The year is 2097, A.D. In the aftermath of a series of asteroid collisions, America has fallen under Church Law: the Statue of Liberty has a cross instead of a torch, and the Holy Infant has replaced the tablets. In the west, tribes of diggers refuse conversion and are chased down by God’s marines: Jesuit crusaders led by Father Elano, the Church’s top enforcer. In the east, stuck in the Mid-Atlantic, looms the Harlequin Island, a floating colony of self-exiled libertarians presided over by Sir Gottfrey. A maverick genius who lives with his organs outside his body, Gottfrey kills time cloning the past famous (and infamous!) — the so-called replikas — for his sheer entertainment. But he’s about to cross the line: his next show will be a highly authentic Easter Pageant, starring the J-Clone, a Jesus look-alike cloned from a drop of blood off the Turin Shroud. Alerted by Double-M, a replika of Marilyn Monroe (and J-Clone’s girlfriend!), about the upcoming show, the Pope commissions Father Elano to infiltrate the Harlequin Island, kidnap the J-Clone, and spoil the libertarians’ sacrilegious masquerade.