Dean Stell, writing in Weekly Comic Book Review, updates us on the ongoing saga of Punk Rock Jesus who was cloned from the Shroud of Turin. Can it be that we are up to the fifth volume of this comic book series and I haven’t yet been tempted to read it? Maybe I’m just not into comic books anymore. But thousands upon thousands of people are and they are reading this.
The Story: Chris continues his assault on fundamentalist religious movements.
Review (with SPOILERS): This is a very interesting issue. On the surface, Murphy has introduced some fun and exciting elements to this issue. At first, it’s tempting to think that Murphy is putting away all the allegory from the series so that he can tell a rousing finale – allegory can be confining, after all. But if you ignore the bright and shiny stuff, all the complexities are still right there, causing you to think and ponder. It’s impressive that Murphy can simultaneous tell a story that is (a) entertaining and (b) has a lot of depth.
Let’s talk about the fun stuff first. Any comic that focuses so much on religion can get a little heavy at times.
. . . [nonetheless] . . .
- Chris is just a normal person: There is nothing supernatural about Chris. Even if you accept that Jesus existed and that Jesus is the Son of God and that there was something divine in Jesus’ DNA, Chris doesn’t have any of this.
- [ . . . ]
- LOTS of stuff about worshiping the wrong things: Whether it is the mindless people worshiping Slate’s TV shows or the lunatic fringe worshiping Chris (before turning on him), there are a LOT of people in the world of PRJ who have their values out of whack.
[ . . . ]
Conclusion: This is the best comic being published right now. From a writing/art standpoint, it might have a few equals, but the fact that Murphy actually has something to say puts it in another class.