Just over a month ago, I reviewed Nick Marino and Daniel Arruda Massa’s Holy F*ck #1. Where I landed then was on a note of cautious anticipation, despite not finding the comic book all that entertaining. In spite of my review being arguably negative overall, the creators have kindly turned to Sacred & Sequential and to me for a second review. While I wish I could say that the second issue did more for me, but having read it, I can’t help but feel my earlier anticipation was premature.

In Holy F*ck #2, available today (March 4, 2015) Marino and Arruda Massa continue to trace the adventures of Jesus and the devil as they fight against the multi-pantheonic evil corporation Polydynamics and try to stop its plan to cause nuclear devastation to inspire humanity to once more have faith in them. In this issue, the nun – naturally named Maria – is kidnapped and the story ends in what seems to be the moment before the showdown that kicked off the first issue in medias res.

Not much in Holy F*ck #2 is different from the first one, and as such, many of my problems with the series remain. The dialogue is still stilted and the characters underdeveloped. Rather, what I find most rewarding about it are the details, the gags that lend the comic an air of absurdity. In one scene (available on the issue’s preview page), when Zeus and Isis have dinner together, much of the background is taken up by a giant nude portrait of the Greek god. Similarly, Satan’s order of “sparkling water and chocolate cupcakes” is amusing in its incongruity. And when he announces his plan to go after Polydynamics – “I say we trash these assholes before they can fuck us over!” – he pulls out a shotgun from underneath his polo shirt. (The joke, of course, being that the weapon is far too big to be hidden that way.)

All these gags might be fun when taken separately, but when read in connection with the whole and, especially, with a few new additions in this issue, so much of Holy F*ck #2 seems gratuitous. The above-quoted scene with Satan pulling out his shotgun, which also shows Jesus signal his agreement by cocking a gun of his own and saying “[l]et’s go kill some motherfuckin’ gods,” leads nowhere. When next we see the group, they are hanging around in Satan’s hideout, telling old stories. So, we get a cool action image, but the story is not furthered. And so it goes throughout.

The first page tells us that the story is “Inspired by God’s #1 bestseller, The Bible.” Already in issue one, this was a hard claim to swallow. There was so much cultural material mined from different sources and so little biblical connection for that to be even remotely convincing. But given the content, it’s a claim that again turns absurd and, to a point, a little amusing. However, the second issue broadens the orbit of cultural borrowing by leaps and bounds. Thus, we are treated to a scene in which Satan apparently has a magic mirror (a la Snow White). Which for some reason houses Delilah. Whose major purpose seems to be to gratuitously talk dirty to the devil.

And, again for no discernibly significant narrative reason, Satan has a UFO. (Why? “Some aliens abducted me and tried to probe my perfect anus… so I brutally murdered them.”) I couldn’t help but think of the 2007 Ghost Rider film here, in particular the “final ride” scene in which Sam Elliott’s character joins Nicolas Cage’s Ghost Rider just long enough to warrant adding “Ghost Riders in the Sky” (note the plural) to the soundtrack. Completely unnecessary, but it makes for a nice visual. And it is, as Jesus says, “so cool.”

Because of all this, Holy F*ck #2 seems scattershot, and the series seems almost directionless. It reads like a series of gags and “cool” moments tied together by a thin narrative that moves forward at too slow a pace. The inclusion of fairy tale and sci-fi elements distances the series from the putative religious satire base that it supposedly stands on. Indeed, so far there is really not a single character that couldn’t be exchanged for something else without changing the comic significantly, which begs the question: why Jesus and Satan? It would seem that the main purpose is provocation for provocation’s sake. Sure, it’s fun when Jesus swears and brandishes an automatic. And the series has style in spades. But, for me, it’s just not enough. The concept could be so much more.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Sacred & Sequential was provided with an advance copy of the issue for review.]