Sacrament

Sacrament #1-5

by Peter Milligan, Marcelo Frusín (Illustrator)

Provisional cover.

The Exorcist meets Alien in this sci-fi/horror story. In the year 3000, Mankind abandoned Earth and fled into outer space. Now, a disgraced priest, called into action to perform an exorcism on a remote space colony, is about to discover that no matter how far you run, you can't escape your demons, and the Devil is, in fact, real

Genres: Horror, Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Comic Book, Religion

128 pages, Paperback

Published March 7, 2023

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Peter Milligan is a British writer, best known for his work on X-Force / X-Statix, the X-Men, & the Vertigo series Human Target. He is also a scriptwriter.

He has been writing comics for some time and he has somewhat of a reputation for writing material that is highly outlandish, bizarre and/or absurd.

His highest profile projects to date include a run on X-Men, and his X-Force revamp that relaunched as X-Statix.

Many of Milligan's best works have been from DC Vertigo. These include: The Extremist (4 issues with artist Ted McKeever) The Minx (8 issues with artist Sean Phillips) Face (Prestige one-shot with artist Duncan Fegredo) The Eaters (Prestige one-shot with artist Dean Ormston) Vertigo Pop London (4 issues with artist Philip Bond) Enigma (8 issues with artist Duncan Fegredo) and Girl (3 issues with artist Duncan Fegredo).

Series:
* Human Target
* Greek Street
* X-Force / X-Statix

Reviews

[Scott Rhee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Peter Milligan's graphic novel "Sacrament" was pretty darn okay. It's basically "Alien" meets "Exorcist", and if you don't believe me, it's probably written in one of the blurbs on the back of the paperback version. Everything about this graphic novel is pretty standard issue, absolutely nothing new or original: Priest in the future having a crisis of faith is called in by the government to a planet where weird shit is happening and some guy seems to be possessed by an alien demon. Oh, and the priest's hot assistant nun finds out the guy she works with has secretly been harboring lustful thoughts about her. Shocker! He's a guy who took a vow of chastity and has to work with a hot nun! Jesus, people are dumb.

If there was absolutely nothing else laying around, this would be okay to read. Don't go seeking it out, though.

[Drew Canole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another AWA published title written by Peter Milligan. I've read a few of these now, AWA is a fairly new American independent publisher that seems to like these darker adult fantasy stories.

Jason X took the Friday the 13th franchise to space. And now Milligan takes the Exorcist franchise into space! Basically, that's the premise. It's 3000AD, Mankind has explored a few planets and banned religion. We follow an outlaw priest who gets captured but then asked to perform an exorcism. He's already dealing with his weakening faith, but now has to deal with this levitating crucified man with a demon in him!

It's pretty standard comicbook stuff. The artwork is fine, not great. The story moves at a good pace but doesn't do anything you don't expect.

There's a point where the (very attractive) nun gets upset the priest (around her age too) has had lustful thoughts about her... to the point where she wants to abandon her faith and get lobotomized. It's a bit silly.

[Oscar · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Exorcist in space.

[Mirnes Alispahić · Rating 3 out of 5]

One would think that in year 2999. religion has become a relic of old times. God and Devil. That Good versus Evil fight from the dawn of time should be just a fairy tale for children in that age, unless you're living in the Warhammer 40K universe. But Milligan plays with that trope and makes The Exorcist in far future. Simple story. A priest who lost his faith, more of a sinner than a saint. His young assistant, sister Rais. And a Devil himself. In a world where religion is banned and science cures everything, there are still thing unexplained to man. Possession is one of them. Even though authorities don't believe it's possession, spymaster decides to give a chance to the fallen priest to exorcise the demon.
It's a decent shot at this topic. Somewhat lacking, drawing is not the best and it's minimalistic. Not great, not terrible.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This was pretty solid. The year is 2999 and humans have left earth and set up colonies among different planets. They have also left religion behind and anyone caught practicing religion or attending mass are thrown in jail and get the “faith” part of their brain burned out. We follow father Vass who is still secretly going around holding mass anyway. However, he seems to be just going through the motions as he has been losing his faith. His assistant, Rais is still full of faith however. Someone gets possessed by a demon and after their scientific approach doesn’t work and they see people get their heads spun around by this possessed person, they reluctantly bring in father Vass thinking this may possibly be a demon possession. You get to see Vass get taken through the mud so the speak, and slowly gain his faith back as he battles the demon possessing this person. Solid art and a pretty cool spin on exorcist type stories.

[Michael J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

"In space, no one can hear you pray "
Peter Milligan could have set this story in any timeline and it would still have been a good psychological thriller. However, by setting this in the far future it has even more impact.
The year is 2999 and mankind has abandoned Earth and settled on other worlds. Religion has been outlawed and seen "as a dangerous relic from mankind's Earth-bound past" as Milligan describes it in his afterword. Science is seen as the solution to all problems. Yet, religion still prevails and practitioners conduct services in secret and clergy often risk imprisonment and/or death to bring the faith to the dwindling masses. But, is the need for organized religion the only thing that settlers brought with them from Earth? Might they bring along other demons?
Into this world strides a tentative Father Vass, a Roman Catholic priest unsure of his faith and his ability to perform his priestly functions, and his devoted novice Sister Rais (whom he secretly lusts for). In Vass' past is an incident that troubles him continually, when he failed as a second to an older priest performing an exorcism and was disgraced by his actions.
When the "wardens" interrupt a service and come for Vass, he fears they will remove the portion of his brain that supports his faith. But, there is a different reason for his capture. Professor Czajka is an expert on long-dead alien civilizations. When he comes down with a mysterious ailment, wounds and bloody scars appear on his body, and he levitates in an inverted unconscious state while ritual-like murders occur on a settled planet. A government official wants Vass to perform an exorcism on Czajka, since all the efforts of science to cure and revive him have failed.
This is a powerful story about faith, theology, the search for meaning, and human needs and desires. Milligan has a penchant for deep exploration of the psychological make-up of his characters, and the premise of SACRAMENT provides a perfect channel for his efforts. It seems the final solution might be clear-cut - - - as in the devil either exists or he doesn't - - - and Milligan's ending is satisfying and appropriate. The art by Marcelo Frusin is full of expressive facial close-ups of the characters and brings sufficient creepiness and horror when the story requires it.

[47Time · Rating 4 out of 5]

The humans have left Earth behind to colonize other planets. They have mostly left their faith behind as well. The few followers left attend now-illegal religious services carried out in hidden areas by men like Father Vass. Instead of wafer and wine, they receive Transubstantiation which acts not unlike a drug on them - Vass himself is addicted to it. The punishment is severe for the faithful - work camps, neurosurgery. Vass considers an end to his activities, because his faith is already gone.

At the same time, the government that has abolished religion on planet Cal IV is investigating a series of murders with religious connotations. The spymaster Marlov has his men arrest Vass, but instead of taking him to prison, he is consulted on the murders. Is it an alien intelligence or a demonic possession?

An archeologist named Czajka is the newest victim of this strange occurance. Vass is brought in because of his experience with exorcism. In reality he only carried out one exorcism. And badly. The priest he was with died.

Marlov is superseded by Relish who begins an investigation by purely scientific means. Vass believes it leads to a planet-wide storm and the population having nightmares and exhibiting strange behavior. Though Relish fears that the population will find reason to rekindle their faith in God, Vass is soon allowed to begin his exorcism. He asks for his novice Rais, who was also imprisoned, to join him.

Czajka's voice sounds demonic and speaks of events only Vass knows. He has sinned in the past, by deed and thought. In fact, he has improper thoughts about Rais still. She still has faith in him, but his morale is low. She asks that he ordain her, so they can fight the demon together. After attempting it alone, she gets possessed. The demon forces her to tempt Vass. He would give in, but cares too much for her innocence and resists. For the first time he calls his target a demon and manages to cast it out of Rais. She remembers his moment of lusting for her and demands to be taken away, back to the penal colony.

The success he had with exorcising Rais comes from Vass's return to faith. Still, he is not strong enough to stand up to the demon. Rais returns, freed by Marlov. She allows the demon to pass into her body. Vass is that much more motivated to defeat the demon. It happens days later, after he admits to himself that he is solely at fault for the sins of his past.

Though the exorcism was a success, Vass and Rais are forced to sign statements saying that Relish's appoach cured Czajka. Vass and Rais return to their secret meetings with the faithful, ever dodging the authorities to carry out the will of God.

[Rick Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peter Milligan wrote many of my childhood favorites like his lengthy runs on X-Statix and Shade, the Changing Man, alongside classic Vertigo stories like Enigma. But of late, most of Milligan's output has felt a bit disposable to me. AWA'S Sacrament was the closest I've felt like a return to form for Milligan, and particularly in the early issues.

Sacrament is essentially William Friedkin's The Exorcist in space. Years from now, humans have colonized planets due to the inhabitable conditions on Earth. While religion has mostly been diminished and even criminalized in certain systems, some vestiges persist. Our main character is a semi-disillusioned priest who is called into performing an exorcism in a remote colony, and has to endure his own personal demons. The story itself has some interesting concepts at play. The demonic possession is never clearly established as being of a conceptual Biblical construct or an alien deity. The main characters are also fairly well fleshed out for a miniseries. And while the themes of introspection into the validity of religion in such a postmodern society is somewhat established, my biggest issue lies in the inability to really dig deep into this. It is unclear if Sacrament is celebrating religious fervor and demonizing atheism, which looms a pretty large gloom over the series. This lack of clarity did bother me.

The artwork by Marcelo Frusín was quite well done. The body horror aspects and the sci-fi designs were effective at setting the tone and atmosphere of the series. There were some nice coloring choices throughout as well.

Overall, a passable comic that does just enough good for me to like it, but not enough for me to give a strong recommendation of this one way or another.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Space exorcist. pretty cool ideas here

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

I thought this was excellent...until the ending. The ending wasn't bad, but it was underwhelming. The art was great, and story was great as well. The Exorcist in space describes this perfectly, and it really did work for me. But after a nice build up, things sorta just fizzle.

I still liked this one a lot, but with a better ending it would have really exceptional.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

The final battle should have been bigger, grander.

[Christopher John · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unreadable

Laughably silly, derivative, lazy, clumsy, bigoted, and small - this is Blatty's The Exorcist with the sexism turned up to 11.

Skip this one, even if you're a sucker for Sci fi horror comics. You can find better just about anywhere.

[Tetsu Kamoshima · Rating 5 out of 5]

it’s good

I enjoyed it. Seriously I hate having to write when all I want to say is that it’s a decent read

[Nora · Rating 2 out of 5]

muh

Hated how it focused on his lust especially towards his beautiful assistant. The story felt empty and went no where, left me with more questions

[Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a bit of a sucker for angels vs demons type stories (hi there, Diablo), and I suppose that's what drew me to this short series. I enjoyed it - it's an exorcism/faith story set in the distant future in which religion has been completely pushed to the fringes of society. I enjoyed the world building and would have liked to have seen more. But the focus is tight on the protagonists; a priest and acolyte. One grizzled, troubled with doubt and guilt from past sins, the other full of naive faith and trust. Beyond their personal struggles, there are only glimpses of the larger society in which they operate. The art isn't bad; there's not a lot of action, but everything is clear and easy to follow. In all - not bad! I would read more.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this and purchased it to read after reading the first few pages online. The premise is really cool and Milligan starts out by setting up a lot of interesting pieces. Unfortunately, by the end, it turns into just another exorcism story - even the cool space elements are meh by the end. Milligan doesn’t even spend a lot of time exploring on his own idea of “no matter where humans go, we will bring demons with us.” It honestly just turns into the main character feeling guilty he has lusty thoughts and feels like reading a Christian tract.

The art is incredible though!! It’s worth reading just to see the art!! Everywhere that Milligan failed in storytelling, Frusin came through with art, colors and design! If only the story could match the high quality art.

[kesseljunkie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and Original but Falls Slightly Flat

The story is very interesting and often quite satisfying. The art is terrific, and the layouts in particular are free of clutter with a clear sense of place.

The challenge is with the expected aspects of a large part of the story. In short, there are no real surprises to it and, despite it being well told and structured, it feels like there are better chances it could have taken than the ones chosen.

What will bring me back for any future installments is the respectful treatment of faith. It's noticeably absent in today's comics environment and so this story was very welcome from that perspective.

If you're a comics fan, you'll dig it.

[jedioffsidetrap · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice mash-up of exorcism & sci-fi. Does it pretty well, not straying into trite generalized Christianity—author may even be Christian? In a universe where religion is illegal, a priest who’s lost his faith tries to mentor a young pretty novice & faces something alien that possesses a person. Especially the “transub” device used to bless people that he uses addictive on himself. Clever.

[Christian Ebetino · Rating 2 out of 5]

The concept and world building are the stars of this show. Kinda wishy washy with the consistencies amongst the characters but the vibes are right. Not bad, not great.

[Riccardo Ball · Rating 4 out of 5]

Has a real Alien feel to it but drop in a demon instead of an Alien plus renegade exorcists. Was fun

[Rob Schamberger · Rating 3 out of 5]

An exorcism…in SPAAAAACE!

[Alberto · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

[Roo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lots of potential. Unfortunately this plays things very safe and turns out quite bland.

[Shawn DaRosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Exorcist in space basically with a lot of sexual themes from the main charecter: a space priest.

[Mr Douglas Jarvis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A ok if not original exorcism story set in space to give it something different which may have worked better if they had done more with that

[Aaron Kapner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!

Would love to see more adventures of Vass and Rais combating supernatural demonic entities throughout the universe! Enjoyed this one!

[Alex Sarll]

The Exorcist - in space! Except that The Exorcist was good. Gregg Hurwitz's blurb, repeated on both front and back covers, insists "Milligan and Frusin are at the tops of their games" here, and to be fair Frusin's art is effective, tortured faces recalling Richard Corben as they wrestle with guilt and damnation. But the notion that this is comparable to the quality of work Peter Milligan used to turn out on the regular is laughable. On page 3, the priest is already asking "Look at me. How am I supposed to cure anyone? A man who can't even cure himself", and the rest of the book demonstrates a similarly Marenghi attitude to subtext. The human diaspora of the year 2999 is a generic dystopia of polluted industrial worlds and soulless towers for the elite, and yes, if humanity even makes it offworld that's probably about right, but in fiction it's nonetheless appallingly unimaginative. Religion is outlawed for all the damage it did back on Earth, except apparently we're trying to cosy up to faith-based media here because it turns out that was a bad thing! OK, Father Vass is assailed by doubts, and lusts of the flesh - but only lusts for women of legal age, so it seems this outlaw Catholic Church is far less of a danger than the one still operating in the open in our own time, itself unmolested despite the same not being true of its younger parishioners. Even the notion that clerical celibacy is still compulsory despite the Church having dropped so many of its other hang-ups feels iffy - with a female Pope and a genderless god, why have they retained this particular stricture that's caused so much trouble except to provide a plot element for Sacrament? There is one vaguely interesting notion - given we already know a religious experience can be simulated by electromagnetic stimulation of the brain, how might that ultimately be incorporated into worship? - but that's mostly squandered in a rote addiction subplot, meaning all we're left with is platitudes about how wherever you go, there you are. Even the demonic swearing doesn't attain the heights of Friedkin's masterpiece - is the intervening millennium really so barren of developments in obscenity?

[Christian · Rating 3 out of 5]

[2.5]
A fairly standard exorcist story. Gripping enough to keep the interest throughout. Art was below average

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so fun. It's definitely what it says on the tin--Aliens + The Exorcist, but as usual with Milligan, just really well executed. And Marcelo Frusin's art works really well here.

[Václav Urbánek · Rating 3 out of 5]

V dystopický budoucnosti, kde vesmíru vládnou ateisti, musí kněz, kterej navíc aktuálně sám zápasí s krizí víry, obrážet bohoslužby na nejrůznějších koloniích „na černo“. Když ho ale vláda konečně chytí, tak místo aby ho zavřeli, ukážou mu případ posednutí ďáblem, kterej nedokážou vědecky absolutně nijak vysvětlit, a dožadujou se po něm vykonání exorcismu.

Tohle je zápletka hned prvního čísla Sacramentu, která mě úplně posadila na prdel a nemoh sem se dočkat pokračování. Problém ale je, že tohle je zároveň to jediný zajímavý, co celej komiks ve výsledku nabízí. Sacrament má výbornej elevator pitch, ale po prvním čísle okamžitě ztratí momentum a zbylý čtyři kapitoly se plouží od ničeho k ničemu, jen aby to celý vyšumělo jako vlhkej prd v průvanu.

Hrozná škoda.