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As its indicia indicates, this comic is "Based on the book BORN AGAIN by Charles W. Colson, published by Chosen Books, Inc., Copyright © 1976 by Charles W. Colson." The fine points of the Watergate scandal have be analyzed and debated for many years, and doubtlessly will be for many years to come, but one thing is for certain. The biggest example of "fallout" from the Watergate scandal was the public disgrace and eventual resignation of President Richard M. Nixon. At the time of publication this funnybook adaptation of BORN AGAIN, Watergate was still a recent - and very "hot" topic - and it's interesting to note the supposedly factual shortcuts and omissions it contains. Of course, this comic was never intended to be an all-inclusive history of the Watergate scandal; instead, it's a funnybook adaptation of a highly subjective, first-person viewpoint account of a participant's experiences before, during and after that controversial crisis.

Over the years, many religious comic books have been published, but Spire Comics remain a stand-out, quality-wise. This is no doubt due to the influence of Spire Comic's editor and primary artist, Al Hartley, an acknowledged pioneer in the field of Christian comic books. According to cartoonist Nate Butler's Christian Comics International website:

"Allan Hartley was born in 1921, in Kearny, New Jersey. Like so many other successful cartoonists, Al Hartley started drawing very young. Eventually he studied at the Art Students League of New York, and then spent four years as a B-17 bomber pilot in Europe during World War II before returning to New York City to pursue his goal to be a professional commercial artist. While most people remember cartoonist him for his work on the "ARCHIE Christian comics" (Spire Christian Comics) of the 1970s, Al had a long career in both commercial art and secular comics prior to that time, working alongside such well known artists such as L. B. Cole, Russ Heath, Dave Berg, Dan DeCarlo, Dick Ayers, Syd Shores, and Jack Kirby. Al's work is relatively easy to track because, interestingly, he seems to be one of the few artists who was allowed - or perhaps who made a special point - to sign all his work throughout his career. (Also, he almost always pencilled and inked his own work. Among the relatively few exceptions: Al is credited as inking over Jim Mooney's pencils, along with Mike Sekowsky, on the VENUS feature, inking Larry Lieber's pencils on a short back-up story in JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY, and possibly doing some uncredited inking on a few of Stan Goldberg's PATSY AND HEDY covers, all for Atlas/Timely/Marvel. His own pencils were inked by Vince Colletta on a "Two-Gun Kid" story and several issues of THE NEW PATSY WALKER. Frank Giacoia also inked at least one of his PATSY WALKER stories, using the pen-name "Frankie Ray." Finally, Al had some uncredited inking assistance, by Dan DeCarlo, Chic Stone, and others, on his Spire/Barbour comics.) Al's earliest comics work began appearing immediately after the end of the war, in 1945, when he began freelancing for editor Stan Lee at Atlas/Timely Comics, drawing the "Patsy Walker" feature in MISS AMERICA MAGAZINE ("The Largest Selling Teen-Age Magazine -- More Than 1 Million Copies"). This was also the beginning of a two decade long association with the "Patsy Walker" character, in collaboration with writer/editor Lee. In 1946 Al wrote and drew the 8-page "Roger Dodger" feature for EXCITING COMICS. His work on this bimonthly comic spanned from at least issue #51 (September 1946) through issue #67 (May 1949). He also did one- and two-page funny features for a company called Better Publications, in their quarterly AMERICA'S BEST COMICS from #20 (December 1946) to #28 (November 1948). Al contributed to Better's STARTLING COMICS and WONDER COMICS titles in '47 and '48, too. Other work during this time included the "Zippie" back-up feature in THE FIGHTING YANK in 1947 for Nedor (Standard) Publishing, the "Debbie" and "Teen Tales" features in the bimonthly COOKIE, THE FUNNIEST KID IN TOWN comic, published by Michel Publications in 1947 or 1948, and the "Peg" feature in THE KILROYS comic published by ACG in 1948. By '48 he was also working on the actual PATSY WALKER title with Lee as well as on Atlas/Timely's NELLIE THE NURSE magazine, with his work appearing in GIRL COMICS the following year. Al contributed to ALL ROMANCES, DOTTY ("Tops In Beauty -- A Real Hep Cutie!"), and DOTTY AND HER BOYFRIENDS, all published by Ace Comics (A. A. Wyn, Inc.) in 1949. By 1951 Al appears to have been freelancing almost exclusively in comics for Atlas/Timely, either writing his own stories or drawing from Stan Lee scripts. Among the titles he worked on for them in the early 1950's were VENUS, SUSPENSE, MAN COMICS, AMAZING DETECTIVE CASES, MEN'S ADVENTURES, and the "Black Rider" feature in WILD WESTERN. War comics had become very popular, and by 1952 Al was "in the thick of it", doing WAR ADVENTURES, BATTLE, COMBAT KELLY, BATTLEFIELD and BATTLEFRONT. He also did covers and interiors for many romance comics including LOVE TALES, LOVE ADVENTURES, LOVERS, LOVE ROMANCES, GIRL CONFESSIONS and MY OWN ROMANCE. By the mid 1950's, Al was contributing to such unusual comics as MAN! DIG THIS CRAZY LITTLE MIXED-UP MAG!, WORLD'S GREATEST SONGS, WILD! ("Shiver And Shake…Laugh And Quake!") and DELLA VISION, TV QUEEN. Jungle comics were big during that time, inspired by the "Tarzan" films, and Al drew comics such as LORNA THE JUNGLE GIRL, "Leopard Girl" for JUNGLE ACTION and also "Cliff Mason, White Hunter" in JUNGLE TALES. The horror and mystery comics were gaining in popularity as well, and Al contributed to MYSTIC, SPELLBOUND, STRANGE TALES, ADVENTURES INTO TERROR and MYSTERY TALES. By 1954, he had begun working on GIRLS' LIFE ("Patsy Walker's Own Magazine for Girls!"). There appears to be a very small gap in Al's output for Lee in early 1955, reportedly due to Atlas/Timely becoming backlogged and cutting back on freelancers for a while around August 1954. During this time Al did artwork again for Ace Periodicals, some of which appeared in Ace's TEN-STORY LOVE comic in 1955. This cutback must have been fairly brief, however, because Al's work was appearing soon after in a large number of romance, western, and mystery titles under the Atlas imprint, such as SECRET STORY ROMANCES, TRUE SECRETS, MEET MISS BLISS, WESTERN OUTLAWS, QUICK TRIGGER ACTION, ANNIE OAKLEY, WILD WESTERN, WESTERN GUNFIGHTERS, WORLD OF SUSPENSE, JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY and MARVEL TALES. From 1956-1957, Al was involved with such "cheesecake" comics as SHOWGIRLS, PATTY POWERS and SHERRY THE SHOWGIRL, as well as A DATE WITH PATSY, all for Atlas/Timely, with scripts supplied by Stan Lee. Around this same time Al is reported to have briefly written and drawn a syndicated cartoon panel entitled SUBURBIA (1957), but the syndicate which distributed it is unknown, as are the reasons for why it appeared for such a brief period of time. Al also provided artwork for Stan Lee's short-lived newspaper comic strip about scouting, MRS. LYON'S CUBS, after the untimely death of the original artist, Joe Maneely, in 1958. The strip was syndicated by Field Enterprises. The end of the '50s and start of the '60s found Al working on western comic titles such as KID COLT OUTLAW, TWO-GUN KID, GUNSMOKE WESTERN and RAWHIDE KID. Al also put in a 9-issue stint as artist on the bimonthly LINDA CARTER, STUDENT NURSE title (Sept. 1961 - Jan.1963), again working from Stan Lee scripts. (Longtime comic book heroine "Millie the Model" was a patient in one issue of LINDA CARTER. She also made an appearence in the December 1961 issue of PATSY WALKER #98, and Al did some scripting on at least one of the "Millie" annuals in '65, but he did not draw the regular MILLIE THE MODEL comic, as has been reported erroneously on at least one other web site.) The early '60s brought a new "boom" in popularity for superhero titles at Marvel (formerly Atlas/Timely) Comics ... and Al's career took an unusual turn when Stan Lee asked him to have a go at illustrating one of the new Marvel superhero titles: "The Mighty Thor" in JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #90 (March 1963). Then again, perhaps it is only unusual in hindsight, now that Al is known so completely for his work on the "Archie" and "Patsy Walker" characters. At the time Lee would have regarded Al (and correctly so) as a very versatile artist who had done terrific work on various war, western, romance, jungle, and humor titles -- whatever was "hot" in the market at the time. So it's possible that Lee thought Al could do an equally great job on the new superhero titles and gave him the job on that basis. On the other hand, some have said that it was simply a matter of Lee not having any other work to give Al at that moment, due to a backlog in the teen and romance books, and taking a chance on Al's work. Whatever the reason, Al was chosen to be the first artist to draw Thor after Jack Kirby. However Al's work on "Trapped by the Carbon-Copy Man!" written by Stan Lee and Larry was not well-received by Lee, and it would be the only time Al would draw one of the Marvel superheroes in their own book. Two years later he made a stab at scripting a couple of the Marvel superhero titles, writing "Oh, Wasp Where is Thy Sting!" featuring Giant-Man & the Wasp in TALES TO ASTONISH #69 (July 1965), which was illustrated by Bob Powell and John Giunta, and on "If A Man Be Mad!" starring Iron Man in TALES OF SUSPENSE #68 (Aug, 1965), with art by Don Heck and Mike Esposito (inking as "Mickey Demeo"). Apparently this particular comics genre just wasn't a "fit" for Al, so those three stories became the sum total off his work in the Marvel superhero line. (Various news stories and web sites which have reported that he worked on characters such as "Spider-Man," "Fantastic Four," and/or "The Hulk" are in error.) He also scripted a issue of TWO-GUN KID around this time (issue #77/Sept.1965), drawn by Dick Ayers and Carl Hubbell. It may have been during this same period that he scripted a "Phantom Rider" story for artist Jack Keller, which was later reprinted in a 1978 western comic featuring KID COLT OUTLAW. However Al did not need the popular superhero books to make him a success at Atlas/Timely/Marvel. Adverts in his "Patsy" titles were boasting of "five to six million readers" at their peak, reportedly. In all, seven comic book titles were fully devoted to her - A DATE WITH PATSY, MISS AMERICA, GIRLS' LIFE, PATSY AND HEDY, PATSY AND HER PALS, PATSY WALKER'S FASHION PARADE and PATSY -- six of these simultaneously, which was far better than THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN or any of the other superhero titles would do during the '60s. Al worked on"Patsy" all the way through to the end, in 1967, when the last title in which she was appearing ceased publication. But, by 1967, another significant thing had happened to Al. After 20 years of striving for fame and fortune in secular comics he was feeling "sterile, numb, and filled with fear." His marriage was in trouble, his life seemed out of control, and he longed for God to "take hold of my life." He and his wife Hermine attended a prayer meeting together where he heard the pastor say, "Some things are impossible to man, but nothing is impossible to God." Two days later he "turned his life over to God - lock, stock, and drawing board. "His wife received Jesus Christ as her Saviour within 24 hours, his brother Jack and his father came to Christ about a year after, his daughter Alana about 2 years later, his son Fred around age 15. In the 10 years after Al's conversion 26 family members were born again. (Later, in May 1969, Al's father Fred lay paralysed and confined to a hospital bed. As he drew near to death, he was able to whisper to his son: "I am very happy.") At time of his conversion, Al was doing a "cheesecake" comic strip called "Pussycat" for a men's magazine. When he told the publisher he could no longer do the feature, and the reasons why he couldn't, he lost all his other assignments and soon found himself completely out of work for the first time in his career. Soon after, another first occurred -- a new client called from "out of the blue" to offer him work, something that had never happened to him before. It was the editor of Archie Comics, and Al started drawing for that publishing house, feeling confident that "God had sent them." "I just loved my work," Hartley said later. "My wife would hear me in my studio just breaking up over the antics that the characters (shown at left) were going through that day." His enthusiasm for the work showed, and soon he was being asked to write stories as well as illustrate them. Some Archie fans have called him "the best '70s writer," one who had a real talent for handling the individual characters' personalities in skilful and interesting ways. Al injected a lot of his Christian faith into his early Archie work and was eventually told he had to cut back. "I knew God was in control, so I respected my publisher's position and naturally complied," he said later. For the next month he did Archie stories with less spiritual emphasis, praying for a God-given opportunity for a greater Christian witness through his work. Then a call came from the publisher Fleming H. Revell asking if he would be interested in doing a comic book version of THE CROSS AND THE SWITCHBLADE (the story of Nicky Cruz and David Wilkerson). "God was answering my prayers, but I didn't recognise it," Hartley admitted. "It was a perfect example of boxing God into the plans and visions we have, and failing to see the greater plans and vision He has." At first he told them he was too busy, but he agreed to meet with them, even though he had no intention of doing the work. During that meeting "God got through to me," said Hartley, and he jumped into the project, enthusiastically and prayerfully, finishing it in July 1972 along with GOD'S SMUGGLER (the story of Brother Andrew, shown here at right). The comics ended up being reprinted again and again, eventually selling millions of copies. A comic book adaptation of THE HIDING PLACE (the story of Corrie tenBoom) followed soon after. Then Al and the publishers had what they believed to be a God-given idea -- To create completely original comics using the ARCHIE characters. It was, as Al put it later, "a fantastic idea for evangelism," but permission had to come from John Goldwater, president of Archie comics, who was Jewish. Al had already cultivated a relationship with Goldwater, enjoyed several conversations about faith with him, and found Goldwater to be "a man of deep moral and spiritual principles." (John Goldwater was among those who created the Comics Code Authority in 1954 to help control the way sex and violence were portrayed in comics.) Al telephoned Goldwater "with an optimism that had to come from God," and "within one minute" Goldwater had given his approval. Al always felt that it was "the Lord's timing" that they had published THE HIDING PLACE comic just prior to his approaching the ARCHIE publisher, because it had "showed John a side of Christianity that few Jews have seen." ARCHIE'S ONE WAY was first of that new series, followed by ARCHIE'S LOVE SCENE. In all, Al did somewhere around 60 Christian comics, including at least 19 ARCHIE titles, 6 Bible story adaptations, 12 biographical adaptations, 4 other book or movie Adaptations, 9 "Kiddies Christian Comic," and a number of other miscellaneous titles. Both the secular and Christian media took a great interest in his work on the Spire Christian Comics series, and Al was interviewed in newspapers like THE NEW YORK TIMES as well as BAPTIST PEOPLE magazine in July 1973. Almost twenty years later his work on these books was still being discussed in publications such as PROGRESS MAGAZINE (Oct. 1991) and BREAKAWAY MAGAZINE (Oct. 1992). Fleming H. Revell also published a short autobiography of Al's conversion to Christianity entitled COME MEET MY FRIEND in 1977. Overall sales of the Spire Christian Comics series eventually topped more than 40 million copies, including international distribution. (Eventually, Fleming H. Revell became Barbour Publishing, and "Spire Christian Comics" became "Barbour Christian Comics." Many of the old Spire comics were reissued under the new imprint, some with different titles. Barbour is still publishing books and various materials, but ended production of their comics line several years ago.) In 1980, as he began to creep up on retirement age, Al was presented with an Inkpot Award at the San Diego Comic Con for his then 30+ years of work in the comics industry ... but Al wasn't the kind of man to slow down in his "old age." He continued on with his commercial art career and in his freelance work for the secular Archie titles. (Although his output for them would decrease significantly over the years, Al ended up being a contributor all the way into the early-to-mid 1990s. Some of his last work for them was as a script writer for ARCHIE'S PAL JUGHEAD #48-50, when he wrote the "Baby Tales!" series in 1993, with artist Stan Goldberg, which introduced Jughead's new baby sister.) By the late '80s, Al was writing and painting a couple of new children's book series. One book in the "Barney Bear Growth Series" appeared in 1988, entitled TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN, published by Barbour & Company. A second series about the character "Yankee Doodle," which had sprung from Al's old Spire comic YANKEE DOODLE, THE SPIRIT OF LIBERTY, was published in 1989. Two titles were produced, YANKEE DOODLE RIDES AGAIN and YANKEE DOODLE ON THE FRONTIER, both released by Multnomah Publishers Inc. He also produced a book called FLYING COLORS around this same time, which was published by Barbour, for whom he was also creating some coloring and activity books (GOD CARES, HAPPY HOME, FUN WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS and BARNEY BEAR). However, plans for the new "Barney Bear" and "Yankee Doodle" children's book series apparently came to an abrupt halt when Al suffered a stroke around 1990 or 91. He decided to retire and move to Florida, where he and his wife Hermine had been wintering frequently. After that point he did a limited amount of drawing, most notably on his wife's book THE FAMILY BOOK OF MANNERS (1993) from Barbour, his own book IT TAKES A FAMILY in 1996 (which is said to have been inspired by then Presidential candidate Bob Dole, in response to Hillary Clinton's book), HOME EXCHANGE VACATIONING: YOUR GUIDE TO FREE ACCOMMODATIONS (1996) by Bill & Mary Barbour, and at least two books by his son Fred, who had become a pastor - THE TEENAGE BOOK OF MANNERS, PLEASE! (1997) and MEN AND MARRIAGE (WHAT IT REALLY MEANS TO KEEP THAT PROMISE). In 2002 Hermine Hartley's MANNERS MATTER: LIVING THE GOLDEN RULE FOR KIDS OF ALL AGES was published, with illustrations by Al, but this may have been a revised release of her earlier manners book. Al continued to contribute to Christian comics, too, penning an introduction for the Christian comics paperback PROVERBS & PARABLES (1998), published by New Creation and the Christian Comic Arts Society. He also did some writing for the "Creating Christian Comics for Your Culture" project in 2002. In recognition of his impact in the field of comics, Al is listed in THE WHO'S WHO OF AMERICAN COMIC BOOKS. He has also made an impact through his inspiration of many other artists and writers in the field. ARCHIE's premiere penciller Stan Goldberg considers Al to be one of his big artistic influences and has called him, "one of the most versatile and talented men to ever work in comics." BETTY & VERONICA scripter Kathleen Webb says her writing is inspired by Al's work. Al wrote several letters of encouragement and advice to comics packager/publisher Nate Butler as he prepared to publish his first Christian comic, AIDA-ZEE (1990). Several years earlier Nate had been pleased to find that his first published comic book work (LAUGH #393, Feb '86) featured an Al Hartley script in that same issue. Al passed away at age 81 on May 27, 2003, survived by his wife of 61 years, Hermine; his mother, Hazel, 101; two children, six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Shortly before his death he was involved in consultations and negotiations with a Canadian company that wished to reprint some of his Spire/Barbour material. Lord willing, those plans will continue, and a whole new generation will be able to enjoy the comics creativity of Al Hartley."

The cover of BORN AGAIN features a blurb that proclaims the story as being "Now A Major Motion Picture!!!" Frankly, "major" may be an overstatement, but Charles Colson's original, autobiographical book was adapted into 1978's BORN AGAIN, directed by Irving Rapper and starring Dean Jones, Anne Francis, Jay ("Dr. Shrinker") Robinson, Dana Andrews, Raymond St. Jacques and George Brent. In his VIDEO & MOVIE GUIDE, Leonard Maltin describes the film thusly: "If one is inspired by the religious rebirth of Pres. Nixon's Special Counsel (Charles Colson) after his Washington skullduggery, one might be absorbed by this one-dimensional film account. Others beware!"

This issue's 32-page story was adapted, scripted and drawn by Al Hartley. It begins as lawyer Charles "Chuck" Colson is brought to the White House for a fateful meeting with the nation's jowl-faced leader:

PRESIDENT RICHARD M. NIXON: I appreciate your leaving your law firm to be my Special Counselor, Chuck - I know it's a sacrifice!!!

CHUCK COLSON: It's an honor to serve in the White House, Mr. President!!!

PRESIDENT RICHARD M. NIXON: You have two sons, haven't you, Chuck???

CHUCK COLSON: Yessir!!! Fifteen and thirteen!!!

PRESIDENT RICHARD M. NIXON: My dream is that your sons - and all young men like them - will never be sent to war!!! I believe we can reach an honorable peace! And if we make it, Chuck - it'll be worth all the FLAK we're getting!!!

After a montage of Nixon, young people and Viet Nam, the "camera" pulls back to show that the White House is surrounded by young protestors. But when information contained in the so-called "Pentagon Papers" is leaked to the NEW YORK TIMES, the President reacts in a much more extreme manner, and ordering newcomer Chuck Colson to do his bidding:

PRESIDENT RICHARD M. NIXON: Who's running the country, Henry? ME??? Or some CREEP you hired?

HENRY KISSINGER: Mr. President - I can't explain Daniel Ellsberg's leaking the PENTAGON PAPERS!!!

PRESIDENT RICHARD M. NIXON: LEAKING??? It's a FLOOD!!! A CATASTROPHE!!! This could blow our CHINA trip sky high! We can't let one man DESTROY three years' work for PEACE!!! He's a MENACE to our national security!!! EXPOSE him, Chuck!!! I can't care HOW you do it! If we lose THIS battle - Russia and China will NEVER give us peace!

(To paraphrase a review of a recent autobiography of James Brown, the so-called "Godfather Of Soul", "This comic must be good - it has lots of exclamation points!") As Chuck's damage-control job - referred to in some quarters as being a "hatchet man" -- goes into high gear, it begins to affect his relationships with his wife, Patty, and their three kids. Chuck seems to truly believe in Nixon's commitment to engineering "a lasting peace", and even plans to resign his post as the President's Special Counsel immediately after Nixon is re-elected. One day, John Ehrlichman informs him that there's been a break-in at the Democratic headquarters in Washington D.C.'s Watergate Apartments, but Chuck refuses to believe it could possibly be one of the President's people. Later that year, Nixon is re-elected by a landslide, and the President credits Chuck's strategy for his success. But when news of the Watergate break-in is revealed to the public, Chuck Colson's life begins to spin out of control:

PRESIDENT RICHARD M. NIXON: Pay no attention, Chuck - they're after ME - not you!

CHUCK COLSON: That's why you've got to UNCOVER the whole mess, Mr. President!!!

PRESIDENT RICHARD M. NIXON: Who do you think did this? Mitchell??? Magruder???

CHUCK COLSON: I don't know, sir. But WHOEVER did - let it out! Take your losses NOW - and get RID of them!

Despite the mounting Watergate furor, the ex-Marine returns to his old job as a lawyer. One day in Boston, while visiting Tom Phillips, an old friend and client, Chuck notices a difference in Tom's attitude. His friend makes a startling revelation: he's committed his life to Jesus Christ!(!!) Chuck is impressed with Tom's new outlook and enthusiasm. Later, after John Dean testifies that Nixon knew all about the break-in, Chuck is sucked into the political scandal now known simply as "Watergate". The former Special Counsel clings to his smiling mental image of Tom Phillips:

CHUCK COLSON (narrating): Amid all the HOSTILE, distorted faces of Watergate - one face was vivid in my memory - it was RADIANT, PEACEFUL and LOVING! Whatever was behind it - I ENVIED it!

As the media closes in, Chuck and his family are driven to escape from its spotlight. Curious, Chuck goes to Tom Phillips and asks him about his conversion to Christianity. Tom explains that, while on a business trip to New York City, he attended a crusade rally by Reverend Billy Graham, where he underwent a "spiritual birth". Then Tom reads Chuck a quote from MERE CHRISTIANITY by C. S. Lewis:

C. S. LEWIS (writing in MERE CHRISTIANITY): Pride is the complete anti-God state. Pride is the chief cause of misery in the world! As long as you're proud, you can't know God! Pride is Spiritual cancer! It eats up love, contentment and even common sense! A proud man is always looking down on things and people - and as long as you're looking down - you can't see something above you.

CHUCK COLSON: That's a PERFECT description of ME!

In a two-page montage, Chuck reflects upon how pride has been an ever-present aspect of his life. Accepting Tom's copy of MERE CHRISTIANITY back to his family's hideaway in Maine, Chuck reads and re-reads the book:

PATTY COLSON: Chuck, I can't believe you and that religious book!

CHUCK COLSON: I guess I'm looking for something, Patty! This book's helping me to UNDERSTAND myself - and God!

PATTY COLSON: GOD??? We've been marries all these years - This is the FIRST TIME you've talked about God!

CHUCK COLSON (narrating): God came out in the open - and blessed Patty and me - and before I left the sea I loved - I prayed to him --

CHUCK COLSON: Lord Jesus - I believe you - please forgive my sins - and come into my life - I commit it to you!

Returning to Washington D.C. (and wearing a bright pink suit, which has to be something of a crime in and of itself!), Chuck sees things in an entirely different way. He's also surprised to learn - through Doug Coe, a friend of Tom Phillips - that he's got a lot of "Christian brothers" in the nation's capitol to offer aid - whose ranks even include some of his harshest former critics! Chuck plans to keep his conversion to Christianity a secret from the media, but when it slips out that he was seen attending a prayer breakfast with his old foe Senator Harold Hughes, "pandemonium breaks loose!" and editorial cartoonists all over the country have a field day. (Here, Al Hartley demonstrates his remarkable artistic flexibility by doing a very convincing imitation of typical editorial cartooning styles!) Then, Chuck makes a fateful decision:

PATTY COLSON: Chuck, I'm glad you're a CHRISTIAN - but don't become a MARTYR!!!

CHUCK COLSON: Watergate's become a ROMAN CIRCUS!!! I've got to get it BEHIND me!

PATTY COLSON: But you're INNOCENT!!!

CHUCK COLSON: That doesn't MATTER!!! They want BLOOD!!! I'm going to plead GUILTY - to smearing Daniel Ellsberg!!!

PATTY COLSON: That's a CRIME??? Look what they're doing to YOU!

CHUCK COLSON: Patty, we're caught up in something - and there's only ONE WAY out!

Despite passing three lie detector tests "with flying colors", Chuck Colson is given a one-to-three year sentence in prison. There, he befriends his cellmate, Paul Kramer, who claims to have accepted Christ "right here - in the slammer!" In an effort to counteract the rampant violence within the prison, Chuck and Paul enact a bible study program among the convicts.

CHUCK COLSON (narrating): In the middle of hostility and despair - we studied the Bible and prayed together - Sick bodies were healed - sick spirits were lifted!!! Slowly change came over our prison - voices lowered - the angry oppressive atmosphere relaxed - empty, lost men began to come ALIVE! The unseen battle between the strongest forces in the world was being WON! And then - my son Chris was arrested for marijuana possession!

Agonized that he can't be with his son and family when they really need him, Chuck is surprised to be contacted by his group of Christian politician-friends, who have amazing news: they've unearthed an obscure old law, which states that one of them may take Chuck's place in prison while he visits his family. Chuck refuses their offer, but is staggered by their unexpected kindness. Then, Chuck receives even more unexpected news:

PRISON GUARD: We've got an order for your release, Colson - for family reasons!!!

Reunited with his family, Chuck makes a mind-blowing announcement:

EMILY COLSON: What are you going to do, Dad - now that you're free???

CHUCK COLSON: I'm not sure, Emily - but God knows - I'll just follow him! One thing I learned - in the WHITE HOUSE - and in PRISON - man can't solve his problems ALONE!!! He NEEDS the Lord! And of all the men who need Christ - the men in prison need him most of all! Patty - I was not disbarred in Massachusetts - I've had substantial job offers - but I believe God wants me in PRISONS!

PATTY COLSON: WHAT???

Declaring that the present rehabilitation program for prisoners is "a billion-dollar flop", Chuck begins to preach inside some of the nation's roughest correctional facilities in a program of "Prison Fellowship":

CHUCK COLSON: Jesus loves you - He's willing to FORGIVE you if you MEAN BUSINESS!!! You can be the freest guy in the world - right here in this lousy place!

PRISON GUARD: I can't BELIEVE what's goin' on here!!! Last week we had RIOTING and VIOLENCE!!! Now men are PRAYING together!

Later, Chuck and his family - including young Chris, whose pot-problems are never mentioned again - reflect on how their lives have changed, accompanied by yet another inspirational montage:

PATTY COLSON: Chuck, we PRAYED all through Watergate - God ANSWERED our prayers and gave us so much MORE!

CHUCK COLSON: The think I never knew all my life - even with all that power in the White House - was FREEDOM! When you're born again, you're FREE of the past! You have a NEW LIFE! Even someone in prison can know this freedom!

PATTY COLSON: Yes, Chuck - And everyone lives in some kind of prison!

CHUCK COLSON: That's the HOPE and PROMISE Christ gives us - that we can ALL be FREE!!!

Also included in this issue of BORN AGAIN are the features and advertisements:

• "The Adventures Of Archie And His Friends", a black-and-white, inside-front-cover house-ad for a variety of Spire Comics featuring Archie Andrews, including ARCHIE'S ONE WAY, ARCHIE'S SOMETHING ELSE, ARCHIE'S FESTIVAL, ARCHIE'S SONSHINE, ARCHIE'S CLEAN SLATE!, ARCHIE AND MR. WEATHERBEE, ARCHIE GETS A JOB!, ARCHIE'S CAR, ARCHIE'S WORLD, ARCHIE'S PARABLES, ARCHIE'S DATE BOOK, ARCHIE'S LOVE SCENE, ARCHIE'S FAMILY ALBUM and ARCHIE'S ROLLER COASTER.

• "The Best For You!", a black-and-white, inside-back-cover message - complete with photos -- from Spire's talented editor/cartoonist, Al Hartley.

• "Spire Comics - Enjoy Them All!", a back-cover house-ad for Spire Comics, including TOM LANDRY AND THE DALLAS COWBOYS, THE HIDING PLACE, ADAM & EVE, ARCHIE'S ONE WAY, ARCHIE'S LOVE SCENE, LIVE IT UP, BARNEY BEAR, THE CROSS AND THE SWITCHBLADE, GOD IS, CROSSFIRE, HANSI THE GIRL WHO LOVED THE SWASTIKA, IN THE PRESENCE OF MINE ENEMIES, ATTACK!, MY BROTHERS' KEEPER, HELLO I'M JOHNNY CASH, ARCHIE'S SONSHINE, ARCHIE'S CLEAN SLATE!, THERE'S A NEW WORLD COMING, NOAH'S ARK, TIME TO RUN, THROUGH GATES OF SPLENDOR, GOD'S SMUGGLER, UP FROM HARLEM and ARCHIE'S PARABLES.

ODDBALL Factoid - The father of cartoonist Al Hartley, Rep. Frederick Allan Hartley, Jr. was a Republican from New Jersey who became the youngest member of the U.S. House of Representatives in 1929; he is best-remembered for drafting what has become know as the "Taft-Hartley Act of 1947", a Management-Labour bill which outlawed the closed shop, imposed criminal penalties for corruption, prohibited secondary boycotts, and allowed states to pass right-to-work laws!

For more from Scott Shaw!, visit his Web site at http://www.shawcartoons.com/.

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