is intentionally offensive, like Battle Pope, it's a fairly silly argument. If a reader "discovers" that Battle Pope is offensive, they haven't discovered anything. It's like discovering that a ghost pepper is spicy in a way we didn't fully catalog before. Does it matter? The things are hot as hell all the time. They're called "Ghost" peppers because they're so damn hot they revive the dead (I just made this up).

If you're offended by stuff that was edgy and maybe a little juvenile in 2000, skip this book. You won't enjoy it.

If you like stuff like that? Give it a whirl.

[Tommy]

I was probably expecting too much out of this book. Typically I love over the top, zany characters in comics (like Shirtless Bear Fighter and Murder Falcon) and I also like religious themed comics (Judas, Second Coming, Infidel) so this seemed like a perfect book for my tastes. I was disappointed though because the religious comics I tend to enjoy have a greater point and/or are a critique of something. This book was a bit too surface level and I don't think they did a great job establishing any of the characters.

[David Turko]

When I first read this nearly a decade ago, I thought this was the funniest thing ever. Now after rereading I wondered what the hell I was thinking. This is beyond juvenile and offensive. It's way too immature to be funny and comes off more like it's trying to be edgy. It writes like someone lashing out at their catholic parents. Then I remember Robert Kirkman wrote this and it fuels my thoughts as to why I'm not a fan of this man's work. I'm going to try the next volume and see it gets better but I don't have high hopes.

[Dkolacinski]

Sure, this is is sacrilegious but it's really clever as well. God is finally fed up with humanity, taking the good into Heaven and leaving the rest to eternal perdition under Lucifer. BTW did I happen to mention that the Pope was left behind as well? The Pope who rivals the De Medici and Borgia era of popes loves sex -- and a good cigar. He must save St. Michael who is being held by Lucifer in Hell. His partner turns out to be the Son of God who is a burned-out hippy surfer kind of dude. A fun adventure which ends open-ended for a Volume 2.

[John]

Another of those books that got me into the funnies. I'm currently doing a reread of seminal and formative comics for me. This is one that's really lost and dated with time.

It's funny because I was Catholic and in high school. Now, it comes off really juvenile and a sophomore effort of Kirkman and Moore (Walking Dead).

The humor is occasionally funny--but often just Jesus being Naive and the Battle Pope being horny.

[CK]

Yeah this was definitely 10 year old boy level pervy garbage BUT I am kind of hooked to the Hell side. The minions are genuinely funny (kind of like Hades’ minions in Disney’s Hercules style) and Lucifer is drawn super well and his character is interesting. So for that (and because Goodreads keeps reminding me I am 21 books behind - thanks for that) I will keep on keeping on. But this ain’t no TWD.

[Jonathan Schildbach]

This was amusing-ish. But all the jokes amounted to 'the Pope likes sex', 'the Pope likes to fight', 'the Pope likes vulgar language'. Also, when you're making jokes about religious topics, it helps if you don't spell certain key words incorrectly...it's descent (not decent), altar (not alter), etc...

[Felix Hommy Gonzalez]

What... I just read? 😳 The artwork is stunning, but the story makes no sense at all. Honestly, it’s just a nicely illustrated attempt to mock Christianity that sometimes makes you cringe and sometimes makes you laugh. It’s full of vulgar, cruel and misogynistic jokes, but it’s obviously a parody and definitely intended to be offensive. So, if you can get past that, you may enjoy it as a guilty pleasure. 🤷🏾‍♂️ Still, not sure how to rate it... 🤔

[Robbie]

I read this originally 15 years ago and I remembered liking it but reading it now it’s just not good.
The two guys behind this go on to make The Walking Dead which was a good comic and a mediocre tv show, but both extremely popular and lucrative. Battle Pope is them figuring out how to make comics and I guess everyone needs to start somewhere.

[Amber]

The premise of the comic seemed like it would be funny, but somehow this action-packed, off-the-wall, campy, blasphemous comic was incredibly boring. This is the first Image comic that I did not enjoy reading, and I definitely will not continue with the series.

[Douglas Castagna]

Crazy insane idea and story line. Nice action, great art, cool story.

[Tim Omstead]

Entertaining book. Got it on recommendation from my local comic shop.

[Mati]

I have no idea what this is about… Jesus and Pope are going to beat up demons and other baddies sort of …

[Sean Goh]

Juvenile humour with 0 depth. Skim or skip.

[Harriet]

Crazy stupid irreverent fun with art I can't stop loving. This series was ridiculous, childish, and hilarious.

[Jesse A]

Silly but appropriately irreverent and violent.

[Odo]

4/10

[Palmiro Capitestuzzuccaru]

Simpatico. Bellissimi i disegni.

[Iris]

What you would expect from a comic called Battle Pope

[Jamie Connolly]

I had to buy it. It’s called battle pope. I had to know. Now I do. Let’s just say I won’t be reading the next one. It’s wasn’t bad though. Just...something. 3 stars I guess?

[Stephen Theaker]

From Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore before they were famous, and clearly big fans of Savage Dragon, Battle Pope is about the loser in charge at the time of the Rapture, when no one qualifies for heaven. He gets beefed up by god to fight demons and kick ass.

[Cristina Alves]

https://osrascunhos.com/2018/08/03/ba...

Herege, idiota e divertido – nesta banda desenhada a influência de Deus na Terra parece ter desaparecido e os demónios sentem-se livres para andar pelo Mundo, impondo as suas vontades nos humanos. Não contam com a existência de um Papa guerreiro, treinado em artes marciais e muito pouco puro no que diz respeito a práticas.

O livro começa com o enfrentar de demónios para salvar uma donzela e depressa evolui para uma missão concedida por Deus para salvar um arcanjo. Acompanhado por um Jesus ridículo e fraco (quase cómico) o Papa (agora com maiores músculos) dirige-se ao Inferno para enfrentar tudo e todos, tendo como objectivo atingir o Paraíso!

E não se pense que o Paraíso é um local aborrecido, pois nem só os puros chegam ao céu. Outrora o anjo que guarda as portas do Paraíso aceitava favores sexuais em troca da entrada, pelo que podem-se encontrar várias pessoas interessantes no céu.

Em Battle Pope corrompem-se todas as personagens principais da Igreja Católica, desde os anjos ao Papa, passando por freiras e por Jesus Cristo, como forma de construir uma paródia movimentada e pouco profunda. Battle Pope é uma leitura inconsequente mas divertida que poderá não agradar a todos os leitores, principalmente aos que sejam religiosos.