It's not easy being an Apostle of the Lord!
Judas: The Last Days is a 2015 graphic novel written by W. Maxwell Prince and illustrated by John Amor.
Two thousand years after he betrayed Messiah, Judas Iscariot is still alive, wandering a world he doesn’t recognize anymore. A world where the strangest of fictions have come true: monsters, immortals, gnome-librarians who monitor human history—they’re all real. And all Judas wants to do is kill himself and end his immortal life. So why can’t he? The story chronicles history’s preeminent biblical backstabber and his quest for suicide.
This work provides examples of:
- Aesop Collateral Damage: All of the disciples were supposedly cursed with immortality as punishment for Judas' betrayal. They handle it by coping in various ways, but it's implied they were not cursed but made immortal for the sake of being witnesses to Jesus' eventual return.
- Agent Peacock: In addition to being an oversexed hedonist and pimp, Matthew is a fearless fighter who has no problems slaying whole armies of monsters in stockings and skirts.
- Ass Shove: Matthew often carries weapons in his rectum in case of a fight and uses them to fight when confined.
- The Atoner: Judas is this, yearning to search for a way he can finally die as penance for his betrayal of Jesus Christ and dooming his fellow disciples to walk the Earth forever for his sins.
- Big Damn Heroes: After battling with addiction, James the Lesser decides to inject the Magic Heroin he'd been obsessing over into Paul which finally leads to his defeat.
- Broken Pedestal: Jesus was this for his disciples as a result of their immortality but Paul most of all. Paul and Jesus became intimate lovers after his resurrection and Jesus taught Paul the secret behind his various miracles which led Paul to firmly embrace and teach a philosophy of love. Unfortunately Jesus decided to leave after Paul created the first Bookkeeper Gnome and left Paul's friend Barnabus to die while Paul was left immortal, causing Paul to swear revenge.
- Clark's Third Law: Jesus as well as Paul both emphasize that their miraculous reality-bending abilities are strictly because of science, not magic or witchcraft, and are actually a series of Enlightenment Superpowers that allow one to change reality based on ideas. Jesus emphasized that all the bad things in the world are a result of fictive science: if good miracle occurs in the world, then a terrible anomaly must appear to offset that miracle. He regretfully admits that every miracle he performed for the good of the world created some unholy evil that would make the world more dangerous in turn.
- Deader than Dead: Paul becomes this after being injected with Magic Heroin, which is so potent it literally wipes the very notion of him from existence.
- Depraved Bisexual: Matthew of the Apostles is displayed as this trope, coping with his own immortality by becoming The Hedonist and exploring every sexual appetite available and searching for more. His first appearance with Judas is held while he's coordinating an orgy with creatures of all sexes as his harem. He also doubles as a pimp for demons and peddles courtesans of all kinds to any creature who can pay.
- Descent into Addiction: James the Lesser went this route due to his immortality, indulging in every narcotic and drug known to man in search of the ultimate high and becoming a depraved obese slob and Addled Addict in the process.
- Despair Event Horizon: Judas hit this during World War II, after being tortured by Nazis and being heartbroken that Jesus Christ didn't return to stop all the suffering. The suicide of his most recent girlfriend was what made him finally want to commit suicide.
- Evil Counterpart: Paul is this for Judas. Both are immortal disciples who had a special relationship with Jesus Christ (Paul being an ardent follower and Judas being hated as a traitor) who grew disenchanted with their lives, but while Judas attempted to live in solitude as a Inconspicuous Immortal and atone for his betrayal of Jesus through death, Paul grew to hate Jesus for leaving him, constantly vied for power and authority throughout the ages, and sought to destroy the world to spite Jesus and humanity.
- Great Big Library of Everything: The Registry serves as this trope, as a data collection center for every occurrence throughout history and time, guarded and edited by the Bookkeeper Gnomes who claim dominion over its contents.
- Humanoid Abomination: Paul becomes this trope the more he abuses the power of "The Word", with his own body altering itself in impossible ways to reflect his own madness.
- Jesus Was Way Cool: Even though he's shown to be an itinerant Cloud Cuckoolander who works In Mysterious Ways, Jesus is shown to be a humble, loving, always-forgiving, and polite man trying to make the world a better place in his own special way by instilling benevolent grace into existence and doesn't ascribe to any idea that he's perfect. He's the first to admit despite all his abilities, he's as flawed as anyone else.Jesus Christ: I'm just a single man with a little bit of charisma and a predilection for stirring the pot.
- Living Forever is No Big Deal: Many of the Apostles are implied to stand by this trope, with many engaging in fun past times, hobbies, or entirely new religions, and others being utterly miserable or suffering from boredom. All in all, only Judas has gone out of his way to attempt suicide.
- Merlin and Nimue: Jesus and Paul had this relationship in the past, with Jesus being the "Merlin" and Paul being the "Nimue". Naturally it did not end well for any involved.
- Nightmare Fetishist: Matthew admits to having a recurring dream of licking the wounds of Jesus Christ as he's nailed to the cross much to the disgust of Judas.
- President Evil: Paul of Tarsus is already established as this trope for the United States of America and planning to use Judas and his Reality Warping arts taught by Jesus to destroy humanity with its own dark ideas out of spite and rule as a God.
- Seen It All: Matthew, especially because of his business in the supernatural world. Even after seeing a menagerie of strange creatures conjured up by Paul, he nonchalantly admits he's seen stranger and proceeds to kick ass.
- Super-Toughness: In addition to being The Ageless, the immortal disciples are incredibly hard to damage. Even the most extreme injuries or attacks don't even make them bleed, and Matthew admitted during his past torture by Josef Mengele by the Nazis that he hadn't felt pain in ages.
- The Dog Was the Mastermind: It turns out James The Lesser's drug dealer Dr. Runeberg was actually Jesus Christ all along, still continuing his experiments to pass the secrets of the universe between people to make it a better place.
- Token Evil Teammate: James the Lesser for Judas and his friends. In addition to being a depraved drug addict, he's also a remorseless pedophile who attempted to rape two young girls that Judas befriended in the past For the Evulz and just to piss off Judas.
- Undying Warrior: All the main Apostles shown are presented as this trope, due to their immortal lives giving them plenty of time to brush up on combat skills and many such as Judas, Paul, and Matthew have been involved in more than a few wars. In the modern day, this amounts to even hapless immortals like Judas being a walking One-Man Army who can battle giant monsters without fear.
- Void Between the Worlds: Jesus actually dwells in this trope as "The Space Between Ideas" when he's not spending time in the regular world, often chatting with those who end up there by dreaming, dying, being sufficiently bored, or tripping on drugs.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Matthew. Even during his disciple days, he preferred female attire and now chooses skirts, wigs, and mascara in the modern day with many thinking he's a woman.
- Who Wants to Live Forever?: Judas certainly does not. After thousands of years wandering the world, seeing people continuously make the same mistakes, and enduring endless heartbreak, he becomes fed up with the monotony of his life and decides to finally quest for a way to end it. Not to mention the Apostles have mentioned they are not only unable to feel pain but are unable to get drunk as well.
