FIRST ISSUE: GOD COMPLEX

FIRST ISSUES: An admirable first issue must, above all else, contain such matter as will compel a reader to buy the second issue. At the same time, while provoking curiosity through mysteriousness, a good first issue must avoid being so mysterious as to be cryptic or incomprehensible. And, thirdly, it should introduce the title’s principals, preferably in a way that makes us care about them. Fourth, a first issue should include a complete “episode” — that is, something should happen, a crisis of some kind, which is resolved by the end of the issue, without, at the same time, detracting from the cliffhanger aspect of the effort that will compel us to buy the next issue.

God in Comics: Part One

Ever since the arrival of the conceit that superheroes live in a real world in which their superpowers cause as many problems as benefits — since Frank Miller’s Dark Knight and Alan Moore’s Watchmen and Mark Waid’s various takes on the proposition — the idea of superhero as god has been lurking in the shadows.

In God Complex, Michael Avon Oeming and Daniel Berman with John Broglia on pictures test the idea with the novel notion that the old Greek gods, being immortal, are still around, but these days, they are board members in a modern Olympian undertaking, the Kronos Corporation, that started the industrial revolution in the 19^th century. The old gods are now the gods of modern industry. One of their number, Apollo — going by the name of “Paul” — resigns to because he wants to be a mortal. He wanders off into the world of ordinary humans and becomes a dishwasher in a Greek diner, where he yearns for Sophia, the toothsome daughter of the diner’s owner, old George. But when a local cabal of hoods shows up to extort protection money from the old guy, Paul gets massively irritated and throws them all out—bodily, head over tukus—revealing that he is no everyday mortal. His impulsive albeit commendable action produces two reactions, both aimed at removing him: the local mob wants to rub him out because he starts interferring with their business, and the Kronos board wants him back. So Paul is now a target, threatened from two directions at once. As a first issue, this one offers all the requisite ingredients — the incident in the diner with Paul throwing the bad guys out on the street supplying the completed episode, the threats pumping up cliffhanger suspense, and Paul’s behavior (and his infatuation with Sophia) making him a likeable hero. Broglia’s drawings are in the simplicity manner of Powers with a little more detailing — wholly adequate and pleasant to watch. A novelty in the issue is supplied by Broglia’s treatment of page layout: facing pages are deployed as a single double-wide page with panels running across the gutter. The maneuver endows individual panels with more room for depicting explosive action as we can see here on the pages showing Paul throwing the thugs out of the diner. And the device works for less rambunctious sequences, too. The problem, easily overcome but mildly annoying for an artist, is that key visual elements must be kept out of the gutter: you don’t want to put a character’s face in the middle of a panel that’s going to span the gutter. Over-all, a good first issue.