 SCARY SAVIOR An image from the irreverent comic. |
A storyline created by Maine writer and filmmaker Shawn French more than 20 years ago was recently launched in comic book form and is causing controversy for its religious references.
In Escape from Jesus Island, scientists working for ReGen Corporation clone Jesus using DNA they have obtained (French says he got the idea in 1993 after watching Jurassic Park). After producing mutant humanoids in attempts to clone The Savior, they finally produce twins that have all the powers Jesus was said to have. Except (!), one twin is an evil incarnation — an Antichrist, Yeshua, a/k/a Damien. “He’s a murderous psychopath, bent on revenge,” notes French, who grew up in South Portland.
When Vatican intelligence gets wind that Jesus has been cloned, the Catholic state sends a special-ops military unit to extract him. At that point, all hell breaks loose. French, a self-proclaimed “mythology geek,” says he borrowed heavily from the Book of Revelations for the story, which will be broken down in to five Acts of eight issues apiece, for a total run of 40 issues.
“A lot of the stuff people are offended about is taken right from the Bible,” he says. “People who are informed about the Bible or who are religious … will enjoy it more, because they will get the references.”
French never thought he would write a comic book — until he met longtime professional illustrator Mortimer Glum.
Recognizing that Glum’s digitally painted (and graphically gory) artwork called for full-color, print display (“it would be a crime to restrict this story to computer screens”), they launched a Kickstarter campaign last year and raised almost $16,000 — financing the print run of the first four issues. One of the rewards was to appear as a character who gets killed; at least 40 fans will be offed in the first eight issues.
The creators knew the series would be controversial. Several retailers left the Phantom collective — a group of comic retailers that release special editions together — because they didn’t want to sell the variant issue released in December, which featured the Antichrist on a crucifix on the cover. (On the other hand, eight stores in the United Kingdom sold out on the first day.)
On Monday, January 20, Escape from Jesus Island was released to other retailers. Within days, French was scheduled to appear on CNN’s “Faces of Faith” segment in the morning show, New Day Sunday, but producers canceled at the last minute. In response, Glum posted on Facebook an illustration of a mutant corporate executive with a hooked hand and smoking a cigar, with a caption that read, “Lick my hook, ya cowards!”
Still, Glum admits that controversy is “good advertising.”
He and French will appear with series letterer Peeter Parkker and editor Shawn Greenleaf at Coast City Comics (634 Congress St, Portland) for the Grindhouse Art Show this Friday at 6pm.
