Pastrami Comic Review: God Is Dead #1
Review by Nolan P. Smith-Pastrami Nation
Writers: Jonathan Hickman and Mike Costa
Artist: Di Amorim
Publisher: Avatar Press
Released: September 2013
Website: www.avatarpress.com
FOR MATURE READERS
God is dead.
That is a pretty shocking title, right? I didn’t quite know what to expect from this book: the cover was very secretive (at least the one I got): very iconic, with a lotus flower off center. Honestly, I picked it up for the stand out title name and the creator of the book: Jonathan Hickman. I am used to being surprised by this guy, and God is Dead was a visual gut punch.
Hickman, who now writes in the mighty Marvel manner on books like Avengers, hooked me long ago with The Nightly News, which was not your typical comic book in the slightest. God is Dead caught me off guard, and by the end of the book, I was thinking: how did I not know about this book?!?! What’s it about: mythology, plain and simple. Oh, and violence: loads of blood and gore.
So here is a spoiler alert for those that don’t want to know any more about the story: you have been warned!
The gods of mythologies across the globe are back in the modern day era, and when I say gods, I mean TONS of them. Various pantheons are represented here: Greek, Norse, Egypt, Hindu, Aztec: so many gods are represented here, it’s pretty amazing. So, back to the story, the gods are back, and they have turned humanity upside down in the process. Violence rules the streets, with a small resistance being formed by a brain trust protected by a gun toting punker chick, hoping to stop this madness.
God is Dead #1 is a bloody good start to what could be a mythological riot of a comic book. I wish I could be impartial, but for a mythology buff like myself, I instantly loved the book once I saw it for what it was. Hickman does what he does best: he wrote a story that planted seeds that are just waiting to bloom. Di Amorim, best known for his work on Lady Death, created some iconic yet classic looks for the gods. At the end of the day, I am glad I took a chance on this book, because it was a blast from beginning to end. I have to give God is Dead #1 a 5 out of FIVE: it’s mythology meets Mortal Kombat. Yeah, that kind of awesome.