Marshal Law artist Kevin O’Neill said to me yesterday, “My Mayan advent calendar is a bit of a downer…today’s window shows Earth as a blasted wasteland.” I, too, took the Mayan prophecies seriously, so last week my wife Lisa and I went to the Last Supper Club, a pop-up restaurant in East London where we had a fantastic Mayan-style meal to celebrate the forthcoming end of the world. The pop-up ran for three weeks, with a different theme each week (The Salvation Menu, The Mayan Prophets Feast, The Doom’s Day Diner). The cocktails were top notch: mine involved tequila, horchata and grated dark chocolate.
Feast of the Jaguar: grilled market fish
But before dinner, two very friendly young priests had set up a confessional box, where diners could confess their sins before enjoying their last supper and preparing for The End. Naturally, Lisa and I went to confession and I regaled the priest with the most lurid sin I could recall committing. I think he was impressed, or possibly depressed, because he wanted to take our photos, perhaps to pass onto the police. But he used the most ancient, massive and funky-looking circa 1980s Polaroid camera I have ever seen which needed five minutes to warm up properly (!) and clearly had a dodgy viewfinder, so the results were thankfully rather ‘off-centre’.
Preparing to take confession.
Secrets of the confessional!
The mobile confessional. All sinners welcome.
Happy after confessing my sins!
But I loved the idea of their mobile confessional. The reverends revealed that they regularly de-sin clients at gigs like the Last Supper Club and festivals. So do look out for them if you feel the need to confess. I thoroughly recommend them and confession is a lot cheaper than therapy. Check out some of their pictures at uberschnap.tumbir.com.
I explained to the holy fathers that Kevin and I had also come up with the idea of a mobile confessional in our hero-hunting graphic novel series Marshal Law. The priest would drive through the red light district of San Futuro, California, imploring sinners to “Stop Me and Confess”. Like they used to do with ice-cream. I thought it was an excellent religious idea. A sinner could commit the most unspeakable sins, have them instantly forgiven, and then step outside and do it all over again.
Below are some images from Marshal Law featuring our mobile confessional to put all this in context. You’ll see our priest is also promoting Armageddon, spreading a message of fear to bring the punters back. And I have to say it works. I recall meeting a priest at a christening and asking him how work was going? Like you do. “Sadly,” he said, with a pious smile, “it takes a disaster like 9/11 to bring people to their senses (or their knees?) and fill the churches once again.” I’m just no good at faking it, he must have seen the expression on my face, because when he left early to “visit the sick” he deliberately avoided my outstretched hand.
This has probably been a good week for him.
The collected Marshal Law de luxe edition from DC Comics is available in April 2013. It comprises all our Law stories, apart from the cross-overs. More news on Marshal Law soon.
You should claim royalties from the guy – he clearly ripped off your idea.
The more blasphemy, the better!
After reading the last 6 words of this post I instantly forget what it was all about … just kidding of course, this post was the laugh of my evening. Have a happy Christmas and and happy new year Pat!