Punk Rock Jesus by Sean Murphy (Vertigo)
Spartantown
2012 Comic Book of the Year
Synopsis:
The newest reality show hit has the unlikeliest celebrity of all in this new black and white miniseries from writer/artist Sean Murphy (JOE THE BARBARIAN, Off Road)! J2, the TV series starring a clone of Jesus Christ, causes chaos across a near-future United States in PUNK ROCK JESUS, a new miniseries written and drawn by Sean Murphy, the acclaimed illustrator of JOE THE BARBARIAN and AMERICAN VAMPIRE: SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. J2 causes outrage and adulation. Religious zealots either love or hate the show, angry politicians worry about its influence on the nation, and members of the scientific community fear the implications of cloning a human being at all – let alone the Son of God. And what effect will this all have on Gwen, the young woman who is selected, through an American Idol-style process, to be the mother of the new Messiah? All this leads to the hiring of Thomas McKael, the clone’s bodyguard and a former IRA operative with a turbulent past who must protect the new Messiah – a baby who captivates the world, but grows up to become an angry teenager.
In a year with some notable triumphs in art and storytelling, few comic book titles could match the shear brazen attempt of tackling the controversial issues of infanticide, reality television, religious fanaticism, corporate greed, human cloning, terrorism, and genetic tampering like Vertigo's 'Punk Rock Jesus' by Sean Murphy. The black and white limited series deftly interwove these topics in a compelling and unflinching look at how society is manipulated and ultimately awakened through rebellion much like the punk music this supposed clone of Jesus discovers and embraces.
Sean Murphy's pencils offer an exciting pace panel after panel, sometimes in splash pages, but overall the look is lean and mean with an emotional range found from few writer-artists. From the violent back story of ex-IRA operative head of security Thomas McKael to the mental breakdown of surrogate birth mother, Gwen Fairling, Murphy doesn't shy away from exposing these ugly events with great execution and skill. In the midst of the media frenzy for the 'J2' reality show covering the birth and life of the cloned Messiah, Murphy injects thoughtful moments of real insight for his characters that give the story real emotional weight and substance. The wildest moments come from the militant actions of religious fundamentalists who call themselves the New American Christians who want to free the new Christ and his mother from the island where he was born. The action is well laid out and smoothly displayed from scene to scene.
Meanwhile, baby Jesus grows up and eventually discovers through heartbreaking circumstances that the weight of being the clone of the Son of God, a media phenomenon, a medical research oddity, and a young kid is too much to bear. He ultimately rebels against the corporation behind J2 and his faith altogether. He fully embraces punk rock music and leads his band, the Flak Jackets, to further his message of new found atheism to the world. The message resonates and a punk army is born which clashes with the NAC. All this leading to an exciting conclusion (not published of this writing) in the final #6 issue.
As much as the story revolves around the cloned Christ, 'Punk Rock Jesus', is also about McKael's journey from terrorist to guardian. A fine-tuned killing machine now made to guard the cloned Savior, McKael also serves as a father figure to him. He is continually tested both by the danger his job demands and the chaos surrounding the young Christ. Murphy has made McKael a central figure and a sympathetic one.
Ultimately, 'Punk Rock Jesus' is an examination of society's hunger for staged television entertainment, the hypocrisy of institutions like religion, the unethical greed of corporations, the ambiguous morality of science and the rebellious awakening of youth . Under less competent hands this story could have been heavy-handed and preachy. It could have read like a cheap anti-establishment manifesto. Instead Sean Murphy competently ties these topics into a enthralling and exciting story with characters that elicit real life concepts like love, fear, hate, despair, selfishness, etc. It reminded me of Alan Moore's work on 'Watchmen'. Moore also provided an allegory for our times and while not as expansive as that PRJ is a concise shot of adrenaline to an industry that sometimes is fearful of taboo constructs.
In the end, 'Punk Rock Jesus' was chosen over the exceptional work by Scott Snyder and Frank Capullo on DC's 'Batman' and the epic sci-fi tale from Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples on Image's 'Saga' for it's fearlessness. Not only did Murphy's work have an urgency and purpose behind every page but it did so in black and white. The starkness and lack of color in the book matched the starkness of a future world where such things as the human cloning of Jesus Christ by a corporation could take place for the entertainment of television viewers. It was the 'Truman Show' as directed by Oliver Stone. This book is not a vehicle for sensationalism but instead it's an indictment of our current state of affairs as a society. A mirror held up to the contrivances of our world where manipulation occurs in all facets of our lives. Sean Murphy delivered a thought-provoking and ground-breaking story to comic book readers in 2012.
--Spartantown
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