Media theorist Douglas Rushkoff makes a great case for his intent behind TESTAMENT: AKEDAH, the first collection of his new Vertigo comic-book series which transports stories of the Bible into near-future times. The real meaning of the book so many swear by, he argues, has been distorted by politicians and so-called Christians to the point where the beliefs they so publicly espouse run counter to the text. TESTAMENT isn’t out to bash the Bible, but “restore its integrity.”
Of course, none of this would mean squat if Rushkoff’s attempt nosedived. Instead, it’s a remarkable piece of work – not just for the comics industry, but speculative fiction in general – and deserving of both attention and debate.
In a very plausible near-future, the Big Brother political movement is in full force, as young people are required by law to have a tracking device inserted within their forearm, as part of the reinstated draft. Of course, there are a few renegades who refuse and live underground, not wishing to be tracked.
This setup allows for modern retellings of the stories of Abraham, Sodom and Gomorrah and others. Rushkoff juxtaposes depictions of the Biblical times with his original narrative, so one can see how the themes closely mirror one another. All the while, the gods watch over our modern-day heroes, and whenever try to interact with the physical world, reaching into the panels of action, their limbs turn into one of the elements. It’s a difficult effect to describe, but is rendered totally brilliant on the page, thanks to Liam Sharp’s art (and one of the brightest coloring jobs I’ve ever seen).
For me, the actual story is less interesting than how the story is told. It will be interesting to see where Rushkoff is going with all this, especially since the last of the five issues here seems to be close to veering off the rails. This may be blamed either on not having the sixth issue included or on it being overly hallucinogenic and fantasy-laden (Neil Gaiman pulled the same stunt on lesser issues of THE SANDMAN); the jury is still out.
Like its source material, TESTAMENT utilizes a bit of the ol’ sex and violence to tell its story, which I expect would ruffle some feathers. But I haven’t heard any mainstream hubbub over this one, which suggests one of two things: 1) that Rushkoff and Co. aren’t doing their jobs, or 2) the book is painfully unheralded. Judging from the quality on display in AKEDAH, my vote is with the latter. –Rod Lott
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