January
16 Testament #1

Creators: Douglas Rushkoff, writer; Liam Sharp, artist

DC/Vertigo, 32 pages, color, $2.99

So? Author and media critic Douglas Rushkoff puts forth the idea in an editorial at the back of this book that the Bible is an “open source” collaboration, that gaps in its stories are just as open to interpretation and resequencing as anything else. Naturally, he’s had a few protests. So comics, in which a story gap from a 20-year-old episode can result in an entire new series, is perhaps the perfect medium for Rushkoff to tell what he considers the real story of the Bible. That’s a lot to process and it’s not the sort of soundbite-friendly description that usually draws in readers. But the comic itself is impossible to put down once you start reading it as Rushkoff retells the biblical story of Abraham’s sacrifice of his son Isaac alongside a futuristic tale of a young man preparing to enter a mandatory military draft. Many will surely find this approach pretentious or on-the-nose, but it’s done well and chock full of the sort of cool, forward-looking ideas that made classics of such cool 1980s comics as “American Flagg!” and just about anything written by Alan Moore. Sharp’s art is terrific and sexy, and should draw in readers on that level alone. Grade: A