Review: SECOND COMING #4
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Mark Russell
Art: Richard Pace and Leonard Kirk
Colors: Andy Troy
Letters: Rob Steen
Reviewed by: Tony Farina
Summary
Second Coming #4 picks up right where issue three ended. Jesus has been arrested because, well, that is complicated. It is hard to really know for sure. You should go read issue 3 for more. Jesus meets his new “roomie” a homeless guy called Larry Pinecone, who is in jail for, eating pinecones. Seriously. Jesus gets a copy of the New Testament from the book cart. He is less than pleased.
So, Sunstar’s unlock the hero within group is meeting. Without him there, they are a bit more forthcoming about their feelings toward him. Of course, who shows up? Sunstar? Why? See the above paragraph.
Meanwhile, in Germany, Satan is meeting with Linda, an angel of God to discuss how Jesus is doing on Earth. Satan offers to keep Jesus alive in exchange for being let back into Heaven. Linda makes not promises. They eat fondue.
Positives
Boy, I can’t decide where to start here. I think I am actually going to skip over some of the obvious stuff and focus on Lady Razor. Who is that you ask? Well, Lady Razor showed up in issue two and has a much bigger part (sort of) in Second Coming #4. Lady Razor is part of Sunstar’s support group. Throughout this entire issue, she, the only woman of color on the “team” is essentially ignored or told what to do. Regardless of what she says, no one is paying attention. Why is this a positive you ask dear reader? Well, a good work of satire works on multiple levels. This is not just a masterwork in religion and the way it is bastardized, although it is, Russel et al take a hard look at how women are treated and even more so how people of color are treated both in the real world and in the comic book world.
Let us take a look at what Pace and Kirk have done with Lady Razor before we continue on why she is such a brilliant character shall we?
The truth nuggets that fly from her mouth are just gut bustingly funny and tear inducingly tragic. No one listens to her. In fact, we don’t actually learn her name until almost the end of this issue. Again, just another point of contention with the way characters like this are treated. One could read this as Russell doing the same thing as everyone else, but that is simply not how he works. Nothing is unintentional including the little details.
Negatives
Nothing to see here. Move along.
Verdict
Second Coming #4 is pretty much perfect. If you read the letters page, and I hope you do, you can find some criticism of the book (the swearing) and the creative and editorial team’s responses. It is worth doing. This book continues to be spot on. I didn’t even get into the whole Jesus reads the New Testament aspect of this book because that is so funny that I don’t want to give too much away. Read this book. Go. Get it. Now. Read Second Coming. Seriously. Are you still reading this when you should be reading that?
