''The Atheist'' is a horror comic book originally released in April

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

and is published by

Image Comics Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-ow ...

. Phil Hester, of ''

The Wretch ''The Wretch'' is a comic book created by Phil Hester and published by Slave Labor Graphics. The series focuses on the creepy town of Glass City and its residents who are protected by a strange entity known only as the Wretch. Weird things can al ...

'' and

Green Arrow Green Arrow is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Mort Weisinger and designed by George Papp, he first appeared in ''More Fun Comics'' #73 in November 1941. His secret identity, real name is Olive ...

, wrote ''The Atheist'', while Irish John McCrea of ''

Hitman Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be ...

'' provided the black and white artwork. The storyline revolves around present day humans that are having their bodies being "

possessed Possessed may refer to: Possession * Possession (disambiguation), having some degree of control over something else ** Spirit possession, whereby gods, demons, animas, or other disincarnate entities may temporarily take control of a human body *** ...

" by the souls from Hell similar to the possessions in the 1950s horror movie ''

The Invasion of the Body Snatchers ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' is a 1956 American Science fiction film, science fiction horror film produced by Walter Wanger, directed by Don Siegel, and starring Kevin McCarthy (actor), Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter. The black-and-white f ...

''. The souls from Hell then begin an extremely hedonistic and malicious lifestyle that includes

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

s, drugs, self-mutilation, murder, and other violence. The possessed bodies then start congregating in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, Manitoba, Canada.

Characters

*Antoine Sharpe - The protagonist, who has the nickname The Atheist not for a lack of religious belief, but because Sharpe has an "uncompromising brand of logic". Sharpe is "independently contracted" by the United States government to evaluate the bizarre events caused by the souls from Hell possessing living human bodies. *Melissa Nguyen - The other protagonist of the comic. She is an employee of The

Canadian Security Intelligence Service The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS, ; french: Service canadien du renseignement de sécurité, ''SCRS'') is Canada's primary national intelligence agency. It is responsible for collecting, analysing, reporting and disseminating int ...

(CSIS). Sharpe and Nguyen team together to stop the souls from Hell.

External links

Believe Nothing: Phil Hester talks "The Atheist"

Comic Book Resources ''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion. History Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Co ...

, December 9, 2004 2005 comics debuts Image Comics titles Self-harm in fiction {{Image-Comics-stub