Punk Rock Jesus


Punk Rock Jesus is a six-issue limited series comic book created by Sean Murphy and published by Vertigo. The series ran for six issues from September 2012 to January 2013 and was collected as a trade paperback in April 2013.

Background

Punk Rock Jesus is a limited run comic book series composed of six issues that was written and illustrated by Sean Murphy. The first issue was published on July 11, 2012, by the DC Comics imprint Vertigo Comics.
A web campaign to clone Jesus Christ before December 25, 2001, may have been part of the inspiration for the series. The campaign was called the Second Coming Project and turned out to be a hoax run by an underground book publisher. In 2004 at the age of 23, Murphy started writing the series as a practicing Catholic. At 26 years old in 2007, Murphy became a militant atheist and began using the project as a means to express his frustrations and concerns with religion. In the following years leading up to the release of the series in 2012, Murphy became less militant about his views on religion and decided that a confrontational approach may not be the most productive. Murphy acknowledges that the series might be a controversial topic, but emphasized that he believes that if Jesus was cloned it's probable that we would turn it into a reality TV show.

Plot

In 2019 an entertainment company named OPHIS starts what's known as the "J2 Project", a plan to resurrect Jesus Christ. A clone of Jesus Christ is made with DNA from the Shroud of Turin. The young Jesus is raised on an island with his entire life dictated and televised and viewed by nearly the entire world. Faced with these stresses the young Jesus ultimately becomes a rebellious punk rocker. Religious zealots either love or hate the show and politicians begin to fret over potential influences on the nation. The scientific community fears the implications of the cloning itself.

Issue #1: Conception

The first issue of the series focuses on the characters that are involved in the J2 Project and their perspectives on it. The clone of Jesus Christ, named Chris, isn't born until the end of the issue.
The story begins with a traumatic event in Thomas McKael's childhood and shows his transition from an innocent child who grows up to be a member of the Irish Republican Army and was arrested for murder. McKael is hired as the bodyguard for the J2 Project.
Gwen gave birth to twins. Chris's twin sister was dumped into the ocean by Rick Slate. Shortly afterward, Sarah Epstein suddenly announces that she is pregnant with a girl.

Issue #2: Genesis

At the end of issue 2, Chris is still an infant.

Reception

Giving the book a rating of 8/10 in PopMatters, Shathley Q. Abrahams praised the series saying it's "the best kind of scifi–a meditation on liberty for the cyber-age." Cory Doctorow praised the book writing on the blog Boing Boing saying "It's a near-perfect rocket-ship ride through some of the best material from comics like DMZ and Transmetropolitan". Brendan Frye, the editor-in-chief of Comics Gaming Magazine, gave the first issue a rating of 9/10 praising it for having "wonderful artwork and an intriguing storyline". Barry Thompson gave the series a 9.5/10 rating in Paste Magazine, writing that most depictions of Jesus in popular culture aren't innovative and rely on trope, whereas Sean Murphy's Punk Rock Jesus subverts tropes and is an interesting depiction of Jesus. John R. Parker praised the series in ComicsAlliance calling it the "most innovative, intelligent, and moving comic book to deal with religion and politics in a long time." Publishers Weekly gave the book a starred review calling it a "compelling, searching, and important tale". The series received a starred review in the LibraryJournal, where Steve Raiteri calls it "An audacious, nuanced, and hugely compelling tale". James Hunt praised the first issue in Comic Book Resources saying it is "destined for cult success". Oliver Sava praised the book in The A.V. Club, writing that the book demonstrates "remarkable inking skills" from Murphy.
The series spent three weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list reaching #4 for best Paperback Graphic Books.

Publication history

Collected editions

TitleFormatPublisherPublication DateLanguageTranslatorISBN
Punk Rock JesusTPBVertigo ComicsApril 9, 2013EnglishN/A
Punk Rock Jesus ebookVertigo ComicsApril 9, 2013EnglishN/A
Punk Rock Jesus ebookVertigo ComicsDecember 2, 2014EnglishN/A
Punk Rock Jesus HCVertigo ComicsDecember 2, 2014EnglishN/A
Punk Rock Jesus TPBVertigo ComicsApril 1, 2025EnglishN/A
Punk Rock Jesús TPBNovember 12, 2019SpanishGuillermo Ruiz Carreras
Punk Rock JesúsTPBMay 30, 2013SpanishGuillermo Ruiz Carreras
Punk Rock Jesús TPBFebruary 1, 2014SpanishGuillermo Ruiz Carreras
Punk Rock Jesús HCJanuary 29, 2016SpanishGuillermo Ruiz Carreras
Punk Rock Jesús HCDecember 21, 2017SpanishGuillermo Ruiz Carreras
Jesus Punk Rock HCLevoirSeptember 1, 2018PortugueseEduardo Tanaka
Punk Rock Jesus HCPanini ComicsSeptember 1, 2018PortugueseEduardo Tanaka
Punk Rock JesusHCOctober 1, 2013ItalianStefano Formiconi
Punk Rock JesusTPBLion ComicsApril 9, 2019ItalianStefano Formiconi
Punk Rock Jesus HCLion ComicsOctober 29, 2015ItalianStefano Formiconi
Punk Rock Jésus HCSeptember 19, 2013FrenchBenjamin Rivière
Punk Rock JésusTPBAugust 25, 2023FrenchBenjamin Rivière
Punk Rock Jésus HCNovember 24, 2017FrenchBenjamin Rivière
Punk Rock Jésus ebookSeptember 15, 2025FrenchBenjamin Rivière
Punk Rock Jésus HCOctober 2, 2020FrenchBenjamin Rivière
Punk Rock JesusHCStory House EgmontApril 23, 2025PolishJacek Żuławnik
Punk Rock JézusHCJanuary 1, 2022HungarianAntal Bayer
펑크 록 지저스 TPBFebruary 20, 2019Korean弘二郎