Mother Knows Best In ‘American Jesus: Revelation #3’ Advance Review

After a rather horrific first issue depicting the depravity that Satanists will revel in to get their way, American Jesus: Revelation #3 by Mark Millar and Peter Gross stands in very bold contrast to that debut issue. Indeed, this issue wraps up a near twenty year saga of good versus evil, Heaven versus Hell with a heartfelt, heart-warming finale. Definitley not your average Millarworld comic in tone and the conclusion it depicts. A comic book that is and very optimistic take on The Omen and one that delivers a message of faith and motherly love that you may never have expected here, or in many Millar scripted comics, for that matter. Nurture versus nature, with the latter winning, and the reader left somewhat stunned by such a positive message from Millar and company.

Millar may well have delivered a series, up until now, that isn’t too dissimilar to his trademark gross-out, black humour, but here he strikes a very different note that will leave even the most cold-hearted comic book fan with a warm glow. There is hope for us all, even if the world we live in looks like it is heading to a Biblical apocalypse. 

Lucifer’s son and American President, Jodie, stands in opposition to the offspring of God, as prophesied, but it would seem prophecies, like rules, are there to be broken. And all thanks to the love a mother can show her child. The power of how our mothers – the parent we will always have an unbreakable bond with – cannot, should not, be underestimated. And, I’ll freely admit, having lost my own mother some ten odd years ago, it really resonated with this self-confessed cold-hearted comic book reader. That is the power this wonderful medium can sometimes stir in you. 

The back and forth between Jodie and Catalina is eye-opening as the tension gives way to a new hope for humanity and a conclusion that is surprising. It may well have taken The Omen film series as its influences, but it has the pure heart of the likes of film like Forest Gump fuelling this highly satisfactory conclusion. And I think Gross’ no-nonsense art, with a helping hand from Tomm Coker, does well to not only depict this rather visually stripped back showdown but also to allow the message of this series to flourish. 

Millar and the whole team behind this endeavour can rest well knowing they have produced something somewhat profound and optimistic in an otherwise oft-times gloriously pessimistic universe where the likes of Nemesis, Albany Moonstone and Jupiter’s Legacy’s Brainwave thrive. 

American Jesus: Revelation #3 is out Wednesday 25th January from Image Comics