The Ecumenical Brother Juniper: Empty-Grave Motley Edition - Paperback

by Justin 'Fred' McCarthy (Author)

The "Brother Juniper" comic strip was syndicated in newspapers for thirty years and, at its peak, ran in more than 150 dailies world-wide. The comic, created by a seventy-one-year member of the Secular Franciscan Order, received an unprecedented cross-cultural response and was the only religious-themed comic strip to garner international syndication.

The Brother Juniper Rejuvenation Project has done pixel-level remastering of the eight-book series using the highest caliber archival materials in order to present Brother Juniper with a degree of quality never before seen. Also, the Extended Editions supply readers with a breadth of supplementary content that traditional paper publishers are unable to produce.

The creator, Father Justin 'Fred' McCarthy sums up the timeless appeal of Brother Juniper:

"Take someone from the Middle Ages, put him in a modern setting and you have something funny right there. He's Catholic with a small 'c'. He's always trying to help people but always slipping on a banana peel. Characters like Brother Juniper, and Charlie Brown, lose the battle but win the war."

Author Biography

Father Justin 'Fred' McCarthy (1918 - 2009) expertly doodled his way through childhood in Boston. As a student at Boston College he felt the call of religious service. He heard and acted on that call by transferring to St. Bonaventure College in Buffalo. It was there that his cartooning hobby flowered and drew the attention of his peers - which resulted in the appearance of a nameless little monk in college flyers and posters. In 1942, he dubbed this cheery, pint-sized creation, "Brother Juniper." McCarthy was a member of the Secular Franciscan Order for seventy-one years. He served as art director of the national Franciscan magazine, Friar. He also taught classes about the art of comics and humor at numerous universities and colleges; and networked with fellow comic artists by playing street football out in front of New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Rumor has it that, at eighty-four, he could still punt a football forty yards. Father McCarthy retired to southern Florida with his wife Lilly and continued to create new material for the well-traveled Brother Juniper. In a 2004 interview he is quoted as saying: I hope that my 'little sunbeam in burlap' will serve as an exemplar of Catholic good humor while providing us with a chuckle a week.