There’s been a lot of love here at Multiversity for Sean Murphy’s “Punk Rock Jesus” — it even topped our “Best Mini-Series” list for 2012, despite having one more issue to go. But did PRJ come to the spectacular and satisfying finish that we all hoped for?
Written and Illustrated by Sean Murphy
In this thrilling conclusion to the acclaimed miniseries, Chris and the Flak Jackets head to Jerusalem, the last stop on their world tour. But in this final concert, will the punk messiah rise above the protests from the world’s three major religions, or will he take matters into his own hands?
It’s hard to know what to say about this last chapter when I think most of us have understood since issue one that everything was going to blow up in the end. Things really do blow up, and they blow up real good. What else was going to happen when Jesus Christ’s supposed clone played a punk rock show in Jerusalem?
What’s really interesting — and unexpected — in this issue doesn’t involve J2 at all. We (and Thomas) get a big reveal as to Thomas’s origins, and this surprising information has far-reaching consequences for this character and his motivations. The result is the centrepiece of the issue, where Thomas demands Chris for guidance and it is magnificent — it’s like a crisis of faith, only not, because we don’t know if Chris is Jesus, and Thomas doesn’t know what he believes anymore, and it’s all so complicated and arresting, with no easy answers in sight.
The only element here that feels forced involves Gwen, and it’s not because she shows up in a bit of an unconventional way. There has always been an uneasy air about Gwen in the series, with the main question being whether we’re supposed to feel for her because she’s been so terribly manipulated by J2, or whether we’re supposed to resent her for it. That she has acted as a guiding light to Thomas has highlighted his own religious convictions, of course, as well as the fact that J2 has ceaselessly undermined these, but that she becomes integral to his redemptive process in this issue doesn’t quite fit. As I said before, it’s all very complicated, but in regards to Gwen it’s a little too complicated, and we’re left wondering who she was to Thomas because I don’t think we were ever sure of who she was to us.
There are surprises of the major and minor variety until the last few pages, and, of course, deaths, including one that that I’m sure everyone expected. But what caps the issue off thematically, smoothing it into a coherent sort of a myth, occurs on the last page. Coming at the end of a miniseries that has featured so much meaningless violence — committed by people who are searching for meaning, or trying to create it — this particular highway incident is an act of violence I think every fan of “Punk Rock Jesus” can get behind. It makes for a satisfying, angry ending — affirming what the character who commits it truly believes in, and has always believed in.
Murphy’s art has been fantastic all through this series, stark and sharp and endlessly expressive, nailing the exact facial expression for every moment and, in this issue in particular, laying down action scenes with incredible energy. The movement — whether it involves gunshots or headlong dashes or careering cars — is always palpable and clear, and the Jerusalem riot that has so many consequences for J2 and for Thomas well-nigh explodes off the page.
It’s all very compressed, with the issue ratcheting along to its conclusion and giving all the new information zero room to breathe, and despite Murphy’s graceful layouts, the amount of information packed on each page can feel like a jumble if you don’t scan it all very slowly. An extra issue — or even two — certainly wouldn’t have hurt, but as things stand, there are worse things to cap off a brash and kinetic series with than a brash and slightly confusing last chapter. This has been an exceptional series, and the ending — with all its layers of complexity, and unanswered questions — does it justice.
Final Verdict: 8.9 — You know what to do.
