Review: Punk Rock Jesus Deluxe Edition

Punk Rock Jesus Deluxe Edition by Sean Gordon Murphy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sean Gordon Murphy is quickly becoming one of my favorite comic book guys. His work on Joe the Barbarian is outstanding, and it's hard to imagine American Vampire without him. Punk Rock Jesus is the only thing I've read where he did both the writing and art, but I'd like to see more from him.

The premise is simple enough: A major media conglomeration decides to put together the ultimate reality show in the form of the second coming of Christ. Who has time to wait for the Lord's return, though? Instead, they claim to have cloned the savior from blood found on the shroud of Turin. In a culture obsessed with celebrity, television, and religion, this makes for the ultimate ratings grab. But what happens with the Lord decides he's had enough and sets out to tear down what his corporate masters have built up?

If you're looking for subtlety, a book called Punk Rock Jesus is probably not the best place to look. That said, if you're interested in a well paced story full of interesting characters and more than a little social criticism and satire, you could do a lot worse. Murphy is scathingly critical of the culture of celebrity media obsession that has taken over, but provides a much more balanced and sympathetic view of faith than you'd expect from the cover. The criticism here isn't about individual faith, but of the dangers that come from forcing faith on other people or allowing one person's faith to dictate other people's lives; messages that feel particularly topical right now.

Murphy has a kinetic, highly stylized approach to his art; I'm sure the black and white illustrations won't be to everyone's taste, but I thought they worked extremely well, here. There's clearly some anime/manga influence to his work, but it's a hybrid style that has a strong personal signature.

I picked this up on an impulse after recognizing Murphy's name, and, I must admit, this was surprisingly good; so much better than I thought it would be.

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