The Confessor (comics)
Encyclopedia
The Confessor is a fictional character
in the comic book
series Astro City
.
Created by writer Kurt Busiek
and artists Brent Anderson
and Alex Ross
.
priest
who fell victim to temptation during construction of the Grandenetti Cathedral in what was then Romeyn
Falls. While tending to the South-Eastern European immigrants who worked on the Cathedral, he was seduced by a mysterious beautiful woman he saw around the workers' shanty town
; the woman turned out to be a vampire
, who bit him, causing his transformation. Hiding in the lost and forgotten halls and vaults of the Cathedral for decades, he finally came out of hiding to fight crime in Astro City as penance, eventually constructing the identity of a religious-themed costumed hero. The Confessor's first documented (to date) appearance in Astro City occurred during the early 1950s.
Staying inside the church during daytime, the Confessor appears only at night, possessing the regular vampiric aversion to sunlight. He is almost always seen wearing an all-black costume with a large black cape, a high collar, and usually a ninja
-esque mask over his face. On his chest there is a large, shining cross, which causes him sufficient pain to prevent his temptation to drink blood and remind him of the mission which drives him onward, his mission to defend justice.
Towards the climax of his career he began mentoring a sidekick, Altar Boy, who discovered his vampiric nature. The Confessor sacrificed his identity and life to expose masquerading alien invaders, but posthumously was nonetheless falsely blamed for a string of unrelated murders in the Shadow Hill district of Astro City. The mantle of The Confessor was then taken up by Altar Boy. Although the original Confessor had traditional vampiric weaknesses, and was thus defeated by traditional methods (i.e. crucifix
es, holy water
, and a stake
), his successor Altar Boy, not being a vampire, is immune to these methods, to his great advantage when fighting enemies who mistakenly view him as a vampire.
, Malled, Frank Hardy is seen wearing a T-shirt that pays homage to The Confessor.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series Astro City
Astro City
Kurt Busiek's Astro City is a comic book series centered on a fictional American city of that name. Written by Kurt Busiek, the series is co-created and illustrated by Brent Anderson with character designs and painted covers by Alex Ross...
.
Created by writer Kurt Busiek
Kurt Busiek
Kurt Busiek is an American comic book writer notable for his work on the Marvels limited series, his own title Astro City, and his four-year run on Avengers.-Early life:...
and artists Brent Anderson
Brent Anderson
Brent Anderson is an American comic book artist known for his work on X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills and the comic book series Astro City.- Early life :...
and Alex Ross
Alex Ross
Nelson Alexander "Alex" Ross is an American comic book painter, illustrator, and plotter. He is praised for his realistic, human depictions of classic comic book characters. Since the 1990s he has done work for Marvel Comics and DC Comics Nelson Alexander "Alex" Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an...
.
Fictional character biography
Born in the 19th century, The Confessor was originally Jeremiah Parrish, a Roman CatholicRoman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
who fell victim to temptation during construction of the Grandenetti Cathedral in what was then Romeyn
Romeyn de Hooghe
Romeyn de Hooghe was an important and prolific late Dutch Baroque, painter, sculptor, engraver and caricaturist.-Biography:...
Falls. While tending to the South-Eastern European immigrants who worked on the Cathedral, he was seduced by a mysterious beautiful woman he saw around the workers' shanty town
Shanty town
A shanty town is a slum settlement of impoverished people who live in improvised dwellings made from scrap materials: often plywood, corrugated metal and sheets of plastic...
; the woman turned out to be a vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
, who bit him, causing his transformation. Hiding in the lost and forgotten halls and vaults of the Cathedral for decades, he finally came out of hiding to fight crime in Astro City as penance, eventually constructing the identity of a religious-themed costumed hero. The Confessor's first documented (to date) appearance in Astro City occurred during the early 1950s.
Staying inside the church during daytime, the Confessor appears only at night, possessing the regular vampiric aversion to sunlight. He is almost always seen wearing an all-black costume with a large black cape, a high collar, and usually a ninja
Ninja
A or was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations...
-esque mask over his face. On his chest there is a large, shining cross, which causes him sufficient pain to prevent his temptation to drink blood and remind him of the mission which drives him onward, his mission to defend justice.
Towards the climax of his career he began mentoring a sidekick, Altar Boy, who discovered his vampiric nature. The Confessor sacrificed his identity and life to expose masquerading alien invaders, but posthumously was nonetheless falsely blamed for a string of unrelated murders in the Shadow Hill district of Astro City. The mantle of The Confessor was then taken up by Altar Boy. Although the original Confessor had traditional vampiric weaknesses, and was thus defeated by traditional methods (i.e. crucifix
Crucifix
A crucifix is an independent image of Jesus on the cross with a representation of Jesus' body, referred to in English as the corpus , as distinct from a cross with no body....
es, holy water
Holy water
Holy water is water that, in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, Oriental Orthodoxy, and some other churches, has been sanctified by a priest for the purpose of baptism, the blessing of persons, places, and objects; or as a means of repelling evil.The use for baptism and...
, and a stake
Impalement
Impalement is the traumatic penetration of an organism by an elongated foreign object such as a stake, pole, or spear, and this usually implies complete perforation of the central mass of the impaled body...
), his successor Altar Boy, not being a vampire, is immune to these methods, to his great advantage when fighting enemies who mistakenly view him as a vampire.
The Confessor in Pop Culture
In the 4th Undercover Brothers (Hardy Boys) graphic novelGraphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
, Malled, Frank Hardy is seen wearing a T-shirt that pays homage to The Confessor.