Second Coming: Only Begotten Son

Second Coming: Only Begotten Son by Mark Russell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As Sunstar's son's birth looms, Jesus goes out into the world to find his place in it and is disappointed in what he finds...

Mark Russell's and Richard Pace's cynical, subversive, possibly sacrilegious satire comes to a close in this volume. As Sunstar realizes that arresting criminals might not be the best use of his abilities, especially with a son on the way, Jesus realizes that humanity really hasn't learned much in 2000 years. I usually don't bother my wife with what I'm reading in comics but I interrupted whatever game she was playing on her phone to talk about this one a few times.

The art by Richard Pace and Leonard Kirk fits the tone of the story. Heaven, and Earth, for that matter, isn't the sparkling paradise we were led to believe. There's a dirty, grittiness to the art at times.

Mark Russell's writing is thought provoking, cynical, depressing, and hilarious, as usual. The revelation that Heaven is just a place to put all the immortal souls after people have died and Hell is the piece of Heaven close to the landfill was one of my favorite parts.

I don't know why DC didn't want to publish this book. There's nothing inflammatory in it unless a God that isn't all-knowing is offensive to people. They published Preacher, though, so who the fuck knows.

Second Coming: Only Begotten Son is a depressing, cynical, thought provoking good time. Five out of five stars.

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