DC Comics plans to release a new comic book in March that depicts Jesus of Nazareth as having failed so badly the first time he came to earth that God the Father sends him back to learn how to do it right from a superhero by sharing a two-bedroom apartment with him.
“The conceit is that God was so upset with Jesus’s performance the first time he came to Earth, since he was arrested so soon and crucified shortly after, that he has kept him locked-up since then. God then sees this superhero on Earth a few thousand years later and says ‘that’s what I wanted for you!’” author Mark Russell said in an August 2018 interview, according to BleedingCool.com, a web site that covers comic books.
The Jesus character in the comic book isn’t up to speed on what’s going on among human beings on earth because “God was so upset with the fact that he got crucified the last time that he wouldn’t even let him look through the celestial keyhole at Earth to keep up,” Russell told BleedingCool.com.
The author’s description contradicts Christianity, which teaches that Jesus is the second person of the Holy Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who together are one God all-powerful and all-knowing.
About 109,000 people have signed an online petition asking DC Comics not to release the comic book, which calls it “outrageous and blasphemous.”
“Can you imagine the media and political uproar if DC Comics was altering and poking fun at the story of Muhammad… or Buddha?” the petition states. “This blasphemous content should not be tolerated. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. His story should not be ridiculed for the sake of selling comic books.”
The scheduled release date is March 6, 2019, which is Ash Wednesday, the day the Christian penitential season of Lent begins. The comic book is currently slated for six issues, according to the author.
A spokesman for DC Comics could not immediately be reached for comment on Friday by New Boston Post.
