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If you have pets, you probably know about the chip that you can have implanted in their skin so that an electronic system can track them if they should get lost. Did that give you pause when you first heard about it? Did you think, even for a moment, that if they can do it to animals, they could do it to you? If so, Testament is a comic book you’ll dig.

Douglas Rushkoff, a media theorist and writer in many different forms, teams with Liam Sharp on this ambitious new title from DC/Vertigo. The covers of early issues reveal a bit about Rushkoff: quotes of praise from Grant Morrison and Tim Leary, the fact that he is the winner of a Marshall McLuhan award (if these names are recognizable, you are suitably impressed). Liam Sharp is also a renaissance man with a publishing company, an imposing comic related resume, and a band. Name something creative, he’s probably done it. Kudos to whomever at Vertigo had the idea to pair these two.

Testament doesn’t have a straightforward plot; there are a whole lot of things going on and that complexity increases with every issue. At the offset, we meet Jake Stern, a college kid with connected parents, who doesn’t have a chip implanted in his arm at the beginning of the story, even though the government is now requiring everyone to be tagged. This is because he was born in France (a country that doesn’t require the chip at birth) and not because his father is the creator of said machinery (even though he is). In the near future, where the action begins in Testament, all children born in the States are automatically implanted with an RFID, or Radio Frequency Identification. It seems that Jake has fallen in with a revolutionary crowd about the same time that Alan, his father, is told that he must put a chip in his son. These little buggers are tricky—although Alan thought he was creating them for tracking only, there is the possibility that something more nefarious is going on. Jake and his friends already suspect this and more, being enlightened cyber-bohemians.

Oh, yes, and then there’s Abraham of Ur.

Abraham, like Alan, has been asked to fulfill a duty by possibly harming his son. A powerful deity asks Abraham to sacrifice his boy, his most beloved son, Isaac. Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Surely you have, in some form…it’s straight from the Bible.

Testament isn’t a comic book, it’s a commitment. The first five issues, collected into a handy trade paperback released on July 26th, read more like a sequential art thesis statement than anything else. Rushkoff’s varying experience (cultural critic, author of books on cyber land, youth, and religion) combines to give fresh perspective on a timely issue: the world of the Bible is happening right now. The plot line of the book itself is juxtaposed with Bible stories (including characters with suspiciously familiar looking faces) to illuminate common archetypes and themes. It’s as if someone gave Joseph Campbell hash and dropped him off in the year 2010.

Don’t let the seemingly dense premise stop you from picking up this book—Sharp’s art ties together anything Rushkoff leaves hanging. The only real complaint I’ve heard about this book, from either friends or reviewers, is the one I just mentioned: “This is too academic.” Well, I think it’s high time for more of that in comic form. It’s time to evolve. You’re supposed to make connections yourself and Rushkoff trusts his readers to be intelligent enough to do so or go back and do their research. Trust in an audience is a thing mostly lost with writers these days, especially comic writers, and I appreciate the fact that someone isn’t assuming his readers are complete idiots. (Also, we’re in the modern world, if you don’t understand something…Wikipedia.) It’s best to read the first five issues at the same time; the more you read, the more you like. The book takes a little time to unfold for you and if you’re jumpy or impatient, just kick back and stick with it.

In fact, in Issue 1, Jake’s professor makes a statement that easily breaks down the point of the Bible/modern world mirror technique. Speaking of Freud, the professor says, “[His] work went well beyond the personality of the individual, to the totems and taboos we use to create a narrative through which we all, collectively, interpret the world around us.” Fittingly, Sharp has drawn the professor to resemble Rushkoff himself.

Rushkoff wisely knows what choir he’s preaching to, as witnessed in “On the Ledge,” a Vertigo feature at the end of Issue 1. He also explains quite clearly what he’s doing to accommodate readers who may be confused or find the narrative obtuse. There are some insider wink-winks, for the eagle-eyed, such as the panel with the RFID. (The government is keeping a close eye on Genesis P-orridge—who doesn’t seem to have a chip—and Morrison, G., Devlin, J., Sharp, L., and Grant, J.)

Sharp’s artwork is spot-on: the characters’ personalities are complimented by their appearances and they all look like real people you might actually run into around your city. Expressions are vivid and telling, as are the backgrounds and the lovely cross-hatching work (which could have very well turned out contrived). It looks like Rushkoff and Sharp are the perfect match for this particular project, something that Rushkoff speaks about in our exclusive interview.

There are the requisite hot comic girls, but they are portrayed in a way that is neither abrasive nor demeaning. Miriam and Dinah, the two girls closest to Jake, are both assertive and in control of their sexuality. The goddess Astarte, always portrayed topless, displays her sexual power in context without slipping into excess. Jamie Grant’s coloring brings the artwork to life even more.

My only beef is the covers. So far, they haven’t captured me and they don’t betray the rich content and artwork inside.

While I finish this review, the local Fox affiliate is reminding me that Israel and Lebanon are erupting. Testament reminds us that religion is not set in stone, but a tool we can use to decipher (or hack, if you’re more comfortable with that term) reality and identify archetypes to further elucidate our understanding of the world.

by Kristin Blank

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