Marvel's G.O.D.S. explores concepts more than it does plot.
But what a storyline summary fails to adequately portray—that the series is a wonderful tool for worldbuilding. Jonathan Hickman has complete license to investigate whatever he chooses, and the narrative sometimes seems less like a conventional one than it does an opportunity to simply arrange all his cool ideas on a page. The series is bursting with set pieces and audacious ideas, whether it's the Black Swans' clinic in issue #5 or Aiko's sacrificial trip in #6. As they delve deeply into many personalities and settings, most of the problems seem to be rather self-contained.
Hickman, as he always does, also returns to old themes and beats throughout the narrative, which is always a selling feature for readers of his. Apart from bringing back the previously mentioned Black Swans, co-created by Hickman during his New Avengers run, the series also reflects another Hickman novel focused on organizations and people whose jobs and lives immediately coincide. Wyn is also a classic Hickman protagonist—a single man whose choices have a significant effect on the planet—who learns that his relationships with those he loves come first among all things.
G.O.D.S. has unbounded creativity, a beautiful thing.
Ultimately, G.o.d.s. is an uncommon occurrence in popular Big Two comics: a massively ambitious swing unconcerned with its very telling complexity or off-putting nature. Without the restrictions commonly imposed on superhero comics, this is an example of a creative team given the freedom to investigate topics and people they find intriguing. Though it's all the better for it, it's not quite a classic superhero story. Fingers crossed therefore that the rumored follow-up to G.O.D.S. is indeed in the works and that this team is given the space to keep narrating the Marvel story they want.
Marvel Comics is now selling G.o.d.s. #1-8; a collected book will be out August 6.
G.O.D.S. Combines Relationship Drama, Sci-Fi, Fantasy.
Tom Brevoort, the series editor, has said the book combines Sandman with Saga, and the analogy is fitting. Like Sandman, the show presents a broad view of a mythology orbiting a more recognizable universe with a plot hopping around time and space. Like Saga, it is both a tale of a partnership and a world subjecting that connection to stress testing. Even as their worlds try to drive Wyn (an avatar of The-Powers-That-Be) and Aiko (a member of The-Natural-Order-Of-Things) apart, the glue holding the series together is their primary relationship.
Neil Gaiman wrote Sandman; Brian K. Vaugn created Saga and Fiona Staples drew it.
Not Every Inquiry in G.O.D.S. Gets a Response
One obvious flaw in the series as it exists is that it is obviously an incomplete tale. From the enigmatic Black Swan message to the very meaning of the series title, several subplots remain unresolved as the show closes on a cliffhanger, even if it is easy to predict what option is taken. Even the apparent series primary narrative, the fight with the In-Betweener, seems resolved between #7 and the far future of #8. It begs the issue of whether something else is approaching and is both fascinating and frustrating in equal measure.
Hickman, for his part, remarks directly on discontent in G.O.D.S. #8. In the issue Wyn loses the memory of decades he spent under In-Betweener's torture. Still, Wyn admits to being depersonalized from this past sans memories once he finds it. This reminds me of Hickman's analysis of how the dystopian last issue treats the entire run. The events that transpired in the meantime were not depicted explicitly, hence readers are deprived of the experience of their influence. Thus, a lot of the weight of G.O.D.S. rests on the possibility for a follow-up or relaunch suggested by the letter page of issue #8.
G.O.D.S. is a Spectacular Showcase for Both Its Colourist and Penciler.
Not less important for the success of the series is artist Valerio Schiti. While Schiti has helmed art responsibilities on several Marvel events, G.O.D.S. might simply be his best performance yet. Master of character design, Schiti not only creates every new character but also redesigns Steve Ditko's famous abstract entities, transforming Marvel's cosmic underbenezzles into an eldritch nightmare. That Schiti's characters are so beautiful emphasizes the inhumanity of the aliens invading this planet. His work exhibits a great deal of simultaneous beauty and terror, and this book will be valuable for commercial paperback purchase.
Reminiscent of his work on the Hickman-written House of X/Powers of X in 2019, Colorist Marte Gracia is likewise remarkably consistent as always. Gracia deserves particular praise for his work on G.O.D.S. #7, which draws on an almost monochrome black, white, and red palette for an amazing Soviet flashback. Whether it's somber and dark for Eldritch concerns, uncomfortably stark white for the Black Swans' clinic, or colorful beyond measure in cosmic events, the book's use of color is always deliberate. It celebrates Schiti in its own right and enhances her already outstanding work.
Is Marvel's Cosmos-Shaking G.O.D.S. Worth Checking Out? Series Review
Marvel's G.O.D.S. is among the most audacious shows it has ever produced, and as the last issue is currently under publication, it's worth going over the book overall. Examining the whole scope of Marvel's cosmic realm, the miniseries is an amazing accomplishment in both artistry and script. Though it teases readers with secrets still to be fully revealed and finishes with a promise of more to come, it continuously throwing fresh ideas at the wall.
G.O.D.S. is absolutely a book readers should check whether they have any curiosity in writer Jonathan Hickman, artist Valerio Schiti, or Marvel's magical and cosmic side.
