Catholic Comic Book Heroes and Pope Saint JP2, Too?

Not being a Roman Catholic I never realized that my favourite Pope JP2, who I saw ride down the road in the 80s in his Popemobile when I jumped my back-fence and went through my Catholic neighbour's yard to watch the Pope ride past their front yard, as we stood on the footpath amazed that the Pope would ride down a street that was the backbone of our Australian neighbourhood, and wave at us and look us in the eyes, was now a Catholic saint.

I wish that I had a photo of the occasion now, but back in the 80s there were no cell phone cameras and if you wanted to take photos you had to have a roll of film and a camera laying around the home, and on that day I was told by my neighbours that the Pope was going to ride past I had no film laying around the home:-(

Pope-mobile in the movie 'Cars 2' 

It certainly was strange to see such a famous personality ride down a street I grew up on (and nearly got killed on almost sliding on my push-bike under a semi-trailer's back wheels when I was a stupid kid) and wave at us from his Pope-mobile.

I never knew that there was a Marvel comic about JP2, either.

But then again, I was never into Marvel and DC Comics books growing up ... or when grown up.
I must say that I didn't realize that Batman was a Catholic, but then that makes sense to me now that the soundtrack for the last major Batman movie starring Robert Pattinson (Born May 13th I might add) as Batman has Ave Maria featured so heavily throughout the movie. 

Fatima, Art Bell and the Number 13?

May 13th?

Born May 13th?

The Batman and Brisbane?

JP2 is also the main character in Malachi Martin's novel 'Windswept House' and with just under 100 pages left to read of this 650-page novel I don't know if Martin is going to paint JP2 as a hero or a villain.

I'm not even sure from what I have read and heard lately about Malachi Martin if he was a hero or a villain for the Catholic Church. 

And on the subject of heroes and villains of the Church, here's some breaking news about Cardinal Angelo Sodano going off to meet his maker ... hopefully for him;-)

I wonder if Martin put him in the novel as a "factional" character?

Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican power
broker for decades under two popes, dies at 94

Quite Frankly Bookclub: Windswept House?

As a personal added synch bonus I never realized that Franz Schubert wrote Ave Maria and that until today, that I got married 160 years to the day after Franz died:-)