Let me start off this review to just gloat about how much I loved this comic. The whole series was a creepy thrill ride. But even more so, it told a complete story about the man upstairs. It showed God being angry which is so different from what God is portrayed as. He is either a figure-head that is never physically seen but somehow shows himself through actions or is seen and is the almighty God that we have come to know. Well now God is pissed at the humans for being so pathetic. He wants to rid the world of these humans. At first, the comic is just a story about his anger, but then when the rest of the Trinity shows up, you can see what the comic’s true intentions are. Plus let’s not forget about how much I have loved the art in this comic. It does everything right with its gorgeous pictures and colorful world. I fell in love with it from issue #1 and even more so in the closing. The heavenly images created between the Trinity showed a connection within them, within the human race, and within the reader. So it is really no surprise that Clive Barker’s Next Testament would end well, but just how well was this series going to end? Perfectly. I couldn’t have asked for a better ending if I wanted one. Now I don’t know if others will agree because maybe it got too religious for their taste, but if you wanted something that didn’t deal with religion why pick up a comic whose main star is God? See from the beginning the audience had to know that faith would play the ultimate role, so again it brings me back to my original opinion; the ending was brilliant. It was subtle but made an impact on the reader that can’t be put into words.
Christ the Reconciler and the Holy Spirit have come down to stop God and all his wickedness. Ridding the Earth of humans clearly seems wrong, but to him it is his life’s goal. The humans have not worshipped him as he thought they would. But Christ and Holy Spirit know something that God could never understand and we finally hear the Holy Spirit talk. I loved how these characters didn’t have much to say at the beginning, but now still with only a few words can sum up the reason for existence and still keep the faith.
Tristan and Elspeth aren’t seen much when the action is happening. But they can see what is happening. Tristan may never know what his father did for the human race, but I think he has learned to cope with that. In fact, I think Tristan in retrospect gave up on his father before any of this happened. Tristan’s story wasn’t about his father, but about Elspeth and the pure love that these two hold for each other. It is something special.
As far as the last couple of pages go, I do have one spoiler that I needed to discuss, so either skip over this part or read the comic and come back.
The comic ends with Tristan and Elspeth and I won’t tell you exactly how their story ends, but instead what I want to comment on is how Tristan looks at the end. His hair is different, his face is almost ghostly, the silhouette picture could mirror another character, and the last pictures seen of him show these rainbow colors. All this wrapped up only makes me think of God. Now I am not saying that Tristan is God, but I think a lot is being said with these final pages. You can judge it for yourself, because it can be taken some different ways or not even noticed. It does however comment on the fact of how connected everything was in this story. So again, just a great way to end this comic through and through. It still amazes me how quick this series went but the impact it had. Next Testament will always tell that great story I can keep coming back to.
Score: 5/5
Writers: Clive Barker and Mark Miller Artist: Haemi Jang Publisher: BOOM! Studios Price: $3.99 Release Date: 8/13/14 Format: Mini-Series; Print/Digital