Image Comics provided new details and images about their upcoming graphic novel [easyazon_link identifier=”1534311742″ locale=”US” tag=”boundingintocomics-20″]Jesusfreak[/easyazon_link] from writer Joe Casey and artist Benjamin Marra.
The series was announced last September where Image Comics described the story as a “bloody, two-fisted ale of heroic historical fiction featuring a certain young Nazarean carpenter who is having some trouble finding his place within a world of ever increasing violence. He knows he’s different… he just doesn’t know why.”
Writer Joe Casey described the the inspiration behind Jesusfreak:
“JESUSFREAK is less inspired by any strict religious traditions and is instead more concerned with exploring the unique tension that exists between depicting a mythical figure and a historical figure – a tension that is compounded when, for many, they’re considered the same person. It’s also a chance for Marra and I to indulge in a specific style of hard pulp storytelling that we think perfectly fits this material.”
Artist Benjamin Marra would describe his aim for the book:
“I’ve followed Joe Casey’s career as a writer for over a decade and so I jumped at the opportunity to push myself as an artist into unfamiliar areas with this book. My aim with JESUSFREAK is to channel the energy and storytelling of artists like Paul Gulacy, Frank Miller, and Klaus Janson to deliver a very different kind of historical fiction.”
Image Comics gave Deadline an exclusive preview of the series where Jesus infiltrates some kind of building and decapitates a number of soldiers with their own weapons. However, these soldiers appear to have been guarding a Liazardmen, which Jesus refers to as a “demon spawn.”
Deadline indicates “Image Comics is banking on Jesusfreak stirring up some soapbox response from cultural pundits, religious commentators and media outlets (which is probably why the Portland-based publisher scheduled a March release that put Jesusfreak on the new-release rack mid-way through Lent).”
However, from the preview pages released, it looks like Jesus is fighting demons and their servants in what could be a supernatural plane.
[easyazon_link identifier=”1534311742″ locale=”US” tag=”boundingintocomics-20″]Jesusfreak[/easyazon_link]will hit comic book shelves on March 20th. It will retail for $17.99 and will be a 64-page hardcover book.