Testament #4

[4DGlasses]

This one hit it home for me. The society in Testament could be reality in 10 years time if fat-headed zealotry wins out over compromise and dialogue.

The art was incredible. The panel structure and the depictions of the unseen entities behind the scenes.

This has the potential to be incredible. The climatic two-page spread at the end was beautifully rendered.

Rushkoff and Sharpe are an incredible team. I'm on board for the long-haul.

[dude_abides]

in it for the long haul, i'll second that.

i mean, come on, what other book offers volkswagen-sized mechanical death ants with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads?

so kudos to rushkoff and sharp, dr. evil would be proud.

[MarkSullivan]

I'm sticking around too, but mainly for the contemporary part of the story. I continue to find the Biblical War of the Gods parallels to be strained, at best. I get it, but it's still not adding anything to the story for me. I'm still waiting for an "Aha!" moment when the story cuts from one to the other.

[gorthon616]

i picked it up because i thought the cover to the 2nd issue was cool, but overall, i can't say i enjoy it very much, and it's a drop.

i do agree the panel structure is interesting however.

but i'm curious, is the appeal to the story the "This one hit it home for me. The society in Testament could be reality in 10 years time if fat-headed zealotry wins out over compromise and dialogue" aspect of it (which i disagree with, but that's an aside)?

Or even barring that do you consider a good story?

i can see both appeals (while neither being mine) i'm just curious where the heart of the buzz around the title centers on.

[Tony Starkz]

I was a very firm supporter of this book,but ended up dropping it.There was just something about it,I found myself forcing to like it after a while.And with the price of comics today and all,something had to give.

[hydro123456]

I'm going to stick it out for awhile, but I'm starting to lose interest. I just don't feel what's going on in the modern story is very interesting at this point, despite how relevent it may be.

[dude_abides]

all attempts at witty banter aside, let me say that i agree with many of the criticisms already made of this title. the biblical references are nothing to take seriously, and the contemporary 1984 narrative is something we've seen before, elsewhere, and in better form. so i guess if you're reading it for either of these two reasons (which is certainly how this title was advertised) you'll likely be disappointed.

so if not this, what is the appeal?

for me, it is somewhere in the wild confluence of these two ideas. it is in the preposterous premise that angry and forgotten, old testament deities are possessing pseudo-punk teenagers in a technological and totalitarian dystopia . it's yahweh meets philip k. dick. it's like some crazy hallucination. in fact, i'm not sure what it is, and that is precisely why i like it. it keeps me on my toes: a rare thing, and for my money that's worth $2.99.

[MarkSullivan]

for me, it is somewhere in the wild confluence of these two ideas. it is in the preposterous premise that angry and forgotten, old testament deities are possessing pseudo-punk teenagers in a technological and totalitarian dystopia . it's yahweh meets philip k. dick. it's like some crazy hallucination. in fact, i'm not sure what it is, and that is precisely why i like it. it keeps me on my toes: a rare thing, and for my money that's worth $2.99.
Good point. I guess that potential intrigues me, too. If the role of the deities really kicks in, this could be something quite new. In the meantime, it's oddball enough to be interesting.

[filthysize]

for me, it is somewhere in the wild confluence of these two ideas. it is in the preposterous premise that angry and forgotten, old testament deities are possessing pseudo-punk teenagers in a technological and totalitarian dystopia . it's yahweh meets philip k. dick. it's like some crazy hallucination. in fact, i'm not sure what it is, and that is precisely why i like it. it keeps me on my toes: a rare thing, and for my money that's worth $2.99.

Indeed. An Orwellian story like this by itself wouldn't be enough to captivate me. The inclusion of the Bibical deities messing about, however, makes it interesting. I don't even see it as a "weak parrarel". It's more of like a "What if the Old Testament repeats itself with futuristic technology?". I liked the first issue, but I'm glad I stuck around, because I think it's getting better and better.

This book gave me the same feeling I got when I first started reading "Invisibles" way back when.

[drinkblatzbeer]

This one hit it home for me. The society in Testament could be reality in 10 years time if fat-headed zealotry wins out over compromise and dialogue.


man...oh man...

i dropped this book with this issue...
it was going nowhere and turned out to be a weak sense on what i assumed reading the previews before the first issue of what the book would be...

as far as the 10 year statement...
shit...just like 1984, brave new world, on a newer front V for Vendetta...

listen...these are all stories...works of fiction...by writers...for amusement and entertainment...

none of them reflect our world...
in some akward small sense, maybe...but to really break them down to relate to society...
come on...

[4DGlasses]

man...oh man...

i dropped this book with this issue...
it was going nowhere and turned out to be a weak sense on what i assumed reading the previews before the first issue of what the book would be...

as far as the 10 year statement...
shit...just like 1984, brave new world, on a newer front V for Vendetta...

listen...these are all stories...works of fiction...by writers...for amusement and entertainment...

none of them reflect our world...
in some akward small sense, maybe...but to really break them down to relate to society...
come on...

:rolleyes: Have another blatz and relax. You don't have to agree with me.

Don't pretend that the parallels to current society are THAT far off. Rushkoff's "World Reserve Minister" may become reality, seeing as how we see the seed planted with the EU and Euro currency.

And for those that don't follow this monthly, it might be better to buy the trade. Vertigo books seem to be best suited to the TPB format.

[drinkblatzbeer]

no, they are...

and it's that ridiculousness that gets me riled up...

anyways, it's also funny how stuff like that, which is all ficiton gets placed on the value of sociological relfection and is supposed to be accepted as such...

yet, for instance, the da vinci code, another book of fiction (though based on the past not future), which does have the validity of those theories behind it, gets bashed when anyone tries to even remotely tie it in to reality...

and no, i'm not anywhere near religious but have read and studied quite a bit on biblical times, which is what brought me to Testament in the first place...

though, like i've said before, if i would have known it was rushkoff i may have not checked it out, or waited til said trade...

[filthysize]

Well, I don't accept fiction as truth, but some of the things in Testament
is eerily similar to real life. Like they talk about the microchip tags originally being used on military personnels and then expanded to a mandatory tagging for civilians.

My friend is in the army and he showed me how his military ID card has that very same GPS chip in it that tracks you wherever you go. It's really not that far fetched to think that someday the government would order the DMV to put similar chips in our driver's license.... Not that I care anyway. The government can watch me take a shit for all I care.

[captain gloves]

all attempts at witty banter aside, let me say that i agree with many of the criticisms already made of this title. the biblical references are nothing to take seriously, and the contemporary 1984 narrative is something we've seen before, elsewhere, and in better form. so i guess if you're reading it for either of these two reasons (which is certainly how this title was advertised) you'll likely be disappointed.

so if not this, what is the appeal?

for me, it is somewhere in the wild confluence of these two ideas. it is in the preposterous premise that angry and forgotten, old testament deities are possessing pseudo-punk teenagers in a technological and totalitarian dystopia . it's yahweh meets philip k. dick. it's like some crazy hallucination. in fact, i'm not sure what it is, and that is precisely why i like it. it keeps me on my toes: a rare thing, and for my money that's worth $2.99.

my mother forced me to read the bible when i was a young child. i remember thinking, "well, david vs. goliath all right, but do you know what would make it even better? robots!"
i stand by my statement to this day.

[gorthon616]

for me, it is somewhere in the wild confluence of these two ideas. it is in the preposterous premise that angry and forgotten, old testament deities are possessing pseudo-punk teenagers in a technological and totalitarian dystopia . it's yahweh meets philip k. dick. it's like some crazy hallucination. in fact, i'm not sure what it is, and that is precisely why i like it. it keeps me on my toes: a rare thing, and for my money that's worth $2.99.

I could buy that rationale. But to my opinion the book takes itself waaayy to serious to look at it that way. For me, it's not like watching Flash Gordon and enjoying the nuttiness of it all, but rather reading a paper on history/politics where the writer was in, like you said, some sort of "crazy hallucination." It still might be entertaining on a certain level, but the distaste I get from the seriousness of the book and how people take it (referring more to the accolades that get printed on the cover than anyone or fans in general) easily surpass that.