Jesus

Few figures in the long history of comics carry the cultural weight of Jesus, who made a remarkable debut all the way back in 1921 — squarely in the Platinum Age — courtesy of creator Gus Mager in Life #2043. Over a span stretching nearly a century to 2017, this character has surfaced across a fascinatingly eclectic range of titles, from the politically charged pages of New Masses and the underground provocations of Yummy Fur to the irreverent Marvel playground of Howard the Duck, painting a picture of a character who has meant very different things to very different storytellers across the decades. Published under the Worker's Party of America banner, Jesus keeps genuinely extraordinary company on the page — sharing issues with God, Moses, Mary, Joseph, and even Bruce Wayne — a roster that speaks volumes about the wildly varied contexts in which this character has been deployed. With 43 catalogued appearances across nearly a hundred years of comics history, Jesus is one of those rare figures whose presence in the medium reflects the full sweep of what comics have dared to explore.