During my senior year of high school, I found myself at that library a lot. I went to an early college high school, taking college classes along with traditional high school courses, and had managed to have a large empty space of time in my schedule. One day, I found myself in a small, remote section of the library where the graphic novels were squished between the large art books and 'how to' guides. I had read most of the selections already, Watchmen, Blackest Night, and The Dark Knight Returns. Among the familiar books, one spine caught my eye. Punk Rock Jesus. That was enough for me to pull it off the shelve and peer inside the first pages. I was hooked.

The black and white, action filled panels were hypnotic and alluring to me. It looked different than anything I had read before. The first time I read that story, I was unsure of what he was supposed to be to the plot. Then, the story began to unfold and I realized I had in my possession a story about identity and individuality, something I had been familiar with other stories like Hellboy.

But something about Punk Rock Jesus was different. It was way to real to me. This story takes on religion and faith in a way no other comic or graphic novel I have read has done, which is something close my heart.The story is about a boy named Chris, the product of a Truman Show-esque reality program called J2. Seems tame enough, yes? But what sets this story apart is the star, Chris. See, Chris is more than just a child being filmed, he is the clone of perhaps the most famous person ever. Jesus Christ. He raised on camera, and taught the bible, literally raised to be the second coming. Chris ultimately, after growing up in the shadow of a camera filming his every living moment, and some personal tragedies, begins to resent his condition in life, and becomes not only a punker rocker like the title implies, but also an atheist.

Without spoiling the plot, the story undergoes a transformation. From the telling of a prisoner, trapped on an island, isolated from normal human contact and communication to the story of an activist who ends up hating the world and everything he was told he was, and becomes the embodiment of challenging the establishment.

Much like Sean Murphy's own personal story in the back on his atheism, Punk Rock Jesus is all about one thing, Self-liberation. While religion plays a major role in the story, the message is malleable across all sorts of topics. Thomas, Chris' bodyguard and one of his few friends, also faces a similar dilemma. Mostly told through flashbacks, Thomas is revealed to have once been a member of the IRA, and later in the story faces a crisis of identity, and must choose whether to remain under their influence or chose his own path in life.

Other characters, such as Dr. Epstein, Gwen, and Mr. Slate also face this issue as well in some form, albeit across multiple renditions and deal with it in a various and unique ways. This theme poses a simple question: why live in the shadow of something/someone else's expectation and be miserable when you can decide for yourself who you are in this world? Chris renounces his faith and the fact that he may be the biological clone of Jesus Christ, for the sake of being who he wants to be, who he thinks he should be. Noble. It speaks volumes to the constant, and very real, struggle between free thought and dogmas. Something, I have not really seen in other comics. Maybe it is just due to the setting of Murphy's story, or how he portrays the characters and gives them life, but regardless of the reason, this theme is there.

Sean Murphy's work crosses multiple genres and themes, but at the heart of this piece In his article , John Parker suggest Sean Murphy, "asks pretty much every question that could come up in such a scenario, both moral and practical." In retrospect, this story changed my life. Not because it changed who I was or who I am. It wasn't just the fact that it taught about self-liberation and fighting dogma, that's all thinks I heard in my philosophy classes. It was more than it being about being yourself, I was told that since I was little. It is extremely hard to put my finger on it, but I know that this book, this story, this masterpiece, in my opinion, was what made comic books mean something. Yes, I read Watchmen, I read Maus, I read The Dark Knight, I read Saga, and I also read almost everything with Mike Mignola's name on it, but as great and fantastic as all of those works are, this one, Punk Rock Jesus proved to me that Comics and graphic novels can be relevant to me as a reader, because I can relate to Chris in a way I never could anyone else in my real life. And I think, that is why I look at comics differently. Yes, can be entertaining, but they can also carry so much more than entertainment value. With that, I encourage you to go rent a copy, or buy one if you have not already read it, and please, share your thoughts.