Peter T Chattaway Report post Posted July 16, 2003 This apparently happened back in May, but I just heard about it now -- Al Hartley, writer and illustrator of the Christian Archie comics, has passed away at the age of 81. I've been a Christian all my life, but in good Protestant fashion, whenever I had to single out a "moment of decision" when I "committed my life to the Lord", I would usually point to the time when I was seven years old and I read about a 'Free Gift Offer' in one of Hartley's comics. The very concept of a "Christian Archie comic" seems kind of odd, now, and I can only wonder how people on both sides of the fence would react to this -- would Christians want their children to think that Archie and Jughead and company are Christians in ALL of the comics out there (some of which may reflect clearly non-Christian themes)? would non-Christians allow a popular comic-book franchise to favour just ONE religion? (Then again, would there even be a market for Muslim Archie comics or Sikh Archie comics or...?) There's a film connection here too, since Hartley wrote a number of comics that were supposedly based on best-selling books like David Wilkerson's The Cross and the Switchblade and Corrie Ten Boom's The Hiding Place, but I think his comics were inspired as much by the film versions of those books as they were by the films themselves. Ah well. Thanks for everything, Al. http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/...ate/5964211.htm Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
M. Leary Report post Posted July 16, 2003 Wasn't Sabrina (the teenage witch) his creation? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peter T Chattaway Report post Posted April 22, 2008 Oh my goodness. This makes me want to go through my boxes and see if I can help fill any of the gaps. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
