First Look at Archangel (The Comic and the Controversy)

By David Rasmussen
29th Dec 07

It took a little looking, but thanks to Reuters News Service from New York and Fixed Noise… I mean FOX News… here’s your first look at the controversial anti-sex predator comic “Archangel”.

If you were to tell me that the New York Roman Catholic Archdiocese were using a comic slash coloring book format to warn children about sex predators? Well… yeah, actually that wouldn’t have surprised me very much. What with the recent success of Realbuzz Studios (as the first serious publisher of faith based comics/manga out there right now) you’d think others would follow their example… more or less.

So to suddenly see the Catholic Archdiocese do this isn’t a shock… it’s just a bit disappointing that (from what I’ve seen to date) they may have been inspired by Realbuzz but did NOTHING to emulate what it is Realbuzz is doing that makes their titles a bonafide success story! (Which actually is a good thing because the more people pass this title along exposing more readers to it, the more it’s message will spread (and since we are talking about putting the kibosh on sexual predators that can only be a good thing… right?) (And no, just the artistic style isn’t doing anything to emulate Realbuzz, they didn’t score a 4 out of 5 (Serenity) and 5 out of 5 (Goofyfoot Gurl) on pretty pages alone.

Now this is the first such attempt by the Archdiocese themselves (according to FOX News), as opposed (I am certain) to past attempts by individual sections or groups of Catholic without official ties to the Archidiocese themselves. Dig deep enough and I am sure several past attempts of a smaller scale (on topics like abstinence, “Just Say No To Drugs” and so forth being the possible topic of those) can be found (if one looks hard enough). Should this be applauded? I don’t see why not. Should it be the end of it? I don’t think so… I’ll go into that in more depth shortly, hang on.

Anyway back to the whole concept.
Yes, I heard the critics. However while the news article mentions the lack of depth concerning the possibilities of priests being a threat, but fails to mention the fact the title also softballs the fact that a great deal of sexual predators can also be either people trusted by family members (or family members themselves, which seems to be overlooked by the title according to critics that made the rounds on MSNBC on December 5th 2007).

The small sized 28-page comic, entitled “Archangel” published back in September… odd, though, that it took all the way too DECEMBER for the “Monied Media” to catch on, and roll onto the bandwagon (so to speak)! Abit late, aren’t you fellas.
However if you weren’t looking at both articles (FOX News and Reuters) and only relied on certain reports? Well, then you’d think the two items (the comic and the coloring book) were either one book, or the same content (which seems to be anything but the truth).

According to FOX News, the coloring book version of the set features a perky guardian angel (if this book’s lead character isn’t a sign the creators of these books were inspired by recent faith based comic/manga publisher Realbuzz Studios’ success… then I don’t know what is) who tells children -- oh, from what I’ve seen I’ll take it the angel is female though only a review of the titles will ferret that out… what was I saying? Oh, right! The angel says the following…

1 - Kids should not keep secrets from their parents
2 - Kids should not meet anyone from an Internet chat room (because kids 10+ don’t always watch Dateline NBC’s To Catch A Predator Series to learn these lessons).
3 - And kids should allow only "certain people" like a doctor or parent to see "where your bathing suit would be."

Straightforward, yet kinda lacking in a few details.
1 - No mention of the kind of people kids should be wary of, and sometimes even trusted people in authority positions can do things that they shouldn’t. Stuff like that.
2 - Maybe a warning about inappropriate “bathing suit area” touching should be warned against as well? Maybe it’s me but it seems to warrant at least a mention and warning.

OK. According to Reuters (age rated for 10+ according to FOX News), the comic version’s main story focuses on a teenager who relies on St. Michael the Archangel to report the sexual abuse of two female students at his high school by the father of one of their friends… uh, yeah, I didn’t think we were going to see a shocking story of male on male sex abuse either. The church seems to have had more than their share of that context to last them awhile. Oh, and… really? I think this part is probably out of context (think they mean “teenager who relies on St. Michael the Archangel to GIVE HIM STRENGTH to report the sexual abuse of two female”… yeah, because I’d be a tad bit little curious if St. Michael actually turns in the report himself).

OK. So who is the target audience?
Target audience is most likely 10 or under for the coloring book, and 10+ year olds for the comic version (the media all agrees on that). Distribution back in September went to a mix of 300 schools and 400 religious education programs (all in the state of New York) in it‘s first release. Don’t live in NY? Me neither, it seems to be available online for free (though I would like to get physical copies for review purposes if possible).

Language wise you can find this title in both English AND Spanish! Hola!

What’s the purpose of the title? Well according to Mr. Joseph Zwilling (a spokesman for the Catholic Archdiocese), "It's part of our much broader effort to help give children the information they need in order to keep themselves safe,"

"It's to help young people to know situations they should not get into," Mr. Zwilling further said. "How to be safe—but to try to do it in an age- appropriate and sensitive way."

Of course it also kinda helps the Archdiocese if it looks like they’re actually doing something positive after all the sex scandal problems of the past several years.

Now here’s where fixation by the media lacks follow through (or just a fixation on a certain problem the book has).

The title has appeared several years after reports of widespread abuse of parishioners by Roman Catholic priests in Boston, Los Angeles and other cities -- and (despite the fact it had a September 2007 launch date) it has only recently received wide attention (this week in the first week of December no less) after being profiled in Newsweek magazine.
Really! So even Newsweek was behind the moon on this one totally missing it’s September launch date! You don’t say!

According to Carmen Durso, a lawyer who represents some of those victims of the priest scandal of some years back, he said the books take a (according to the Reuters‘ article edited by a Mr. Eric Walsh) “moralizing tone that might have the opposite effect of persuading children to report abuse“.

"They're kidding themselves if they think they're going to create with these things a situation where kids are going to talk to someone," Durso said.

Guess only a review will reveal that one way or another. I’ll have to get back to that part of the criticism at a future date, should I ever review this title.

As for the critics? Some critics, while applauding the intent, say the books should say explicitly that trusted adults—including priests—may be the abusers.

David Clohessy (national director of the Survivors Network (of those Abused by Priests) said that while he welcomes any attempt to teach children how to stay safe, he believes the coloring book part of the release should have stated in clearer terms that a sexual predator is (often as I understand the statistics) more likely to be a trusted adult than a stranger.
(Me? I’m still trying to come to grips with such a mondo hefty topic being told in coloring book format… but, you know, that’s just me. The experts know better than me.)

(from the FOX News article) "There continues to be a bit of an overemphasis on stranger danger," Clohessy said. "I think it would be most effective if it would say, 'Not only strangers molest kids. Even adults you like and your parents respect—teachers, doctors, priests—can hurt kids.'"

This happens to be a sentiment heard again when you compare this to the words from Mr. Clohessy that appear in the Reuters‘ article.
"It's appropriate for an audience of Catholic kids to be told that even Catholic priests and seminarians and bishops and nuns can do these things," Clohessy said. "Usually adults who hurt kids aren't strangers, but are grown-ups who you like and your parents trust and other adults trust."

Mr. Zwilling, of course, takes a different approach to the priest part, saying the vast majority of priests are "good and holy men," and he said it would have been inappropriate for the coloring book to single out priests as potential abusers. "You don't want to frighten children," he said. "You also don't want to stigmatize any group."

Now this I think is a right approach… but that doesn’t let the Archdiocese off the hook.
It’s one thing to say that you won’t single out a single authority group (because you don’t want to stigmatize any group)… but then to turn about and ignore ALL authority groups (including, yes, priests) that could be suspect (and there’s abit) is wrong too.
Also at the back of the coloring book there’s supposed to be a word search puzzle of who to trust, of which one of those “to trust” is… yes… a priest.

Now according to the FOX News’ article, the closest the coloring book comes to directly addressing the 2002 church abuse scandal (I thought it went past 2002 but that’s just me) is a picture of a second angel -- not the main primary guardian angel that got the most visual airtime on the net and TV -- grinning at a priest and an altar boy through a wide open door… say what? Grinning?!? That’s as in smiling, right?

Uh… what the hell!!

Oh. There’s text for this panel. Maybe that will clear things up.

Text (Archangel the coloring book)
"For safety's sake, a child and an adult shouldn't be alone in a closed room together," the text reads. "If a child and an adult happen to be alone, someone should know where they are and the door should be open or have a big window in it."

So why again is the guardian angel grinning like crazy for?!? It’s watching the priest and the altar boy so… what the…!!

Zwilling, for his part, said the books are meant to warn children of the danger in general, and at least one victims' support group called them a good step.

True, it is a good step but let’s not forget that one good step is usually followed by another. And one good move must be followed by another, as the title’s content is revised to expand the knowledge presented, as well as axing out flaws in the presentation that weakens the overall message.

This is at best a prelim of my review, but if I were to say what I think my talking points for the review would be in terms of changes needed by the Archangel comic in a second printing? Here’s a few points.

1-Stronger emphasis on who could betray your trust rather than who to trust.
It’s abit paranoid, you might say, but it’s also a sad truth (and I’d rather lay down all my cards and be straight up right off the bat than only give partial information that is deemed “comfortable” to talk about by the powers that be in the Catholic Church).

It’s not a comfortable topic, to be certain… but it has to be said.
People in power, including family, can sometimes betray the trust young people have in them and put them at risk for sexual exploitation. It’s not a pretty thought, but it’s the truth. You can’t ignore it, or skip over it because you are not the most comfortable talking about it (and if you are not comfortable with it, being an adult, how uncomfortable you think a kid is going to be talking about it)!

The people behind the Archangel title needs to seriously consult with experts who are NOT employed by the church (thus more likely to allow church doctrine and policy to color their opinion, thereby limiting the title as it is not being presented with all it could have been information wise), get all the facts, and present it in a way that children can understand (but not dumbed down as if your speaking down at them instead of bringing yourself eye-to-eye with them and speaking honestly with them).
This is for the best, I assure you.

And no, it’s not all priests. There are other authorities figures that should be warned about just as much as priests, because they are as equally dangerous to young children as priests.
It doesn’t mean that all authority (or all priests) equals evil (even I don‘t believe that), but if we stop the abuse of any children then it can only be a good thing (shouldn’t it be so?)

2-What starts in NY doesn’t need to stay in NY
I hear you can get free copies over the internet. Do it.
If you are interested in this topic then you must get an issue for yourself (yes, for you).
Read it, think of the message delivered and (if possible) how it could be improved and strengthened. Is there anything unnecessary in the book (or could be moved to a separate book)? Note it and think about it. Then, when all is said and done go right to the source and tell them all that you have to say to them.

Don’t be afraid to honestly tell them they need to be more upfront and informative to their readers, don’t water down the message or make it ineffectual because you are not arming them with all the information they require (or because of some other thing that you could do better or not do at all).

As for myself? Yes, yes I am still really concerned about such an important topic being talked about in a “coloring book” format, but the experts no doubt have already said it’s for the best so who am I to contradict well regarded experts!

Long story short. If you like what you see? Tell them.
If you don’t like what you see? Tell them that too.
They’re going to one day present your children with this (once it spreads about and more states pick this up for distribution in schools), so tell them what you think point blank. Be honest with them, and tell them what needs to be improved to make the title perfect in it’s message and the way said message is delivered.

As for a full review? That is something I can only do with a full out copy of the title.
So please, if you have a copy please leave me a PM here at this site and I’ll see if I can’t trade you for your copy or something so I can review the title. In fact if you can trade with me BOTH the coloring book AND comic then more power to you!

Stay tuned, a full review (with score) of the two titles is coming in the future.

-- David Rasmussen 29th Dec 07