Testament (comics)
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Testament is a comic book written by Douglas Rushkoff with art and cover by Liam Sharp, first published in December 2005. It tells two stories, drawing comparison between a near future in which grad student Jake Stern and his conscientious objector friends fight a new RFID-based universal draft by attempting to access the collective unconscious through an experimental shared experience sensory deprivation tank and a Biblical narrative based on Torah, various Jewish and Christian apocrypha and elements of other wolrd mythologies.
Contents |
[edit] About the Series
[edit] Story Arcs
- Abraham of Ur: Issues #1-5
- West of Eden: Issues #6-7
- Down to Egypt: Issues #8-10
- Shit Happens: The Book of Job: Issue #11
- Trip Reset: The Rape of Dinah: Issue #12
- Babel: Issues #13-16
[edit] Characters
There are two stories being told, one in the biblical historical past, the other in the near future.
Biblical characters:
- Abraham, patriarch of the Israelite religion
- Isaac, Abraham's son, whom he is called on to sacrifice
- Sarah, Abraham's wife
- Moloch, Phoenician god of the sacrifice of young children, here a deity representing the malevolent aspects of the Abrahamic God
- Astarte, Semitic goddess of fertility, sexuality, and war
- Melchizedek Biblical character who appeared to Abraham, here a deity representing the merciful Abrahamic God
Near future characters:
- Jake Stern, graduate student caught in the middle of the conflict over a near future National RFID Trace system
- Alan Stern, Jake's father, a researcher at Brookhaven National Laboratory (Center For Functional Nanomaterials)
- Amos, leader of Jake's rebel friends at the Temple
- Greco, who makes propaganda for the Temple
- Dinah, Jake's underage friend who makes potions for the Temple
- other unnamed Temple resident who acts as doorman and wears a "Juan Kerr" shirt
- Miriam, Jake's ex-girlfriend and fellow grad student, dedicated to changing the system using above the board methods
- Alan's colleague Dr. Green, who helped develop the RFID system, originally intended to trace soldiers in the field
[edit] Plot summaries
[edit] Collected Editions
| # | Title | ISBN | Release date | Collected material |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Testament: Akedah | ISBN 1-4012-10632 | July 26, 2006 | Testament #1–5. |
| 2 | Testament: West of Eden | ISBN 1-4012-12018 | January 17, 2007 | Testament #6-12 |
[edit] See also
Biblical: Abraham, Isaac, Sarah, Moloch, Astarte, Melchizedek, Mount Moriah, the people of Sodom, Ur, Akedah, Anakim
Near Future: RFID recall system, Transparency Act, Brookhaven National Laboratory Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Douglas Rushkoff, totem, taboo, cultural icons, reality filter, archetypes, Jung, collective unconscious, genetic trace, psy-ops, R.F.I.D. Trace, Genesis P-Orridge, Grant Morrison / J. Devlin / Liam Sharp / J. Grant, sacrifice, code, logarithmic inversion, heed the call, increase capacity resistance, the temple, networks, propaganda, potion, resonant, virtual reality game, ayahuasca, external stimuli, sensory deprivation tank, mikvah, prophecy, uplinking, Juan Kerr
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=22099#2
- http://www.popimage.com/content/testament2005.html
- http://www.popimage.com/content/testamentpreview2005.html
- http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=5891
- http://www.newsarama.com/SDCC05/DC/Vertigo/SDCCTestament.html
- http://www.dccomics.com/comics/?cm=4584
