Miroslavljevo jevanđelje – apokrifna verzija

In this cult comic satire, Miroslav's Gospel, the oldest Cyrillic monument from 1186, gets a completely new, blasphemous and hilarious reinterpretation. Jesus is not a gentle savior, but a Balkan mangup, a bohemian and a provocateur who drinks brandy with the apostles, flirts with Mary Magdalene, curses the Pharisees and openly mocks the institution of the Church that is yet to be created.

Ćosić's text is a wild mixture of Old Slavic language, Belgrade asphalt, tavern philosophy and anarchist spirit. Hofbauer's drawings (black and white, rough, expressionistic) turn the holy book into an underground comic full of nudity, violence, wine and shameless laughter. The book is divided into "chapters" that parody gospel scenes: The Nativity in a stable becomes a peasant drinking party, Cana of Galilee - a wedding at which Jesus turns water into wine, The Crucifixion - a tavern showdown with the Romans and Pharisees, and The Resurrection - a hungover Sunday in a tavern.

"The Gospel of Miroslav - Apocryphal Version" is a sacrilege written with so much love and freedom that at the end the reader is not sure whether he has just read the greatest blasphemous book or the most honest gospel ever told in this region.