God of Comics – Judas #1

Judas #1 (Boom Studios)

I’m Jewish. As I’m writing this, it’s ChaJewnakah and I’ll be lighting the second candle on my Hanukeah tonight.

I mention this as a matter of context; Jews do not believe in the New Testament. We don’t think Jesus was the son of God. We don’t really think of Jesus at all. We have a very different understanding of what the Messiah is and what the age of the Messiah looks like, and our understanding of God differs severely. It’s why I loathe the term “Judeo-Christian”; it feels like Christianity trying to use Judaism to justify itself.

Also, can we not call him Jesus? It’s a bastardization of Yeshua, and it annoys me. We have a perfectly good modernization of Yeshua, and it’s Joshua. Yes, Jesus is a Josh.

It’s not blasphemy if it’s accurate, kids.

Despite this, I do have a pretty good working knowledge of the New Testament. I’ve read it, studied it, and tried to understand how the story of Jesus has affected the development of western civilization, but also to look at how that story works and came together. It important, I think, to understand Christian thought and dogma if one is going to understand the modern world.

And, thankfully, it’s fascinating stuff. There’s a lot going on in the New Testament and the story of Josh. Very little, however, is as interesting as the relationship between Josh and Judas (which is another bastardization, this time of Judah, but we’ll stick with Judas because it’s the name of the comic).

Judas was the first and last apostle to follow Josh, the one that questioned him and challenged him, and the one he seemed to be closest two. The two of them had a complex relationship, bound in the shared knowledge of Josh’s death. See, according to Christian dogma, Josh knew he was going to be betrayed by Judas, then be tortured to death and eventually killed; this was necessary for the redemption of Original Sin (another thing Jews don’t believe in).

The question we must ask, then, is how much did Judas really know? His name has become synonymous with treachery, and his spot in the lowest circle of hell has been assumed by Christian scholars for quite some time – but without his act mankind would have remained damned (again, according to Christian theology).

A core tenant of Christianity deals with the concept of accepting Josh into your heart in order to be forgiven, but Judas had done so before the crucifixion. Does that count? Can Judas find salvation?

Writer Jeff Loveness plans on exploring that very concept. He’s an Emmy and Writer’s Guild of America nominated scribe, so there’s a very good chance he’s got some interesting things to say and a plan for exploring those things. He’s joined by Jakub Rebelka, an artist known for doing some incredibly detailed and expressive linework that lends itself well to a variety of coloring styles.

If you’re looking for a thought-provoking story that is season appropriate, this is your jam. Don’t miss it.