JESUS CHRIST IN THE NAME OF THE GUN #1
What did the
iFanboy
community think?
Pulls
Size: pages
Price: 2.95
This review contains spoilers, click here to read
This. This, my friends, is an awesome comic. It’s hilarious, action packed, and well drawn.
The story begins as a surly Messiah wakes from, what one can only imagine, is a comatose sleep to find out that “Dad” is dropping by. Annoyed that he has to deal with Pops’ once a century call, Christ waxes poetic about the failings of religion, himself, and his father—all while puffing on a stogie that would make Telly Savalis proud.
Jesus’s dad is played by Marlon Brando playing Jor-El, and
has lots on his plate and little time to really listen to His Son’s concerns.
After having his request to eliminate the evil that has been allowed to exist
denied, Jesus takes matters into his own hands. Christ decides that he must
right his father’s wrongs and invokes a new virgin birth. He is born again, so to speak, in 1910 in
pre-Stalinist
We then fast forward to
We learn that Hemmingway is on a mission through time ending some of history’s worst regimes. The two warriors then team up to fight the horde of Nazi’s that is attempting to avenge the life of the Fuhrer. An epic battle scene ensues that includes pummelings, machine gunnings, and decapitations. Truly Jesus and Hemmingway are two bad dudes.
The issue ends with Christ and Ernest lingering on the edge of defeat at the hands of the Nazi horde. Will they survive? Will they save the world from the horrors of World War? Only Jesus’s dad knows for sure.
This was easily the best comic I read this week. In between fits of manic laughter I had to give pause to think about the failings of religion that Christ described in this book. When you think of this book, think of it like a Troma film—except with interesting character development and a thought provoking theme. It’s got that really fun, grindhouse-y feel to it and a really rich sense of irony, but I get the feeling that it is also meant to be taken very seriously.
Underneath all that pulpy, bloody, surly, fun, there is a very clear and thoughtful undertone that is an open criticism of all religion (not just Christianity). It leads the reader to question what really would happen if god, or Jesus, or whoever, intervened to stop some of history’s worst slaughters and tragedies.
So check out this book for all its insanity and grindhouse-y goodness and, when you put it down, consider the potential consequence of what the creators are suggesting.
Art: 4 - Very Good
This sounds awesome! I really hope my local shop carries it.
Well crafted review! Not my kind of book though. The "religion is bad" thing seems overdone.
The whiny "where was god during the holocaust" lose of faith episode some people have is really stupid and annoying. Doesn’t sound like something I would want to read – it seems the creator suffers from the same shtick – is that true?
Thanks for the review.
@chlop: I definitely don’t think that those types of doubts are stupid or annoying, but that is another discussion that probably isn’t appropriate here. That being said, I certainly know what you mean and, given the subject matter, there was certainly the danger of falling in to that trap of being preachy but I think that Peterson and Niccole were able to avoid that with ease.
While the issue of God not stopping the Holocaust, Pol Pot, et al, is certainly brought up and lends at least some sort of a serious tone, I mostly read them as plot devices to get Jesus to go back in time to fight Nazis or Pol Pot. The thing to remember about this book is that, first and foremost, it’s a comedy. The creators may want you to be given pause to think at moments, but the primary goal is to make you laugh.