DATELINE: NEW ORLEANS (AP)   August 13, 1988

  A  liberal activist group is urging Republicans to repudiate a comic book
being touted by conservative evangelist Jerry Falwell that portrays Michael
Dukakis as a supporter of witchcraft and bestiality.

   Falwll  is  urging  his  followers to paper the political landscape with
copies  of  the  30-page book, titled "Magical Mike: The Real Story of Mike
Dukakis."  Among  other  things,  it  depicts  the  Democratic presidential
nominee in a dress, wig and pearls.

    "The  last  thing  the  Bush  campaign,  the  Republican  Party and the
presidential  campaign  need  is the distribution of 10 million copies of a
comic  book  that's  chock  full of enough intolerance to offend just about
everyone  except  Jerry Falwell," John Buchanan, chairman of People for the
American Way, said Friday.

    In  Washington, Dick Hafer of Lanham, Md., the book's producer, said in
an  interview  Friday  night  that  the  material is all documented and the
drawings are stylized to make a point.

    "I  think  it's  fair,"  said  Hafer,  who  calls  himself  the "Comics
Commando" on the booklet. "I think it certainly has a point of view ... I'd
say it's accurate, that's the most important thing," he added.

    Hafer said he has done other comic books on political topics, including
one  called  "Every  Family  Has  One" during Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's 1982
re-election race, depicting the Massachusetts Democrat as a black sheep.

    In  the  Dukakis  comic,  the Massachusetts governor is called "Sheriff
Pansy"  for  his  crime-fighting  record,  especially  the  state's  prison
furlough program.

    The  book  suggests that Dukakis would ruin the nation's defense system
and  describes  him  as  an enemy of babies for his stand in favor of women
being  allowed  to  have  abortions.  In one drawing, Dukakis is dressed in
doctor's garb holding the hose of a vacuum.

    Elsewhere,  a  supporter  is  shown holding a sign that says: "The best
baby is a dead baby."

    Falwell, founder of the conservative Moral Majority, displayed the book
Thursday  night at a rally in advance of the Monday start of the Republican
National Convention.

    Samples  of the booklet had been passed out before Falwell spoke and he
subsequently  explained  how he had been impressed with the artist who drew
the  comic  book and purchased several thousand copies to bring with him to
New Orleans.

    He  urged  the audience to buy some on their way out of the meeting and
distribute them to everyone they knew.

    "I  want  to  shoot the guy's legs out from under him," Falwell said of
Dukakis.  "I want to expose him. This man is to the left of Walter Mondale,
George  McGovern  and,  maybe,  to  the  left  of  (Soviet  leader Mikhail)
Gorbachev."

    Asked  whether  he agreed with Falwell's aim, Hafer said, "I would like
to  see  people  have  a  chance to get all this information in one spot. I
think people who have the facts can make a good decision."

    One  page  in  the  comic book lists what it describes as bills Dukakis
filed in 1970 as a state representative, including measures repealing a law
punishing  blasphemy,  the law against fornication and "the law prohibiting
the crime against nature (either with mankind or with beast)."

    The  book  says  Dukakis  appointed  a  "priestess of witchcraft as the
official  witch of Salem" over the objections of the Salem City Council and
questions whether the Greek Orthodox church is aware of this.

    The book also suggests that Dukakis panders to special interest. At one
point  it  shows  him  dressed  as  a woman with a wig, dress and strand of
pearls. At another, it has him riding the shoulders of Jesse Jackson.

    "With  you  in  the  White  House,"  the  book  says, "all the far-left
groupies  like  McGovern,  Mondale,  Abzug,  etc.  will be back manning the
federal battering ram against the freedoms of the citizens."

    The  book  also attacks Dukakis' wife, Kitty; Greek Orthodox Archbishop
Iakovos;   and  members  of  the  Massachusetts  congressional  delegation,
including  former  Rep.  Thomas  P.  "Tip" O'Neill, Sen. Edward Kennedy and
Reps. Barney Frank and Gerry Studds.

    "This  is  a  state that has consistently sent two admitted homosexuals
...  along  with  Ted Kennedy and Tip O'Neill! The voters have the right to
vote  for  whoever  they  want  ...  but  these kind of folk don't remotely
represent the thinking of most respectable Americans," the book says.

    Frank and Studds have said they are homosexual.

    The book encourages people to get Dukakis' signature on it to make it a
collector's item.