Andrew Newton reviews Judas: The Last Days…
Two thousand years after he betrayed Messiah, Judas Iscariot is still alive, wandering a world he doesn’t recognize. A world where the strangest of fictions have come true: monsters, immortals, gnome-librarians who monitor human history—they’re all real. And all Judas wants to do is kill himself. So why can’t he? The most transcendent story of the year is here in this all-new original graphic novel chronicling history’s preeminent backstabber and his quest for suicide.
Judas: The Last Days is a new graphic novel from IDW that follows Judas Iscariot who was cursed by his actions on the night of the last supper. His curse being immortality until Jesus chooses to release him.
Having lived for 2000 years, Judas (or Judah as he is decided to call himself) is tired of living and is desperate to end it all but first is in need of a means to bypass the whole immortality issue. Judas is not the only immortal and soon the story brings along other familiar Bible characters all of which have the same curse.
Written by W. Maxwell Prince, this story could be considered quite controversial. His choice of characters taken from the Bible and their less than heavenly behaviours all seem to be written for the sake of causing controversy but despite this, it is a brilliantly written story.
John Amor’s artwork is very good although on some occasions seems more light-hearted than the story would suggest but on the whole it complements Prince’s storyline very well. It becomes more marvellous the darker the storyline becomes.
The Judas Chronicles is certainly not for everyone and is even likely to offend some readers with its bizarre take on Christian characters but it is an interesting and unique idea and one that deserves to be given a chance. Give it a try and I’m sure you will enjoy.
Check out our preview of Judas: The Last Days here.
Andrew Newton
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszFJHnpNzqHh6gswQ0Srpi5E&feature=player_embedded&v=qqtW2LRPtQY
Originally published February 11, 2015. Updated January 18, 2020.
