Marvel Comics already has iconic heroes like Spider-Man, the X-Men, and Iron Man, but in January 1983 they added a new hero to their pantheon: Pope St. John Paul II.

That’s right. Before the Pope Benedict XVI joined Twitter and before Pope Francis was TIME Person of the Year, Pope St. John Paul II had his own comic book. Talk about a first for the Successor of St. Peter.

Published in 1983, it tells the story of his life up until that point, from his childhood through the assassination attempt on his life in May 1981.

It was a huge success, selling millions of copies worldwide. You can still buy copies on Amazon.

So how long will it be before Marvel makes it into a movie? Should we start a petition?!

Also of interest: since the comic book about St. John Paul II was so successful, the artist John Tartaglione illustrated a comic book about Bl. Mother Teresa.

Here’s the cover of The Life of Pope John Paul II:

And here are some pics of the inside: