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The Greatest Story Barely Told: The War for Heaven

Published Sun, 05 Aug 2018 09:00:34 -0500

Last updated Sun, 05 Aug 2018 13:04:04 -0500

Robbie Blasser writes:

So there's this middle-school-aged Catholic schoolboy stuck in one of his mandatory religion classes, right? And, as he is want to do, after about 20 minutes or so the lad starts to tune out, thinking about how much he just wants this day to be over already so he can get home to watch that awesome new Batman cartoon with the really cool opening music.

Then, somewhere in the background, he hears something strange, emanating — he believes — from the direction of his teacher. (How odd.) "…that kind of arrogance is what led to the War in Heaven and Lucifer's banishment…"

"Wait, what?" the boy thinks. "There was a War in Heaven?"

He raises his hand. "Yeah, so this war, you're saying it was in Heaven? There was a war that was fought in Heaven?"

"Yes."

He leans forward. "Between who?!"

"God and the Devil."

He seems confused. "Wait a minute… you're saying that God and the Devil fought a war… in heaven. Did the devil, like, attack with his demons?"

The boy is wondering why on Earth he's never heard anything like this before. Yeah yeah yeah, loaves and fishes, yeah yeah yeah, water to wine. But THIS? Where has this story been?

"No, there were no demons yet. It was angel against angel, like the [American] Civil War."

He now seems startled "Hold on. So you're telling me that angels fought each other… in heaven… for God and the Devil?! Over what?"

"Lucifer wanted to rule it."

"Why?"

"If you had been paying attention, you would've know it was because of Lucifer's arrogance."

"That's it?"

"What?"

"That's the only reason? He was just arrogant? That's all."

"Yes, so you see…"

The boy begins to tune out again, but he's no longer thinking about Batman. He's thinking about this war — this War in Heaven. It's easily the coolest thing he's ever heard.

*****

To the surprise of perhaps no one… wouldn't you know it? That boy was me, and the seeds of the story we've written and currently have up on this here Kickstarter were planted that day.

In the coming days, weeks, months, and even years, I began to scour the libraries for this full story, wanting the details and reasons and all the good stuff in between the simple plot points my teacher laid out that day.

But they weren't there. This story — this incredible, badass, amazing story — had not actually been written, at least in a major way, at least in any work that I could find. There are references in The Bible, of course, but nothing really intricate is there to be found. John Milton established much of the lore in his classic Paradise Lost, yes, but that story was much more concerned with the aftermath of the events rather than the events themselves. Even the version of Lucifer that was so beautifully established for all fans of comics by Neil Gaiman and then Mike Carey was concerned with his life in the world here and now, not then.

But the War itself? The events that led to it? The relationships between the characters? What about those? Where is the major work about the details and nuances, the lead-up? Why did this happen? What exactly brought the most perfect place imaginable — literally — to this? "Arrogance," on its own, is not a reason… at least not a good enough one.

*****

Almost eight years ago, I began to fill in those blanks myself, in ways that I found interesting. I wanted characters with arcs, choices that were built on multiple, complex emotions. But most of all, however, I wanted to see a family — a collection of connected characters — whose relationships were what this would be all about. God loved Lucifer, and Lucifer loved him. What happened with that love? Gabriel and Michael would have been brothers in all this, yes, but brothers often have complicated bonds, don't they? And if this was ultimately going to be a "father/son" type story, we all know how precarious those can be. **cough cough, Kronos and Zeus, cough cough**

The script took me years to get right, partly because there was a lot to this and partly because I sorta kinda needed to learn how to write. Then, when I felt it was ready, I brought in the talented artist Josef Sison to work out the look of the characters with me and the world they'd inhabit. But we also knew we'd need help with the art, while also needing to learn the MOUNTAIN of information about the comics world that we did not have. So we brought in the talented — and experienced — Matt Harding to be our colorist, letterer, and general Guy Who Knows Things We Don't.

As such, we have finally arrived at our moment: to get this story that always should have been front and center finally out there, which is why we've come here to Bleeding Cool, to all you Bleeders, for help. It simply astounds me that it's never been readily available and accessible, so we're here to fill that void. And that's what the Kickstarter campaign, running all the way up to the August 31st, is here to accomplish. We are currently at 23% funding, but the initial excitement has waned and we are about to hit the ever-so-slow grind.

So, if we are able to hit at least 50% by the end of the weekend ($2,639), I will film myself dancing for joy and post it as an update to our Kickstarter page. Things to know:

1. I can't dance.
2. I'm a large man (6'7", just over two meters), so when I dance poorly, there is a lot there to be entertained by.
3. I will COMMIT to this, now matter how bad I am. I used to be in theater; I know how to stay in character.

I have no doubt it'll all be worth it. Because, you know? maybe there's a kid, somewhere, just coming out of a fog of boredom in some class at the thought of this story. We'd like her to be able to find it.

*****

Oh, and hey: we don't care if you believe in God. We don't care if you don't. This has nothing to do with that. We promise.

Look, we know we live in the world as it exists now, and religion is a hot-button issue that riles almost everyone up for their own reasons. We've been mindful of as much of that as possible. We seek to neither accommodate nor offend any demographic. We understand we're playing with mercury, and have not done so flippantly. It's all in the service of the story.

And finally, you will see… oh let's just call it "classic" Western religious imagery in these images… at first. This does not mean the story serves as an endorsement of any of it. There are issues of representation and inclusivity ABOUND in the tradition I was raised in, and — make no mistake — those issues will be addressed. It is our belief, however, that this is much better served by incorporating these concerns INTO the actual story as it is being told — in a more subtle, non-sledgehammer-y type way — and not just quickly changing everything up for an aesthetic appeal to diversity when the content being depicted has had major problems with that for thousands of years. That felt — and still feels — disingenuous.

But again, the story will (hopefully) go on. Things will change. We obviously just can't tell you how — and why — yet.