DC Comics, the company that boasts Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman among its lineup, is getting set to release a new comic series, Second Coming, in which Jesus of Nazareth will be one of two main characters. DC has the plot summary on their website:
Witness the return of Jesus Christ, as He is sent on a most holy mission by God to learn what it takes to be the true messiah of mankind by becoming roommates with the world’s favorite savior: the all-powerful super hero Sun-Man, the Last Son of Krispex! But when Christ returns to Earth, he’s shocked to discover what has become of his gospel—and now, he aims to set the record straight.
The plot seems to be written without informed Christian perspective on our Lord and Savior. In an interview with Bleeding Cool, author Mark Russell goes into the details,
“An all-powerful superhero, named Sun-Man, has to share a two bedroom apartment with Jesus Christ. The conceit is that God was so upset with Jesus’s performance the first time he came to Earth, since he was arrested so soon and crucified shortly after, that he has kept him locked-up since then.” Russell goes on to add that God wants Jesus to be more like Sun-Man. “God then sees this superhero on Earth a few thousand years later and says ‘that’s what I wanted for you!’ He sends Jesus down to learn from this superhero and they end up learning from each other. They learn the limitations of each other’s approach to the world and its problems.”
While Russell does not mention how exactly Jesus will be helping in a super-hero capacity, he did say that Christ would bring “empathy, understanding, and generosity” to those in the comic. In real life, however, his portrayal is bound to bring public outcry from the Christian communities.
In the comic, Jesus will be outraged by modern Christians and what has been done in his name, Russell said, “[Second Coming] is about Jesus coming down and being appalled by what he sees has been done in his name by Christianity in the last two thousand years.”
Within this theologically incoherent narrative, Jesus will not have any Godly powers, he will not be omniscient and, while God plays the role of disappointed father to the failed Christ, there appears to be no Trinitarian aspect mentioned.
The series is set for six issues and will begin in March. There is currently no word on whether the company, which has struggled with its cinematic offerings, will be attempting a film version of this story in the future. Also no word on whether comics featuring other religious figures will be forthcoming at any time.
And today we celebrate...