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THE CONFESSIONALby Chris McCay and Lee O'Connor
(£2.95 UK / $4.50 US,
Warpton Comics)
Reviewed by Henry ChamberlainCurrently at The Public Theater in New York is a production of Stephen Adly Guirgis's "The Last Days of Judas Iscariot," which places Judas on trial along with much of Christian belief. As
The New York Times reviewer notes, however: "...two people seated near me had fallen asleep in the second act." Luckily, there is more to this play, including the driving force of director Phillip Seymour Hoffman and actor Eric Bogosian as the Devil himself!
And speaking of the Devil, there is a comic book recently out entitled,
The Confessional, that tackles similar ground. Clearly, it is difficult enough for a well regarded playwright with a first rate cast to keep everyone interested in theological matters. But, where the Devil is concerned, no one is easily bored. And this comic is all about the Devil. The question is whether or not it can help itself from getting bogged down in rhetoric.
Determined as it is to have two characters basically philosophize, you would think it on shaky ground to hold your interest but it proves to be a page turner. Chris McCay's writing does not falter as he places believable dialogue in the mouths of the Devil and the priest. And Lee O'Connor's art helps maintain the right tempo with interesting expressive characters and backgrounds.
The premise of this comic is that the Devil is fed up with, well, being the Devil so he confronts a priest to accept his confession and release him of his burden. And so commences a debate between the two regarding the purpose of the Devil. The dialogue is generally serviceable but, more importantly, for this comic, it is believable which supports what can be a rather dry subject. Luckily, you do have the Devil, and Evil, and lightning bolts, and an overall satisfying story with a Neil Gaiman sort of twist.
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