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'Chosen' by Mark Millar

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Spaniel

18:55 / 12.08.04

At the end, I mean.

FinderWolf

19:05 / 12.08.04

SPOILS AHOY!!!!

+++++

****

OK, so it turns out that Jodie is not in fact Jesus reborn, but the Anti-Christ. This is why he was creepy as a grown-up in issue 1, and why in that scene his equally creepy followers were waiting on him hand and foot, dressing him up, acting like he was a king, or super-celebrity.

Millar makes the point that Jodie becomes ultra-powerful and Jodie just assumes that he must be Jesus, since he knows he's a major Biblical figure and part of Armageddon. And of course, most kids would want to be the Good Biggie instead of the Bad Baggie. But he's the Big Devil Dude instead. His father, it is explained to him in the penultimate page, is Satan.
(use Church Lady voice if you like)

Alex's Grandma

07:02 / 13.08.04

What is thing that Mark Millar has, though, to do with all his villains having five or six " old men " ?

There was that guy in The Authority, there's that slightly diminished version, character-wise, of Two Face in that other thing he's been up to lately, and you do have to wonder:

What on earth is his problem ?

( This might be a topic that could be usefully taken up on Millarworld.Com, TM )

Lowland Presbyterian Scots - they're the scum of the earth, really, aren't they ?

Spaniel

07:39 / 13.08.04

Cheers, Wolfman.

Sounds like a wasted opportunity, but I doubt Millar has the maturity to tackle the real deal.

DaveBCooper

08:31 / 13.08.04

Yeah, I found that slightly disappointing too. Generally a good read, but the end was a bit Omen 3 for me, though isn’t there some talk of a follow-up series ? That might explain its rather unresolved nature.

There are vague similarities between this and Saviour, one of Millar’s earlier works, but Saviour was slightly more in-depth, I felt, with a darker feel.
And thinking about it now, Ennis and Pleece’s 'True Faith' was probably a bit more of a solid read in this vein of things.

Haus of Mystery

09:26 / 13.08.04

Saviour 2: Pray Harder.

FinderWolf

13:30 / 13.08.04

Damn it, I want to see Millar's handling of Jesus, not some lame psyche-out twist ending. When Big Bad Jodie mentions that he and Jesus should have a talk someday about their overbearing fathers, I was like "That scene had better be in the sequel!!" (Millar is seriously considering a sequel to this)

Yeah, what is it with Millar's characters being gang raped by old men? Or just raped in general? Kinda twisted, for a lay minister modern Catholic. So Satan had to gang-rape Jodie an infinite amount of times for 7 years to make him really, reeeeaaallly evil? Bleh.

I would have liked some clarification as to what Jodie's girlfriend felt/tasted in his mouth when she kissed him. A forked tongue? Scaly tongue? Bad taste of too many tacos at lunch? What? (That moment was nice and startling, though, gotta give Millar credit there)

Haus of Mystery

14:02 / 13.08.04

There WERE some nice moments, don' get me wrong, but for someone who clearly has faith I wanted a more in-depth examination of the possibility of a modern day second-coming. This could have been a great series, if it had been a)longer than 3 issues
b)not just been an excuse for Millar to sucker-punch his readers with a 'twist' ending worthy of a Twilight Zone ending
c)not been written by an overworked hack who has continually failed to make good on the promise suggested by some of his earlier works (see: SILO in 2000ad, Saviour from Trident Press, his Swamp Thing run).

Not an entirely bad comic, just a big dissappointment and a waste of a potentially fascinating topic.

Haus of Mystery

14:03 / 13.08.04

Um, just wanted to clarify, the 'someone who clearly has faith' was Millar, not me. I ain't no God botherer!

FinderWolf

15:00 / 13.08.04

What was this Saviour series everyone keeps mentioning? What was it about? Details, please.

Haus of Mystery

15:44 / 13.08.04

Saviour was basically Chosen: Version 1 - it was published by Trident comics (a small UK publisher that also published St Swithins Day originally) in 1989. Five comics came out in all, comprising book 1 of, I think, a projected five book series. It was quite over the top in places, but had a grimy Britishness that carried it along. It was clearly influenced by the 'Watchmen' era of comics, as well as the 'realist' approach of other british comics of the time (ie. Crisis). It was Millar's first work (he was 19), and for all it's faults, it's a damn shame it never continued. And even more of a shame it transmogrified into this half baked version. Bah!

Mr Tricks

16:03 / 13.08.04

Sometime I wonder of Jodie might actually have been a second christ intercepted by saten and "corrupted."

Of course this would leave as many unanswered questions; that "kiss," his mom's attitude, etc.

Still fun in light of current events, and Peter Gross rocked it visually!

FinderWolf

17:00 / 13.08.04

Did Saviour end with a twist ending? Or was it really a real, genuine Jesus figure?

Yeah, Peter Gross' art was great, as was the watercolor coloring.

wicker woman

07:49 / 19.08.04

I simultaneously liked and was dissapointed by the ending. "The anti-christ is PRESIDENT! And he was RAPED! By SATAN! Who is also his literal father!" *not-shock* Because if there's anything that'll prepare you for being the anti-christ, it's being continuously raped for seven straight years.

I have to admit, I didn't really see this coming until the beginning of the final issue. The 'flashback' text had him coming off as a bit of a prick, and the people he helped didn't really seem to be getting much out of it. "Fatass Jess Caldwell", indeed. Millar seemed to really ramp up the swearing in this issue, too, as though one of the defining points of the antichrist/evil in general is that it involves a great degree of potty-mouth.

_Boboss

09:04 / 19.08.04

so, three issues and the best part of a year to tell a future shock. and millar's actually got faith. what if he was some pissy religio-baiting cunt like me or thee? how cheap would the ending have been then?

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