Forget The Da Vinci Code -- if the Catholic Church wants to be outraged about a new development in pop culture, this is a much better target. The creators on this revel in the taboos they break and the cynical view of the church's actions, even in a post-apocalyptic war with the bloodsucking undead. Now, I'm all for snubbing one's nose at the establishment and calling authorities on hypocrisy, but this predictable script seems to focus on kewl visuals and over-the-top violence and characters. There's a clear pacing problem with the plot as well, and for a time, the book never seems to know what it wants to be. This was somewhat diverting, but it could have done with a hint of restraint and strong editing.
In the early 21st century, it seemed as though the Christians of the west were at constant war with the followers of Islam in the Middle East, and the world seemed doomed to be forever divided. But the unexpected discovery that vampires -- creatures spawned from Hell itself -- walked the earth solidified the Catholic Church as the predominant power on the planet. A new war arose -- between the Church and the bloodsuckers -- and this one scarred Mother Earth itself. The Church, in need of a powerful weapon and symbol, finds it in the second coming of Jesus Christ, who adopts warrior ways to lead the campaign against the vampires. But even in this new age, the Church hides dark secrets, ones the vampires aim to expose.
Bellegarde's artwork on this book reminds me of the work of Kevin (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) O'Neill and Jim (Tomorrow Stories) Baikie. The design for Christ in this book is a striking one, but the looks for the vampires are far less inspired. The art seems unnecessarily focused on women's breasts, and the nudity later in the book adds nothing to the story. It's in keeping with the book's adoption of a more "blasphemous" philosophy.
This one-shot straddles the fence for a long time between embracing a full-blown action/drama tone and a more satirical one. It finally settles on the former, but the storytelling early on still comes off as muddled. I couldn't tell if the writer was trying to be funny or if he was playing it straight. It also takes a long time for the plot to finally reach the real point of the story. We learn of factions opposed to the Church's rule far too late in the book.
The primary focus here is shock value, and strong storytelling takes a back seat. Naked, nubile vamps, shit projectiles and Messiah-led massacres... it's all about being bold and ballsy and blunt. The actual story -- which is really limited to the final pages of the book -- comes off as more of an afterthought. There are some solid ideas at play here, but they need to be refined a bit more. 4/10
