The year is 26 CE. Tektons (craftsmen/builders), including a young Yeshua/Jesus of Nazareth and three of his siblings (Joses/Joseph, Jude and Simon (Mark 6:3; Matthew 13:55)), have been hired to rebuild the city of Sepphoris (inspired by Matthew 5:14) by Herod Antipas (the Tetrarch of Galilee and Perea under the Roman Empire during the reign of Tiberius Caesar (Luke 3:1)).
During the day, Jesus is suffering from headaches caused by divine visions (John 5:20) of the past (we glimpse the destruction of Sepphoris by Publius Quinctilius Varus).
Pontius Pilate, the fifth governor of the Roman province of Judaea mentions Caiaphas (Jesus will be sent before the high priest after his arrest (Matthew 26:57; Mark 14:53; John 11:49; John 18:14)) who was appointed by Valerius Gratus (the prefect who preceded Pilate).
Jesus has a nightmare, he sees SIX (Revelation 13:18; The sixth commandment is "Thou shalt not kill" (Exodus 20:13)) serpents within the clouds of heaven.
Jesus ventures into Sepphoris' unfinished amphitheater (an homage to Master of Kung Fu #38). A tiny lizard (an homage to Master of Kung Fu #18 and Bruce Lee's nickname: Little Dragon) starts talking to Jesus, it "suggests" that he should look inward for answers.
Jesus meditates (an homage to Master of Kung Fu #107) to achieve self-actualization (an homage to Bruce Lee and "On Becoming A Person" by Carl Rogers). Jesus' martial arts moves form the letters F-R-E-A-K (an homage to the Yoichi Nakachi vs. Bruce Lee fight at the YMCA). We see Jesus' face shine as the sun (Matthew 17:2) and the Sun, the Moon, the Earth and Infinity (from the Siri Gaitri mantra).
29 CE. The river Jordan next to the town of Bethabara. Jesus pays a visit to the one preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins (Luke 3:3), John the Baptist, a prophet (Matthew 14:5; Mark 11:32) who exists on a diet of locusts and wild honey (Matthew 3:4; Mark 1:6).
Jesus mentions the people (Luke 3:10-14) who sought John's counsel.
John was the spiritual successor to Elijah (the prophet and miracle worker) (Matthew 11:14; Matthew 17:12-13; Luke 1:17; Luke 9:19).
Like his father (Luke 1:79) before him, John mentions a light in the darkness.
The future apostle to the apostles, Mary Magdalene (who is plagued by seven demons (Mark 16:9; Luke 8:2)) tries to touch Jesus (foreshadowing John 20:17).
Jesus is about 30 years of age (Luke 3:23).
Jesus pays a second visit to John the Baptist, i.e., the voice of one crying in the wilderness (Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4; John 1:23).
John asks Jesus to reveal (John 1:31) himself.
Jesus mentions that John was raised by priests (John's father was indeed a priest and his mother was of the daughters of High Priest Aaron (Luke 1:5; Luke 3:2)).
The baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3:13; Mark 1:9) begins... but is interrupted. The soldiers of the governor (Pilate) start to murder some of John's disciples and try to arrest the immerser for sedition... Jesus is forced to use violence (an homage to Master of Kung Fu #102, #107 & #110) to protect his new friend (John 15:13).
Thinking that they have drowned Jesus, the soldiers seize John and leave. Jesus emerges, head first, out of the water (like Willard (Martin Sheen) did in Apocalypse Now (1979)).
Pilate mentions the funding of his new construction project (the Biar Aqueduct to bring water to Jerusalem) and the insurrection it created.
Pilate asks John the Baptist if he is the King of the Jews (Pilate will ask Jesus the very same question (Matthew 27:11)).
John is sent to Herod Antipas' palace/fortress (Machaerus) to be bound in prison (Matthew 14:3; Mark 6:17). John calls Herod Antipas a fox (Jesus will do the same in Luke 13:32).
Jesus takes a terminally ill woman by the hand (an homage to The Hands of Shang-Chi) and heals her (inspired by Mark 1:31; Matthew 8:15).
Jesus collapses and the nightmares return. Jesus sees angels fighting serpents (Revelation 12:7 and an inner conflict) and a dragon monster (an inner demon).
After three days, Jesus wakes to discover that a crowd has gathered to see him (inspired by Mark 1:33).
Having faith in Jesus (inspired by thy faith hath made thee whole (Luke 7:50; Luke 17:19)) was enough to heal Mary Magdalene (Luke 8:2).
The Temptation on the Mountain (Machaerus in Perea subs for the Mount of Temptation in Matthew 4:8).
Jesus infiltrates Machaerus to rescue John the Baptist, he kills the Roman sentries patrolling the palace and enters the courtyard (a place analogous to Gabbatha (John 19:13))... where Satan made flesh awaits.
The tempter of humanity (Matthew 4:1; Mark 1:13; Luke 4:2) explains that he was the reptile Jesus encountered in Sepphoris.
We see the tree of the knowledge of good and evil with its forbidden fruits (Genesis 2:17. A serpent (Satan) also tempted Eve in Genesis 3:1-5).
Jesus is still unaware of who he truly is (like Adam and Eve, Jesus is still in a state of ignorance). The dragon grabs (an homage to Daredevil (1964) #181) Jesus and tries to burn/corrupt him with his unholy fire.
Jesus retaliates with a back somersault kick (an homage to Yuen Wah (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)) flash kicking Bob Wall in Enter the Dragon (1973)).
Satan uses his spear to sunder the side of Jesus (while on the cross Jesus will be pierced by the Holy Lance (John 19:34; John 20:20; John 20:27)).
Jesus breaks the spear in two and slays the scaled devil. Satan is pleased, he assumes that thanks to his influence, Jesus will now promote power instead of love and self-sacrifice.
John the Baptist has accepted his destiny, he refuses to escape with Jesus.
John was sent to prepare the way for Jesus (John 3:28).
John wants Jesus to become full of the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:1).
Jesus must increase, but John must decrease (John 3:30).
John's followers will become the disciples of Jesus (John 1:37).
Pilate rants in front of a carving (an homage to Master of Kung Fu #106). The unjust execution of John the Baptist has just occurred (Matthew 14:10; Mark 6:27).
En route to Jerusalem, astride on donkeys (John 12:15), Jesus and his disciples (Andrew and the "Sons of Thunder (Mark 3:17)" James and John) witness the atrocities (crucified insurrectionists (Mark 15:7)) of Pilate.
Andrew (a follower of John the Baptist and the very first disciple called by Jesus) mentions the exorcism (Mark 1:26; Luke 4:35) performed by Jesus in Capernaum (Matthew 4:13).
Jesus will soon be cleansing the Temple in Jerusalem (Matthew 21:12; Mark 11:15; John 2:15).
Jesus mentions that he has the power to level mountains (Isaiah 45:2).
Jesus has finally found himself and knows what he must do.
What I did like:
The Big Boss/Fists of Fury (1971) and Fist of Fury (1972) are legendary Hong Kong martial arts films starring Bruce Lee.
A 48-page full-color comic book illustrated by Benjamin Marra based on page layouts by Joe Casey.
Klaus Janson's inks over John Buscema from The Savage Sword of Conan #48 and Frank Miller inspired the art in this comic.
Sensational psychedelic colors by Brad Simpson.
Fantastic book design by Sonia Harris.
Nice lettering by Rus Wooton.
A 16-page black and white ashcan preview of JESUSFREAK was also printed.
Jim Craig, Gene Day and Ben Marra hail from Canada.
Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day is a holiday celebrated in Quebec, Canada.
Charlton Heston (Planet of the Apes (1968), Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) & Planet of the Apes (2001)) played John the Baptist in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). An ape based on Benjamin Marra appears in Keenan Marshall Keller and Tom Neely's The Humans (2014 Image limited series).
A map and 3 pin-ups by Marra, including an homage to Master of Kung Fu #55 and a parody of the "Deadliest Man Alive" advert by Count Dante (John Keehan).
Joe Casey tries to mimic the verbosity of Doug Moench.
Another Casey. Professor Philip Maurice Casey mentions Sepphoris in his book: Jesus of Nazareth: An Independent Historian's Account of His Life and Teaching.
Casey is one of the creators of Ben 10.
Geoffrey Thorne was a writer for Ben 10. Thorne and Gerry Duggan wrote Solo: The One Man War on Terror (2016 Marvel mini-series).
Terror Assaulter: O.M.W.O.T. "appears" in Strange Tales II (2010) #3.
Terror Assaulter: O.M.W.O.T. started in 2014 as a comic book adaptation of the Spectacle trailer for Lethal Hunter aka AMERICAN HUNTER (Arizal, 1988) starring Christopher Mitchum.
Robert Mitchum (as Slam Bradley) appears multiple times in Paul Gulacy's Catwoman (2002) run.
Gulacy's work has been a huge influence and inspiration for Marra for over 20 years.
Benjamin has a quote from Gulacy: "Keep the Fire" and a panther tattooed on his left shoulder.
Pavane (a villainess from Master of Kung Fu) has a pet panther named Mara.
Ben Marra and Brad Simpson collaborated with Joe Casey on issue #4 of Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers (2014).
Marra, Simpson and Grant Morrison collaborated with Casey on issue #6 of Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers (2014).
Casey wrote 19 issues of G.I. Joe: America's Elite (2005).
Morrison wrote the story "Meditations in Red!" in Action Force #17 where Quick Kick (MacArthur S. Ito) is trained by Shang-Chi the Master of Kung Fu.
Gulacy drew 8 issues and 14 covers of G.I. Joe: Special Missions (2013).
Marra drew covers for G.I. Joe (2016) #4, Tom Scioli's Transformers vs. G.I. Joe #9 and Tom Scioli's Go-Bots #1.
Tom Scioli co-created Godland with Joe Casey. Grant Morrison wrote the intro for Godland Celestial Edition Book 1.
Morrison collaborated three times with Marra: Heavy Metal Magazine #280 [Beachhead part 1], #281 [Beachhead part 2] and #289 [Ten Sounds That Represent a Kind of Person: A Historical Parody].
Beach Head (Wayne R. Sneeden) is a G.I. Joe character.
Some Street Fighter characters became G.I. Joes in 1993. In 2017, Marra drew M. Bison, Ken Masters, Chun-Li, Edmond Honda, Zangief, Ryu, Blanka and Guile for Capcom (Street Fighter 30th Anniversary "Night Fight" print (limited to 500)).
Fans of Fist of the North Star (a Bruceploitation manga that features a Jesus-like hero known as Toki) will appreciate this comic.
JESUSFREAK was spotlighted on Fox & Friends in 2019 and Benjamin Marra's The Incredibly Fantastic Adventures of Maureen Dowd (a Work of Satire and Fiction) was featured on Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld in 2010.
What I did not like:
Jesus murdering people.
The decapitated Romans do not turn into Serpent Men (created by Robert E. Howard). Very disappointing!
Phasaelis, Herodias, Salome and Herod Antipas do not appear.
No new pin-ups by Paul Gulacy, Jim Craig or Mike Zeck!
No painted cover by Benjamin Marra!
The afterword fails to mention Swamp Thing #88 aka Rick Veitch's unpublished "Morning of the Magician".
I give it a 9/10. Very well researched by Joe Casey. Sublime art and cartography by Benjamin Marra. Let's just say that portraying Jesus as a killer was an ill-advised decision. A choice, that I truly believe, cost us a sequel, additional untold tales, an animated film and interesting international editions. A more thought-out story would have made this striking oversized graphic novel a bestseller.
