Chronicles of Wormwood #1
Avatar Press
Writer: Garth Ennis
Artist/Cover: Jacen Burrows

The Antichrist is among us, and he's neither ruling the world from a mountain of blood and skulls nor working at that Burger King around the corner where it takes 25 minutes to get an order of fries. Instead, he has abandoned his destiny, forsaken his father, and instead uses his powers to run a cable television empire, drink beer with a brain damaged Jesus, and bugger Joan of Arc. He also has a talking rabbit. This is Garth Ennis' vision of the End Of Days, and while it's not strictly according to scripture, it's just as unwholesome, and far more fun.

 
Danny Wormwood runs HBO. Or at least, HBO in five years, when the public's lust for more adult programming will lead cable right into the realm of televised executions, where it belongs. He's based in New York, with his wonderful girlfriend and a foul-mouthed rabbit, living a life relatively free from the vice and sin one might expect from the Antichrist, save the occasional dalliance with a wandering saint. But the shadow of his destiny looms over him perpetually, and his father, who appears to be Tim Curry from Legend, is not pleased about his son's path in life. Few fathers are, so that's no surprise, but I suppose fewer still are capable of melting the fat from your flesh with a single smoldering look. The first issue introduces the characters with all of Ennis' trademark profanity, blasphemy, and dry British disdain. The dialogue is fast-paced and laced with references to other entries in the Antichrist oeuvre, and Ennis is familiar enough with the medium that he plots and paces the issue perfectly, hitting the right beats at the right time, and putting his trademark anal sex scenes exactly where they belong. Immensely entertaining, inventive, and surreal in just the right places, Chronicles of Wormwood is showing all the signs of being as well-written as the first few issues of Ennis' Preacher.

One wouldn't necessarily expect the upbeat, light-hearted quality of Jacen Burrows' artwork to mesh well with a story about the son of the Devil, but it's that contrast that makes it work. Ennis is certainly taking the piss out of one's expectations of an apocalyptic Antichrist story, and the pencils definitely support that approach. Burrows makes fine use of light colors and white sections, completely the opposite of what, say, Mike Mignola or Frank Miller might do with the story. It's refreshing and unusual, and coupled with Ennis' writing, the art makes the end of the world fun again. Just the way it should be.

Rating: 8 on 10

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