Small Gods #5 - A Review

Written by: Jason Rand
Penciled by: Juan E. Ferreyra
Inked by: Juan E. Ferreyra
Colored by: Eduardo Ferreyra
Lettered by: Jim Keplinger
Editor: Kirsten Simon
Publisher: Image Comics

I try to avoid reading previews as much as possible. Call me old-fashioned, but I like being surprised when I pick up a new book. And was I surprised this time! I had been expecting more adventures involving Owen Young, a cop who has visions of the future who also unwittingly discovers telepathic abilities that he cannot legally have and be allowed to keep his job.

The four issue opening arc of this title, Killing Grin, perfectly introduced us to the world of Small Gods; a world like ours, except that psychic powers are a scientifically recognized and heavily regulated force. Killing Grin also gave us a whole cast of interesting main and supporting characters. It was something of a shock then, to pick up this issue and find that while the amazing world Jason Rand has created is still here, the cast of characters has changed. And despite the fact that world-exploring titles are often high on concept but low on characterization, we get some amazing and memorable characters once again.

Robert Pope is a con-man with a gift. He can see flashes of the future seconds before they happen. He usually uses his talents at the poker table, where he can see his opponent’s hands before they are revealed. But his gifts also come in handy when his secret is ratted out to unhappy players and he’s forced to enter high-stakes fights for his life. Being able to see how a man is going to move to punch you is very useful too. Still, Robert quickly finds himself in over his head when he runs from a man before he has a chance to pull his badge and confirms his gift to a group of cops who want to use him for a mysterious job.

The issue, like all issues of Small Gods so far, concluded with a shorter comic. Whereas the last four issues gave us a four-part mini-comic, this time we are treated to a more humorous one-shot tale about a telekinetic cop writing up a report on his pursuit of a purse-snatcher.

As before, Ferreyra’s artwork is simply magnificent. The characters each have a distinct look to them and Ferreyra avoids the trap so many other artists fall into of drawing every character with the same jaw or the same hair. The greys used to color (in so far as greys can be called colors) this book are well-chosen and highlight the pencils and inks perfectly, creating images that seem closer to black-and-white photographs than comic-book artwork.

All in all, I’ve been surprised by every issue of this series so far; more so with this issue than any other. Still, the surprises have always been pleasant ones. And while I am not sure I can be truly surprised if I come to expect a surprise every time I read this book, I can be sure that I will always be given a pleasant read.

Small Gods #3 - A Review

Written by: Jason Rand
Penciled by: Juan E. Ferreyra
Inked by: Juan E. Ferreyra
Colored by: Juan E. Ferreyra
Lettered by: Jim Keplinger
Editor: Kirsten Simon
Publisher: Image Comics

It took me a while to get around to reviewing this book, as I’ve had to struggle to get copies of it from the shop I work at. And by the time I DID get a hold of it, the deadline for requesting to do a certain review had passed. Thankfully, I was given free reign to review whatever I wanted this week and was able to grab the last copy on Small Gods #3 on my lunch break. So now, I can finally tell you all about what is easily the best new title to come out this year.

Owen Young is a honest cop. He is also a psychic in a world where telepathic powers are recognized as real and heavily regulated by the government. Owen has the ability to see crimes before they happen; a useful power for a cop. Or rather it would be, if bureaucracy didn’t require him to take a telepathic lie-detector test to verify each of his visions as real while the clock is ticking. The law also prohibits him from arresting people before the fact, so Owen has to hope he can catch criminals in the act before anyone gets hurt.

Owen’s problems begin when, during a bank robbery bust, he is telepathically attacked by an unlicensed telepath. Owen is able to push back, being a latent telepath himself. Unfortunately, telepaths are not legally able to serve as cops. This is due to all the legal problems that arise with mind-readers being able to find out just the right questions to ask a suspect.

It matters little that Owen didn’t discover his powers, weak as they are, until he was already on the force and it will seriously jeopardize the whole department, to say nothing of Owen’s life, if the suspect is ever able to identify Owen. To that end, the entire department steps up to back-up Owen, with fellow officer Jodi officially replacing Owen as the arresting officer and Owen being sent on extended vacation until the whole situation blows over. Owen goes home, where his girlfriend leaves him, afraid that her love for him may have been telepathically implanted. That brings us to this issue, which opens as Owen’s partner John shows up on his doorstep and suggests that the only way they can get out of this is to arrange an accident for the would-be bank robber.

Rand’s premise for the world of this comic is nothing short of brilliant and guaranteed to be a hit among multiple-audiences. Fans of NYPD Blue and Law and Order will love this for the spot-on portrayal of police life with a twist. X-Men fans will enjoy the more realistic spin on how superpowers might be a source of discrimination even as they are utilized and exploited by the same system that fears them. The writing matches the inspired premise, with all the characters possessing distinct personalities and the dialogue sounding appropriate, with a sprinkling of profanity but nothing particularly gratuitous. (No one F-word for ever five words, here!)

The artwork is every bit the equal of the writing. Ferreyra’s style is not unlike that of Tony Harris, but not quite so dependent upon shadows. His faces are as distinct as Rand’s personalities and there is little danger of any characters being confused due to the artwork. The phrase “photo-realistic” is bandied about far too much by comic reviewers today, but I am at a loss as to how else I can describe the appearance of the artwork here. It is something unique unto itself, and nothing emphasizes that more than the credit on the first page where Ferreyra is listed as “Artist” and “Greys”. There is no color in the comic besides shades of grey and the grey’s are utilized expertly, making every page look as if it were captured by a black-and-white camera rather than a pencil. But penciled it is, and quite well!

Looking To The Stars: Mass O' Reviews

I got a lot of comics this past week and I’ve got a hankering to talk about them all. Since the exercise in brevity a few months ago was such a big hit, I’m trotting it out again. The rules are simple. I can use one paragraph with no more than four sentences to sum the book up completely.

Amazing Spider-Man #510

Oh My God, is the only way I can describe this issue. The good news is that it looks like Straczynski was serious about this story not involving clones. The bad news is that this could be JUST as bad if he can’t pull off the MAJOR revelation put forth in this issue. Do not reveal the stunning secret of the last page!

Final Score: 9 out of 10.

Army of Darkness: Ashes 2 Ashes #1

This book starts up right at the end of Army of Darkness (the original ending, not the alternate one), with Ash discovering that the potion that took him back to his time was off by a day. Now, with a chance to save the life of his girlfriend Linda, he is hauling Ash to the cabin from Evil Dead hoping he can get to her before the Deadites do. Cartoony as it should be in art and writing, this is a must-have for all fans of comedic horror. Hail to the King, baby!

Final Score: 8 out of 10.

Conan #6

I’ve always had a soft spot for the barbarian, no matter how goofy his adventures may have been towards the end of his Marvel Comics run or in the Conan The Adventurer Cartoon. But this new book is anything but goofy, treating Robert E. Howard’s greatest creation with a seriousness and single-mindedness worthy of Conan himself. Busiek’s writing is as top-notch as ever and Nord’s art sizzles on every page. Forget Ah-nold: the real hero is on the printed page.

Final Score: 9 out of 10.

Dork Tower #28

Slowly but surely we stumble towards resolution of the love triangle that has defined the plot of this book since its’ third year. Goth Gamer Grrl Gilly is moving to England and Matt, the ideal man for her, is miserable in his relationship with his gamer-hating girlfriend from Hell Kayleigh. To make matters worse, Igor just sent Kayleigh a copy of the comic Matt has been working on, whose heroine bears an amazing resemblance to a certain goth grrrrl. All this, and reasons why Call of Cthulhu Dark Ages is a totally different game from the modern-age Call of Cthulhu.

Final Score: 6.5 out of 10.

Fantastic Four #516

The least incarnation of the Frightful Four is defeated, as we knew any team featuring Hydro-Man as a prominent member would. And yet another one of Johnny Storm’s romances crashes and burns, no pun intended. A shame really, as The Wizard’s daughter Cole was quite an interesting character. Hopefully Mark Waid will see fit to return her in a later story.

Final Score: 7 out of 10.

Futurama #18

Time runs amok as this series based on the hit cartoon enters the second part of it’s first multi-issue storyline. Professor Farnsworth accidentally sent the entire population of Earth back to the days of the dinosaurs. The rescue effort isn’t going well, with a time vortex sending Fry to an issue of Weird War Tales, Leela to the days of Greek Mythology and Bender to a world where Robots, not witches, were the object of ire at the Salem Witch Trials. If you’re watching the endless reruns on Adult Swim and pining for the show’s cancellation, you should beam up a copy of this immediately.

Final Score: 7 out of 10.

Green Lantern #179

Ah, the cliché “two heroes fight over a misunderstanding” issue. It might seem like padding if Ron Marz didn’t write it so well. Beautifully illustrated by Luke Ross, the whole issue is filled with amazing images. In fact, I want a poster of the splash page with Kyle recharging his ring while standing on the Statue of Liberty.

Final Score: 8 out of 10.

Justice League: Another Nail #3

This book was a confusing mess, even for a guy like me who has a degree in DC Comics History. Everything DOES come together in the end of this issue, though the JLA really doesn’t DO much except stand around reacting to the works of about six other groups of people. This isn’t a book for the casual reader. It is a book for those of us who smile at the idea of Oliver Queen’s brain in the body of an Amazo Robot, using a makeshift bow to put down a giant space amoeba that is eating reality instead of saying “What the hell?”.

Final Score: 4.5 out of 10.

Small Gods #1

John Young is a cop who can see crimes before they happen but in a world where psychic powers are as heavily regulated as cars that power doesn’t really make his job any easier. Even after getting a telepath to verify and notarize his visions as real, they still have to catch the crook in the act to have any hope of putting them away. That’s the concept behind the world of Small Gods, where super powers are real and the lawyers have made everyone’s lives even more difficult. A great concept with wonderful writing and amazing photo-realistic art, this one is going on my pull list.

Final Score: 10 out of 10.

Spider-Man Unlimited #4

It seems like this title always has one really good story and one so-so or worse story. The so-so is “Love Withdrawal”, a ho-hum story of romance during a bank robbery. The good story, “The Old Ways”, centers upon a Native American doctor, who is inspired to change his life by a vision of Iktomi, the trickster spider, in the form of our favorite wall-crawler. I’m a sucker for any tale of trickster gods, but this one seems a worthy companion piece to JMS’s writings about Anansi in “Amazing Spider-Man”.

Final Score: 7 out of 10 overall, with “The Old Ways” getting 10 out of 10.

Tune in next week. Same Matt time. Same Matt website.