Sky Ranger

[Cartoonist]

I used to do a column in the Atheist group called Religion in the Comics. It died due to lack of material. Fortunately, someone uploaded a bunch of Oral Roberts comic books to one of my favorite sites, Comic Book Plus. Here's an interesting one. It sports a nice cover and gives no warning as to its religious content. However, if you know Oral Roberts, then you know God is hiding behind one of those clouds.







I'm going to skip ahead a bit, otherwise I would have to post 36 images. If you wish to read the whole story, here's the link:
http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=70584&b=i















So, is this tale one of those fictional stories with a moral, or is it to be taken literally? Did God really talk to Vera and tell her to turn left? Oral says it's true.

[guillaumeb]

1. Is it allowable under copyright law to post the entire comic?

[MineralMan]

4. I don't know, Guy. Telepix Publications appears to

be long gone, although there is a company in Sri Lanka with that name. You could write them and ask if they own the copyrights to those Xtian Comix. Somehow, though, I doubt there will be an issue with putting them here. Sort of like Jack Chick comics. People have been posting those for a laugh since the Internet began.

But, you're concerned, so you might want to check.

[Cartoonist]

7. The site claims they are PD

Public domain.

[guillaumeb]

10. Thank you.

[Voltaire2]

11. Wtf?

[MineralMan]

2. Oral was fond of running his mouth.

He apparently couldn't think of anything else to do with it and, given his name, he had do do something, after all.

As a teenager, I once attended one of his revivals. It was an "experience." He always was inviting kids to write to him and tell him about their "spiritual" problems. I wonder what he did with those letters, you know...but I was never tempted to write to him. He always seemed a little quidgy or something.

It might well have been this event, in 1957, in Downey, CA:

[Mariana]

9. This was a bit before my time, so I'm only speculating.

I envision a form letter sent in response, saying something like this, although probably with a lot more words:

"Thank you so much for writing to me. I, Oral Roberts, will personally go to the Lord in prayer and speak to him about your problem. [Insert a verse or two about how powerful prayer is].

You know, there are many other young people in spiritual need. Would you like to make a donation to help us reach them, too? [Insert a verse or two about how much God likes for people to give money, and how he will reward them for it]. Please send to the following address.

Your brother in Christ,
Oral Roberts"

I also envision follow-up letters, reminding the letter writer how Oral helped him with his problem, and asking for more money.

[ExciteBike66]

3. Let go and let Jesus take the....rudder? nt

[MineralMan]

5. The...uh...stick. Let Jesus grab the stick.

Yeah, that's the ticket.

[trotsky]

6. Wow, if only god would intervene and keep everyone's plane from crashing.

That would be nice.

[murielm99]

8. We had a relative who sent those comics to us in the mail.

My mother would read them to us and point out why they were silly.

That was interesting, because my mother and the rest of my family belong to a very conservative Lutheran church.

[Voltaire2]

12. And then Satan invented radar.

Damn you IFR!

Next up: Dog is my copilot.