American Jesus Vol. 1: Chosen

I thought this was a good read but turned out to be a little predictable in the finish, I dont know if this is the complete story or if further volumes will follow, the cliffhanger finish works fine but I did think from reading interviews with the author that he was prepared to write and have illustrated something much more conclusive. While having criticised the final installment of the Omen films, The Final Battle, I sort of was left thinking that the book had succeeded in producing something which was very close to that mark, pretty close to the Omen entirely to be honest.The book has an introduction by Shaun Pegg, of Shawn of the Dead fame, and two afterwords by a Dublin Franciscan and another religious figure, these are pretty good and likely to interest any purely secular readers as much as any more religiously interested or inclined readers, there is then a short piece about the illustration of the book featuring some preliminary sketches and the stock artist and author bios which mention other works by them, which is handing if you use these sorts of things as a direction on what to read next possibly.The book itself is respectful of the subject matter without attempting anything sacrosanct or sanctimonious, the story features small town life in America and some of the drama of growing up, which I liked a lot, the protagonist and his friends are very human and their responses to developments are very sympathetic. The book features miracles as they may occur in the present age and who they would be viewed by a skeptical, or you could say "post-Christian" public, that is to say kids and adults who have a knowledge of miracles in the bible, this was interesting because it made me think about how literary sources such as this really do colour peoples expectations and it made me wonder about how miracles would have appeared when those expectations did not exist at all. There are other influences operating too, comics principally, and it was amusing to see the conclusions drawn as a result when someone with that influence manages to begin to display unusual or super-natural powers and knowledge.From the beginning which features the past, with narrator boxes, the action moves back and forward to the present and it clear that the protagonist is telling his company in the present his own "origin story" as events develop in the present, there is little or no information about that, besides someone getting ready to go take a flight somewhere but perhaps that could feature in another book in the series.The afterwords are pretty good and round of the entire work the very best, I definitely would not have enjoyed it as much had I not had them to read, especially one of them which features some quotes from scripture which I was familiar with and thinking about from the beginning of the book and probably did change the ending for me. I would recommend this book to anyone, relgiiously minded or not, fans of comics or not particularly, it was a page turner but I also pretty interested in its themes too, the nearest possible comparative story that I can think of is Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's collaboration Good Omens, which is itself a brilliant book along similar lines, in its own ways emphasising the human over any supernatural "great game" between God and Satan (it remains to be seen but I think Gaiman and Pratchett's twist on this theme could be much, much less orthodox than Gross' own).

I'm not sure if this is a convincing take on the second coming and how a small town would react to a Jesus-like figure emerging in their midst. The story is interesting and the artwork faultless but i'm not sure if comic-books (sorry, graphic novels) are the right place for something of such complexity and depth. I understand the need for ellipsis and the shortage of space of the medium, but the pace is too quick and many of the scenario's are unbelievable. What I'm saying, I think, is that it lacks a sense of realism and I found it hard to suspend my disbelief for many of the conceits of the narrative. I was also disappointed that the 'new' Jesus' 'path' follows that of the original Jesus, except that the names have been changed as an 'update'. I understand that people need 'signs' to show them that this is Jesus reincarnate but I would have liked something bolder that imagined a new set of miracles and a different set of circumstances under which they are performed.Perhaps all my gripes will be answered in Book 2 as Jodie comes to terms with Global media and the reactions of hyper-capitalism to 'faith' rather than the false idols of consumption (i'm an athiest, by the way!)I know this sounds as if I don't like it but I will be buying Book 2! Well worth the money!(p.s. Buy 'Red Son'. It's excellent!)

What would the second coming of Christ be like in today’s world? It’s by no means an original idea but a potent one that Mark Millar develops pretty well with artist Peter Gross in American Jesus.A slacker kid called Jodie gets hit by a truck and miraculously survives. But this is the first of many changes for Jodie as his personality quickly changes from under-achieving waster to becoming enormously intelligent and wise, healing the sick, turning water into wine, and even bringing the dead back to life. Is he the second coming of Jesus?!It may not be the most original concept but Millar does a fine job of making it interesting especially as writing teenagers is his strong suit. The scenes with Jodie and his friends read fine and seeing Jodie’s powers develop was fun despite its predictability. His grown-up characters on the other hand are pretty much ciphers, especially Jodie’s parents who’re just blanks (and how about their on-the-nose surname, Christianson?!). Jodie’s teacher though is just plain ridiculous, screaming swear words at him when he scores high in a test – come on, he’d be fired if he did that!Unfortunately, Peter Gross’ art just didn’t do it for me. The pages looked all washed out, the figures were unremarkable and dull, and, considering the calibre of artists Millar usually works with, Gross is definitely among his least impressive collaborators.This first book - coming in at a mere 3 issues – is all setup for the next book which looks to take the original premise and go in a completely different direction. The ending was definitely unexpected and so good that I’m on board to read the next volume but since the third issue ended 10 years ago it doesn’t look like Volume 2 will be coming out anytime soon. American Jesus is definitely worth a read though and you could imagine the ending as a standalone, Twilight Zone-esque shocker.

Written in the still of an old 80s mainstream comic, this I left was a little weak on the story and the art.I'm glad I didn't spent too much on it, it's an OK read but not one that I'd recommend to others.Given how careful I am with graphic novels I think the most honest review I could give is that I'd actually lend this one to friends.There's a twist in the story that I'll not spoil but it happens so late in the book that I felt it should have been kept for follow up volumes. For me the story was quite slow and the late twist was a TV episode style, tune in next week.