Punk Rock Jesus

Right now, Sean Murphy is one of the most compelling artists in the industry no matter what kind of script he’s working from.  When he’s given a good one, such as Grant Morrison’s “Joe the Barbarian” or Jason Aaron’s two-part “Hellblazer” story, it becomes a joy to pour over the detail he invests in each page and invest yourself in the narrative.  In the cases where he is given one that isn’t all that great, see Si Spencer’s “Hellblazer:  City of Demons” or Scott Snyder’s “American Vampire:  Survival of the Fittest,” appreciating those details becomes an end in itself.  Murphy’s spiky, sketchy, over-the-top style may never bring him widespread fame and massive sales in the direct market, but he has a talent to enhance whatever he’s working on and that should keep him around for a long, long time.  He brings that talent to this, his first project as a writer, and it’s a good thing too because I’m not sure how entertaining this would have been if Murphy hadn’t provided the art.

Why is that?  Well, while “Punk Rock Jesus” is certainly another showcase for his artistic skills it shows that the man has a ways to go as a writer.  It’s not bad for a first effort, as its overall structure is sound (save for one plot point), has lots of funny parts strewn throughout, features many displays of impressive badassery, and its message of rebellion and thinking for yourself is conventionally entertaining.  Of course, this all assumes that you go into this willing to accept the idea that organized religion is a sham and that as there is no God, we are all the ultimate masters of our fate.  If you can get past that, then I’d be willing to bet that your biggest issue with the story is how conventional and familiar the narrative is, right down to its notion of rebellion as well.

Things start off with a bloody assault on a family’s household in Ireland where a mother and father try, and fail to protect their son who grows up to be a member of the Irish Republican Army under his uncle’s tutelage.  This boy, Thomas McKael, grows up to be a certified badass with a load of emotional baggage and the security chief for the “J2 Project” reality show.  What is the “J2 Project?”  It’s a reality show managed by the Orphis Corporation to clone Jesus Christ from the Shroud of Turin and implant the egg into a virgin mother chosen by the people.  The fun doesn’t stop there as Chris’, that’s the kid’s name, subsequent life is broadcast to the world “Truman Show”-style.

This doesn’t lead to a happy existence for most of the people involved, as Chris’ mother Gwen doesn’t adjust well to being the most famous parent on the planet and a group called the New American Christians is constantly haranguing Orphis to release their savior.  Eventually, things get to a point where Chris snaps, discovers the truth about religion, shaves his head and goes off to join one of the last remaining punk bands in New York.  Now it’s up to Thomas, and the J2 personnel sympathetic to their star’s plight to make sure that history does not repeat itself.

So “Punk Rock Jesus” is essentially your standard coming-of-age story mixed in with loads of satire about organized religion, corporate America and reality TV.  There’s also a lot of stuff here about the IRA as well that, while it illustrates the madness of the organization and its goals well, feels like it’s there only because Murphy has a vested interest in it.  It only serves the plot tangentially by providing a background for Thomas.  However, the main problem with the book is how familiar its satire is.  Most of the characters are portrayed in simple black or white, good or evil terms, from Rick Slate, the cunning head of the J2 Project who is determined to make it “entertaining” at the expense of its participants’ lives, and Daisy Milton, shrill, God-fearing head of the NAC, who come off as one-dimensional villainous caricatures.  The good guys don’t fare much better as you’ve got Dr. Sarah Epstein, the scientist who actually clones Chris who is stuck in a tired “I want to do good, but the company owns all of my research,” struggle for most of the story.  Tim, the computer whiz at the project, and Rebeckah, Dr. Epstein’s daughter, are also on the side of the angels because the plot dictates that they be.

As for Chris himself, it may be by Murphy’s design that his life feels completely dictated by the events of the plot, but it doesn’t make him an especially interesting protagonist.  This is particularly true when he’s part of the J2 Project for the first half of the book and is pretty much at the mercy of the intentions of everyone around him.  Though this should make his eventual rebellion particularly cathartic later on, it ultimately feels like he’s capitulating to the whims of the plot.  That’s because said rebellion is foreshadowed by the books very title, and while I can understand the need to set up the characters and their situations it still feels funny for Punk Rock Jesus to finally show up halfway into his own book.  By the time he finally does, the reaction I had was mostly, “It’s about time!” than anything else.  From there, he joins a band, they become famous and he keeps spreading the word of rebellion in ways that don’t feel particularly new or exciting.

Then you’ve got that plot point I mentioned above.  At one point, Gwen “hallucinates” jumping off a building only to be saved by an angel.  Except that we’re shown that she may not have been hallucinating after all.  This specific part reads like Murphy was going to take the story in a much different direction than he ultimately did, but forgot to take the scene out when he changed his mind.  Now, I don’t necessarily think that eschewing the overtly supernatural was a bad idea here, given how down-to-earth the book’s tone is.  However, it also represents an explicit link to Chris’ status as a clone of Jesus Christ, Son of God, that I wish the book had dug into rather than dodge the question later on.

At least there’s Thomas.  Even though he’s not the title character, we see enough of him in the story that he may as well be its protagonist.  While he learned his trade in firearms, violence and killing in the IRA, the man has forsaken that last part after he was shown firsthand the true nature and moral rot of the people involved in its cause.  Though the book brings up his protection of Chris as a movie-style means of redeeming himself, Thomas shows by his actions that he only wants to do right by them even if it may take him back into places he never wanted to return to.  The book’s high point comes when, after saving Chris’ life at one point, Thomas yells at the boy to promise him that he is the second coming and that the gunman won’t be going to hell for what he’s done.  It’s a gripping moment and it may make you wish that the book had been explicitly about him.  Of course, “The Adventures of Punk Rock Jesus and Thomas McKael” would’ve made for a really awkward title.

Still, for all of the issues I had with the characters and the familiarity of the book’s message, Murphy’s art remains as strong as ever and enough of a reason by itself to pick this up if you’re a fan.  He kicks things off with a tensely-paced household shootout that showcases Thomas’ defining childhood trauma and then proceeds to cram as much detail and dialogue as he possibly can while keeping everything easy to follow on the page.  Sometimes it breaks down on the two-page spreads, but the art is never less that consistently dynamic.  Seeing Thomas’ action-hero skills on the page not only makes his character more compelling, but Murphy even makes the familiarity in Chris’ rebellion seem more gripping than it actually is on the page.  The character’s bitterness and rage at his lot in life comes through loud and clear at his “coming out” moment at the Grammies.  He also makes a convincing punk frontman when we see him on the stage as well, as it’s not hard to believe that he could amass such a following based on the charisma he exudes in these scenes.  It’s also worth noting that all of the art here is in glorious black and white, which makes it that much easier to appreciate the detailed linework on display in this series.

Murphy’s art makes up for a lot of his script’s shortcomings and makes “Punk Rock Jesus” more entertaining than it would be otherwise.  So while there is substantial room for improvement on in the writing, I would certainly like to see more projects like this from him in the future.  Maybe he’ll eventually produce something that makes this feel like an “awkward, cringeworthy first project” by comparison.  That’s not to say that this book is such a thing, but in spite of the great art there’s a lot of stuff here that inspires that feeling.