Chronicles of Wormwood is a comic book that was written by Garth Ennis and was published in 2003. The drawing was done by Jacen Burrows while Andrew Dalhouse did the coloring. The comic book has a total of six parts. This is a book that has received praise and criticism in almost different ways from different literature critiques. For there to be an understanding of the nature of the book and the impact that it might have on the readers, there are three aspects that will be important. These three aspects are the plot, the themes, and art. The plot is always of high importance because it represents the main occurrences in literature work. To have an understanding of the plot of the book, this paper summarizes the story. Themes are always important in highlighting the main messages that are being communicated by a book. Given that Chronicles of Wormwood is a comic book, the artwork is important because it determines how well the book effectively communicates as a comic book.
The story is based on the main character whose name is Danny Wormwood. Danny Wormwood is the antichrist whose father is Satan. Danny’s best friend is the reincarnated Jesus who comes to witness the apocalypse. Apocalypse refers to the prophecy made in the Bible whereby the world faces complete destruction. Danny, as the antichrist, is supposed to play a major role in the apocalypse as he is supposed to bring trouble to the people of God and make life on the surface of earth unbearable for them (Ennis, Burrows & Dalhouse, 2007). The fact that the return of Jesus has already come true as it was prophesized by the Bible is an implication that Danny is supposed to be at the peak of destroying the world. However, the funny thing is that he does not even seem to be interested in playing the role that he is supposed to play in the apocalypse.
There are various actions that show that Danny is not interested in participating in the apocalypse. One of the reasons he is seen in his friendship with Jesus who was supposed to be the force of opposition in playing his role in the apocalypse. Instead of being the enemies that they were expected to be, another reason he is insistent on focusing on his television business which is in no way associated with the need for him to fulfill the prophesy. In fact, when there is a combined force from both heaven and hell for him to do what he was expected to do so that the Armageddon might come true, he is defiant insisting that it was not the right time for the Armageddon to come despite the fact that all the signs had shown that it was time for Armageddon. He also does not seem to be proud of his fate because he makes sure that his girlfriend does not get to know the reality of him being the antichrist.
Jesus does not seem to be focused on playing his role either. Due to damage of the brain, he is incapable of playing the role that he is supposed to play in the Armageddon. He gets a head injury when he becomes a victim of the brutality of the police when engaging in protests against the war in Iraq. Just like the first coming of Jesus, the second coming also involves him coming like a normal human being. Just like in his first coming, human beings are not able to identify him. This is probably the reason as to why he was a victim of police brutality. Nothing remains the same after the head injuries. Jesus completely forgets about the mission that brought him to earth and instead led a normal human life. He is incapable of performing the miracles that he was able to perform before he was involved in the police brutality incident. By the time he starts making a recovery from the head injury, he wishes he was dead. This is because he realizes that there is too much to do.
Jacko, the Australian Pope, is also another character that molds the message of the book. He is the exact opposite of what would be expected of a Pope. He goes against the vow of chastity and is involved in sexual intercourse with a nun. He does not really know that the nun is just a devil in disguise. In fact, the readers realize that the only qualification that Jacko had is not being black. Jacko’s selection as the post was because all the other candidates were black. Jacko’s eventual death is as a result of an infection of AIDS. Despite the fact that he sends one of his aids by the name Brother One to find Jesus so that he could get healed, he dies because Brother One fails to return.
The apocalypse seems to be the main theme of the story. This is a factor that can be attributed to by the fact that it shapes almost all the occurrences in the story. The story seems to be presented in an unexpected version of the apocalypse. The relationship between heaven and hell is brought out in this book. Both sides have the roles that they were initially meant to play. While the role of hell, through the Antichrist was to make sure that there was as much suffering as possible for humanity, the role of heaven, through Jesus was to make sure that humanity was delivered from the hands of the Antichrist. Ironically, this does not materialize because the representatives of both heaven and hell fail to do what they were supposed to do so that the apocalypse would come true. In fact, the forces that are supposed to make apocalypse come true are so adamant that they pressure Danny to make sure that there is no further delay of the apocalypse.
Defiance is the world that is used referring to bold disobedience or going against the expectations of the authority. Danny, who is the main character in this book shows signs of defiance throughout the book. Despite the fact that he was supposed to be the main catalyst of the apocalypse, he is a strong believer that human beings should be left alone so that they can decide on the course of their lives instead of there being spiritual interferences from heaven and hell. He makes it clear that he is not interested in the antichrist role by focusing his energy on making is his TV business work. According to this book, even when God and Satan join forces with the intent of making sure that he does what is expected of him, he remains defiant and makes his opinion on the apocalypse known to both God and Satan. Defiant is a common occurrence in the modern society, especially when it comes to children fulfilling the expectations of their parents. Defiance is also seen in the way that Jesus deviates from what he was initially intended to do during his second coming and instead involves in peace movements such as demonstration to bring an end to the war in Iraq. This is something that takes place before he had the head injury. Therefore, the defiance cannot be blamed on the head injury. Furthermore, his friendship with Danny can also be said to be an act of defiance because of the nature of the different roles that they were supposed to play in the apocalypse.
The relationship between Jesus and Danny is a perfect example of what friendship should be. Despite the fact that their fathers have been enemies for ages, Danny and Jesus still manage to be best friends. Under normal circumstances, Danny and Jesus would have been enemies because of the kind of relationship that their parents had in the past. They do many things together. It is also evident that one of the reasons as to why Danny does not want to be involved in the apocalypse is the implication of his involvement in Jesus’ life. In fact, Danny gets agitated when people make fun of the mental state of Jesus. This is seen during the incident when the bartender at the club made fun of Jesus’ mental state. Danny uses his powers to make sure that he regrets ever making fun of Jesus. This is a sign of pure friendship. True friends are always there to defend each other when their friends are unable to defend themselves. This is exactly what Danny does.
Racism is brought to light when it emerges that the only reason that Jacko became Pope was because the other candidates were black. The Catholic Church has often been in the limelight for having not had a black pope ever. This is a factor that has often raised questions about the legitimacy of the processes that are used in the selection of the pope. Garth seems to be highlighting the struggles that black members of the US society have gone through for ages. For some for the black people, being black is a factor of disqualification just as seen in the case of the candidates who were not able to be selected as pope in this book just because they were black. However, this is a notion that has been disapproved by some of the events in the history of the United States such as the election of the first black president in Barack Obama. Either way, this does not prove that racism is a thing of the past.
The book effectively uses art as a way of giving more details about the message that is being communicated by the story. This is something that is common with comic books and is what makes them different from other forms of literature. The involvement of by Jacen Burrows and Andrew Dalhouse seems to have made a huge difference in this book.
One of the ways in which art makes a difference in the story is the way in which they tell more about the traits of the characters. For instance, the drawing of Danny makes him seem like a noble middle-class man with no signs of ill intentions towards humanity. This is an image that perfectly matches his opinion on the apocalypse and the goals that he has. All he wants is to do well as a businessman through focusing on in the television business. Jacen Burrows and Andrew Dalhouse make sure that there is no contradiction between the character that Garth intended to portray and the images that they use for Danny. This is very important for the story because Danny is the main character.
The rest of the images are used for the rest of the characters to perfectly match their traits. For instance, Satan appears to be a fierce and scary looking person which serves in depicting his nature and the role that he was supposed to play in the apocalypse. God’s image is not as pleasant as many people would have expected. This is probably because his character is not as pleasant as many people would have expected according to this story.
One of the biggest shocks for anyone going through the pictures in this book would be the depiction of Jesus. Jesus is depicted as a young black man. This might be perhaps as a result of the need of creating the impression that the reincarnation of Jesus took place in the most unexpected way. Furthermore, it might also be an answer to the question that has always been asked about why Jesus was not of the minority races.
Given the details of Chronicles of Wormwood that have been discussed, there is a clear understanding the reason as to why the book is almost an equal measure of criticism and praise. One of the aspects of the book that might be disappointing to some of the readers is the language. On the other hand, the level of creativity and inclusion of appropriate art makes it a viable consideration for comic books lovers.