Punk Rock Jesus

Punk Rock Jesus 1-6

I went into this re-read thinking, “I don’t remember anything about this miniseries at all, I’m predicting a cut at the end of this.”

How completely wrong I was.  This Sean Murphy work is a ton of fun.  A nice high concept: A megacorp clones Jesus with blood from the Shroud of Turin.  The child’s life is then broadcast Truman Show-style to the world.  The characters populating this drama all bring value to the story:

Gwen Fairling, the 18-year old virgin selected to be the artificially inseminated mother of the cloned savior.  She soon realizes the nightmare she’s gotten herself into, and struggles for the rest of her life to do the right thing for her son.  

Rick Slate, the manipulative marketing asshole who came up with the idea, willing to do anything for ratings.  The easy to root against villain.

Jesus Christ (Chris), the most famous person in the world.  He’s able to look beyond the media drivel that Slate feeds him and break out of the cage that his mother could never escape.  

Thomas McKael, the reformed IRA terrorist looking for redemption, tasked with protecting Chris and Gwen.  Drawn and written like the Punisher. It was impossible for me to not see Frank Castle the whole time, down to the heart of gold.  

Sarah Epstein, the geneticist who’s technology enables this whole affair.  She’s in it to gain funding for her climate-change solutions, and she proves to be one of Chris and Gwen’s strongest allies.

The inner workings of the J2 Project, combined with Murphy’s vision of the public’s reaction (lots of Christian fundamentalists both for and against the whole thing), create a story that I didn’t want to put down.  I would have been happy with an ongoing series detailing just the period of time leading up to Chris’ apostasy. (Which takes the first three and a half issues here.) Gwen’s mental breakdown over that span is predictable, but her innocence and likability going into the project make it all the more tragic.  I choose to believe that she didn’t go into it for the glory. She wanted to help her family. (And it’s crushing when she discovers that things didn’t work out in that department either.)

McKael is set up as Chris’ mirror image, someone who’s belief system was set up on an unstable foundation.  Like Chris, he has to discover his own personal truth after clearing away all the crap that’s been fed to him since he was a child.  At the end, they both discover what’s important to them, and it’s pretty satisfying. (The ending’s not as strong as the beginning, and doesn’t have the attention to detail that made the first half so fun, but it wraps things up well enough.)

No way this is getting cut, and I need to remember to go back to it in the future.  

And there’s a genetically domesticated polar bear!

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? Yes

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Good