It's been awhile since I've posted a Spire Christian Comic (the last being In His Steps), so how about we take a look at possibly the coolest Christian comic ever conceived by Spire and Al Hartley? That comic would be Alpha and Omega, a sci-fi take on Adam and Eve from the Book of Genesis.
Growing up in a Christian family in Northern California, my parents would buy comics during family vacations or long road trips, and sometimes they would buy a few from the Spire Christian line. Archie's Parables, Barney Bear and Noah's Arc were the ones I remember. But the one that always captured my interest (yet eluded my grasp) was Alpha and Omega.
The cover amazed me as a young boy, Star Wars vibe and all. I usually preferred Thor or Iron Man to anything from Spire, but the Alpha and Omega cover had my full attention. Sadly, the contents within remained a mystery to me for many years, until I only recently found a copy on eBay. So here we go!
This one starts off with space astronaut Alpha exploring an "unprogrammed" area of space. The operators at Basecom have discovered that Alpha has picked up a girl (or as he says "new program") along the way called Omega. Together the two land on an uncharted asteroid and follow instructions from a "higher source" of intelligence nearby.
The higher intelligence (God) informs them that everything in the universe is theirs for the taking...everything except the Red Planet, which is in the forbidden zone. A spaceship arrives and a man named Lucifer introduces himself, urging Alpha and Omega to ignore the warning and explore the Red Planet, where infinite knowledge awaits.
Omega begs Alpha to take her there, and he quickly gives in. They blast off toward the Red Planet and suddenly become trapped in a Black Hole, lost in time and space. Hey, is that R2-D2 in the spaceship?
Some of the best pages in the book are to follow, as Lucifer introduces Alpha and Omega to his sci-fi, Spire Christian Comic approved version of Hell.
As Alpha and Omega try to escape, Omega disappears. Then all of a sudden Alpha is on a hovercraft in the ocean, where he gets gobbled up by a huge Godzilla-style sea serpent. Alpha proceeds to have his Jonah moment...
Alone inside the belly of the beast, Alpha begs God to forgive him and promises to obey. The serpent spits him out and he's reunited with Omega. Together they realize that God is the creator of all things! Lucifer tries to intervene yet again, but this time Alpha and Omega have God on their side...
The rest of the comic explains the biblical portions of the Garden of Eden story. This might be some of the best artwork by Al Hartley in any Spire comic, and has become my personal favorite. Hartley took criticism for leaving Marvel comics, becoming a born again Christian and then working for Archie comics and creating the Spire line.
If you're looking for the strangest Spire comic ever made, look no further than Alpha and Omega. It truly is one of a kind, taking the science fiction themes of Star Wars and Flash Gordon and weaving the Book of Genesis within that is almost incomprehensible, yet entertaining throughout.
Really appreciate this post. I'm sure this comment comes to you very late -- and you might never read it. But your blog was a really nice find for me. Really appreciate your oddities and rarities.
ReplyDeleteCan you upload the whole book for my church kids ? I’m a pastor and my kids could really benefit from it
ReplyDeleteApparently not
ReplyDelete