Beware all you gods, goddesses and lesser supernatural entities. No longer can you impose your religious will on a trembling mankind with impunity. There's some new sheriffs in town and they "S.H.O.O.T. First" and ask questions later.
Or at least that's the premise of a story set to appear in next month's final issue (#35) of MySpace Dark Horse Presents, a free web comic sponsored by Dark Horse, the largest independent American comic book publisher.
In an interview with Comics Alliance, S.H.O.O.T. First creator Justin Aclin reveals a little about the story:
The acronym tells you everything you need to know about the basic premise of the story: it stands for "Secular Humanist Occult Obliteration Taskforce." S.H.O.O.T. are basically militant atheists, tasked with hunting down supernatural creatures, especially those of religious significance, that they don't even believe in. So in the story in MDHP #35, we see S.H.O.O.T. interrupting an exorcism to kill the demon...but they're also there in pursuit of a "holy spirit" that might be aiding the priest. It's all the same to them...
...I don't think there's ever been a team like "S.H.O.O.T." that basically thinks it's all bunk, and just goes after any threat with science and bullets, and scientific bullets.
Aclin differentiates his "S.H.O.O.T." team and their mission from other comic characters this way:
I know there are superheroes and comic characters out there who are atheists, but as far as I know S.H.O.O.T. are the first comic characters where atheism is their entire raison d'être. They want to see humanity reach their full potential, and they feel that these supernatural beings, which they call "Outside Actors," are standing in the way of that for their own purposes. Each member of the team has had a personal break with faith, and that actually serves as their greatest weapon against the Outside Actors, for reasons you find out in the story.
As an atheist I admit to having mixed feelings about this premise. While I like the idea that there are atheist heroes appearing in comics, the fact that they S.H.O.O.T. First and ask no questions either beforehand or later grates on me like fingernails scratching a chalkboard. It plays to an accusation we hear all the time; that atheism is faith-based; that we can see evidence of the supernatural and make an a priori judgement to dismiss it. I'd like to think we're a little more open to evidence than that. I don't see how a "personal break with faith" justifies certainty in your new beliefs either... at least not to the point of indiscriminately shooting anything that stands in their way.
Ah well, perhaps I am making too much of what is, after all, a comic book story. Besides, if I really want to claim that I base my judgements on evidence, I, like everyone else, will have to wait until MySpace Dark Horse Presents #35 comes out in June. In the meantime, you can read the full Comics Alliance interview with Justin Aclin here and read the current issue (#34) of MySpace Dark Horse Presents here. Happy reading!
Related Stories:
Photo Credit:
1) The S.H.O.O.T. First team interrupts an exorcism (source: Comics Alliance)
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Comments
Secular Humanist Intellectual Team (or Taskforce).
Secular Humanist Interrogation Tools.
etc...
I think I would be a bit worried myself on these characters approaches.
Yeah, can't say this really looks like a good representation just based on the premise... I mean, he's already proven that their views as Atheists are completely wrong simply by including actual supernatural elements in the first place. Is it really a good idea to have your hero team's entire credo blatantly proven wrong by the plot concept itself?
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