Graphic Novel Review: G.O.D.S. by Jonathan Hickman and Valerio Schiti

 So... let's start with the good side of this. It's pretty, the art is amazing and its coloured really nicely. The artists brought their A game and the character design is great. For the most part, the characters feel well written and there's a solid core to the storytelling. Wynn, our protagonist is the representative of "The Powers That Be" - or magic, and those are opposed to "The Natural Order Of Things", or Science. So far, so cliched, right? It's a hoary, too well ridden track, that has a well established history. Thankfully, what we receive in the stories doesn't really reflect this conflict too much and instead we get to read about a Babylon Event (basically a big scary thing that requires everybody unite and fight together, which is rather convenient). It also allows for Hickman to pick up some of his previous toys, the Black Swans, from before Secret Wars and play around with them a little more which is quite nice.

In all honesty though, it feels as if G.O.D.S. was a very ambitious experiment that failed. There's an element of "so what" to the stories and while its cool to see the more mystic and cosmic forces at play, nothing really feels like it actually matters. The Babylon Event in the first issue might as well not have happened for all the effect it has, and the revelation about the Inbetweener using Skinner Boxes to cook himself some mystical and scientific terrorists never seems to go anywhere. Or at least, it's not developed very far. Beyond that, with the introduction of Mia - a new magic user who at first is hoodwinked by the The Natural Order Of Things servants in such a way that she won't be able to access her full magical powers, the series feels muddied and as if it doesn't really know what it's doing because its trying to achieve too much. The issues that dip into the characters are nice, but they did make me feel as if this was meant to be a much bigger project, one curtailed by a lack of interest. I don't think its news at this point that most comics fans are nostalgia addicts, getting their issues for something to connect them with the way they felt as children. Something like G.O.D.S. isn't going to provide that because, like Kirby's Eternals in the late 70s, its an attempt to introduce a new element to a pre-existing mythos. Sadly, like Eternals too, the area of Marvel's universe its working in isn't one most readers care deeply about. 

In many ways, I think this idea might have worked better at DC, where the universe is more built around immense cosmic powers, and where through books like Sandman, we've had more narratives regarding their doings. Marvel has, largely, defined itself as having a more down to earth and less "woo" universe and so this sort of narrative isn't something that sits easily within the company's self defined arena. You need only consider how the "punishing angel/demon" style characters at each company - The Spectre and Ghost Rider - differ in terms of power level, with the Spectre more or less being so powerful DC only wheel him out when the situation is so dire they need a bigger than big gun in the story. In contrast Ghost Rider is usually a much lower power level character. I mention this split because I do feel it reflects how out of place G.O.D.S. is at Marvel. 

After the way that Hickman borrowed the idea for Moira McTaggart's mutant power from Claire North's The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, I spent half my time reading G.O.D.S. wondering if whatever components he'd assembled for the book's setting were just too much for him. There's no clear vision here - I'm torn between feeling like the concept needed a lot of diverse elements and that actually made things too busy and unclear. While I liked Wynn he felt like a bit of a John Constantine knock off and I found it quite hard to care about someone who's so old and so powerful.

The other characters are odd. The Centum feel cliched right down to the way they dress, and one of them wears a lab coat/priestly stole mix that's just odd. Dmitri the Science Boy at least has an interesting back story - one of the few we learn - but Hickman chooses to throw him away rather than explore his potential. At least a character in a superhero universe book not having got over the deaths of their parents feels on brand for the genre - even if from my jaded perspective it feels like the character becoming an orphan could have very easily been avoided by, I don't know, not sending both his cosmonaut parents up into space at the same time? Mia, our "normal" character is barely touched upon and simply gets thrown into the madness at the deep end, in a style that makes Hogwarts look like it has decent health and safety rules. 

To be honest these flights of fancy feel like pretty pointless and as if there's no real story here, just a mass of concepts looking for a home. There's a lot here that could have been amazing if the book had been properly structured and time given over to developing and expanding on the concepts.  I feel G.O.D.S. could have been a lot better if it had started from Mia's perspective and we'd seen everything from that perspective. The transition of a new magic user from the mundane world into the "backstage" one could have been fascinating. Its easy to look at the elements and see how things might have worked a little bit better had the writer exercised just a touch more patience and used a more organic structure. 

In conclusion, if you're curious or you're a hardcore Hickman fan, go buy it. It's an interesting experiment if nothing else. Otherwise, save your money and your time.