Spire Christian Comics

Spire Christian Comics was a line of comic books published by Fleming H. Revell starting in 1972. In 1981 Hugh Revell Barbour started his own company, Book Bargains, which soon became Barbour & Company. Barbour acquired the rights to republish many of the titles in the Spire Christian Comics line under the "NEW Barbour Christian Comics" imprint, keeping the comics in print until 1988.

Most of the Spire Comics were written and drawn by Al Hartley, who was working for Archie Comics at the time. Due to this connection, he was able to get permission to use the Archie characters in many of the comics.

Other comics were based on true stories, Christian novels, or Christian movies. Examples of this type include those based on Charles Colson's "Born Again", Corrie ten Boom's "The Hiding Place", and a modernized version of Charles Sheldon's 1896 novel "In His Steps".

The comics were created from 1972 and 1982, and kept in print for several years.

List of titles

"Archie" Series
* "Archie and Big Ethel"
* "Archie and Mr. Weatherbee"
* "Archie Gets a Job"
* "Archie's Car"
* "Archie's Circus"
* "Archie's Clean Slate"
* "Archie's Date Book"
* "Archie's Family Album"
* "Archie's Festival"
* "Archie's Love Scene"
* "Archie's One Way"
* "Archie's Parables"
* "Archie's Roller Coaster"
* "Archie's Something Else!"
* "Archie's Sonshine"
* "Archie's Sports Scene"
* "Archie's World"
* "Christmas with Archie"
* "Jughead's Soul Food"

Bible Story Adaptations
* "Adam & Eve" (modernised story)
* "Alpha and Omega" (modernised Adam and Eve/Jonah story)
* "Jesus" (also published as "He's the Greatest!")
* "Live It Up" (also published as "The Prodigal Son")
* "My Brother's Keeper" (modernised story of Joseph)
* "Noah's Ark"
* "Paul: Close Encounter of a Real Kind" (modernised story of Paul of Tarsus)

Biographical and Autobiographical
* "Attack!" (Mitsuo Fuchida)
* "Born Again" (Chuck Colson)
* "Corrie ten Boom's The Hiding Place"
* "Crossfire"
* "The Cross and the Switchblade" (David Wilkerson)
* "God's Smuggler" (Brother Andrew)
* "Hansi, the Girl who Loved the Swastika" (Maria Anne Hirschmann)
* "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash"
* "In the Presence of Mine Enemies" (Howard Rutledge)
* "On the Road with Andrae Crouch"
* "Through Gates of Splendor" (Nate Saint and Jim Elliott)
* "Tom Landry and the Dallas Cowboys"
* "Tom Skinner's Up from Harlem"

Kiddies Christian Comics
* "Barney Bear: Family Tree"
* "Barney Bear: Home Plate!"
* "Barney Bear in Toyland"
* "Barney Bear: Lost and Found"
* "Barney Bear Out of the Woods"
* "Barney Bear: Sunday School Picnic"
* "Barney Bear: The Swamp Gang"
* "Barney Bear Wakes Up!"
* "God Is..."

Other Book/Movie Adaptations
* "Adventure with the Brothers: The Cult Escape"
* "Adventure with the Brothers: Smashing the Smugglers' Ring"
* "Adventure with the Brothers: Hang in There"
* "Hal Lindsey's There's A New World Coming"
* "In His Steps"
* "Time to Run"
* "Joseph T. Bayly's The Gospel Blimp"

Resources

* [http://www.christiancomicsinternational.org/hartley_pioneer.html Al Hartley - Christian Comics Pioneer]
* [http://www.christiancomicsinternational.org/series_spire.html Spire/Barbour Christian comics titles]

External links

* [http://generationexploitation.blogspot.com/2006/06/history-of-christian-archi_114951302719460209.html The History of Christian Archie Comics]
* [http://www.carpsplace.com/spire/spire.htm Spire Comics fan site]
* [http://www.comic-book-and-strip-service.com/christian-comic.html The Christian Comic Book Niche]