Alright Biggy’s fans, we have a special treat for you today! Calen wrote a review about the latest issue of God Is Dead and I’m gonna post it right here on our page! Some of you may know Calen as the handsome young man that runs the shop in my absence, but he’s also a religious studies major and all around goofball. So enjoy the first of many new weekly reviews from Biggy’s Comics. Obviously, SPOILERS!!! (Gods die… SHHHH!!!!) REVIEW: God Is Dead #5 by Calen It seems as every few months there is an independent book that comes out of nowhere and blows up. We’ve seen comics like The Walking Dead, Saga, and the Manhattan Projects emerge this way. The newest in this legacy is Jonathan Hickman’s God is Dead. Initially intended as a six issue mini-series, the popularity of the title has grown so much that Avatar has decided to make it an ongoing series (though Hickman will be handing it over to co-writer Mike Costa). God is Dead has been one of my favorite titles over the last few months. For those unfamiliar, the story revolves around the re-emergence of the gods from world mythology who return to take the world back as their own. The Greek, Norse, Egyptian, Aztec, and Hindu pantheons feature most prominently. The narrative follows two paths. The first of these narratives is that of the gods themselves and the wars that occur between the various pantheons. The second follows a group of humans who are trying to clone a god in order to battle these deities and reclaim the earth for humanity. I think God is Dead’s greatest appeal comes from the fact that it is not just a book on mythology. The human faction brings a strong sci-fi element to the story as well. The newest issue, #5, is particularly heavy on this. With wars raging, the humans have become desperate and begin using a “god serum” on themselves in hopes that it will turn them into entities powerful enough to defeat the remaining gods. The serum is successful and three of the humans become gods. It is unclear however, what is going to transpire next as this is where the issue ends. Typically, I tend to be a mainstream comic book fan. My reading list contains far more Marvel and DC books than independents. I am well aware that there is a major sub-set of readers who primarily read independent, non-super hero comics. From those of you who fall into this category, I am sure God is Dead will appeal to you. The feedback I have received from our “independent only” readers has been extremely positive. However, it’s the mainstream comic reader I’m appealing to now. Trust me, you are going to like this one too. Hickman knows what he is doing. I believe this title functioned as a side project for him. A way to get his creative energies out that did not use preexisting characters or universes. That is the inherent beauty of independent titles. Yet these characters are not completely new, in fact they predate Superman and Captain America by millennia. The mythological figures of Zeus, Thor, Shiva, and others are part of the very fabric of our society, making them inherently familiar. For those of you who have been reading God is Dead, issue 5 was what we were waiting for. Hickman finally gave us a vision of what we were looking for, a genetically engineered god. His choice to do this by transforming preexisting characters was an interesting one. As with every other issue thus far, the cliffhangers are painful. Just when given a tantalizing view of what is about to transpire, the issue ends. This, more than anything else, is a testament to the quality of the story in which Hickman has developed. With each issue, I only want more. So far, the first five issues have exceeded my expectation of what could be done with a story like this. I can only assume that issue six will continue this trend and cap off Hickman’s run of the series with as much intrigue as it begun.
Posted on: Sat, 18 Jan 2014 23:50:00 +0000
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