Comic Book Review: Jersey Gods #1

I have realized that I focus mostly only on DC and Marvel comics. So, I have decided that for 2009 I am going to make a concerted effort to try and mix in some reviews for comic books from the various other companies like Image, Darkhorse, Boom, Dynamite, etc. One Image title that caught my eye last week was Jersey Gods #1. I love Jack Kirby and also am a fan of the New Gods. Therefore, I figured I would give Jersey Gods #1 a try. I am not familiar with either Glen Brunswick or Dan McDaid. I am always excited to check out new talent so let’s go ahead and do this review.

Creative Team
Writer: Glen Brunswick
Artist: Dan McDaid

Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: We begin with Zoe driving to her apartment in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Zoe thinks about how much she hates her job. It is Christmas and Zoe thinks about how the holidays usually end up in heartbreak for her. She reviews the list of guys who have dumped her on the various holidays. Zoe changes through several outfits until she finds one that she likes for her date tonight. Of course, it is the first outfit that she tried on that she settles on.

Zoe then hops back in her car and drives off to pick up her current boyfriend, Emerson. Zoe thinks how Emerson is different from all of the other guys. Zoe thinks how Emerson is definitely his own man but is willing to take Zoe’s direction. Zoe picks up Emerson and then they drive to the mall.

We cut to the two of them shopping for Christmas gifts. We see Zoe telling Emerson to try on this ridiculous looking Christmas sweater. Zoe exclaims that Emerson looks great in it and that he should wear it to the party tonight. Emerson loses his temper and says that he cannot do this any longer and that Zoe is trying to mold him into something he is not. Emerson then storms off.

Zoe is crushed and thinks that once again she will have no date to the Christmas party and that her mom will think that she is a lesbian. Again. We then cut to deep space near the god planet of Neboron. We see Barock and Helius on the scene trying to stop some asteroids that are causing problems in the area.

During their mission, Helius talks about how he wants to go partying in Cumulus after they are finished here. Evidently, Barock does not like Cumulus (which is a city of gods in the sky above the god planet Neboron) because the people there (Orbiters) are two-faced and corrupt and think that they are superior to everyone else.

The two heroes succeed in dealing with the asteroids. Helius exclaims that it is time to go get drunk at the clubs in Cumulus. Barock responds that he will do drinking on land among the Walkers, who are their people. Helius yammers on about some girl he is in love with. Barock responds that a real soldier does not have time for love. That love is a colossal stupidity. Helius responds that there was a time when Barock did not feel that way. Barock shoots Helius an angry look. Helius replies “Sorry.”

We slide back to the Cherry Hill Mall in New Jersey. Zoe is sitting there feeling bad for herself. A guy playing his guitar for money in the mall begins to irritate her. Zoe storms over and offers him twenty bucks if he will stop playing. The guys quips that he makes two hundred bucks a night playing.

Suddenly, there is a huge explosion and a large villain named Minog is on the scene. Minog spits out some cheesy dialogue about how the gods are here and that the humans are going to die. Minog thinks about how he hopes his dialogue was okay. Minog then thinks about how much he hates his job.

We flashback to Minog being summoned to the Orbiters Ruling Chamber. Deltus, the leader of the Orbiters, says that Minog is going to help them go down the road to another war with the Walkers. Deltus orders Minog to Earth and for Minog to do what he does best which is to destroy. Minog spits that Deltus used him as a pawn in the Great War. Minog says that he sees no reason for him to play the bad seed in Deltus’ new skirmish.

Deltus replies that Barock is patrolling the sector near Earth and that he will responds to Minog’s rampage. Deltus says that this is Minog’s chance to get revenge on Barock.

We cut back to Cherry Hill Mall with Minog on a rampage and killing police officers. Minog thinks how he was a general during the Great War and that he had an entire Legion of Orbiters at his command when he was defeated by Barock and his small band of Walkers. Minog thinks how Barock humiliated him beyond repair.

We shift to the land based city of the Walkers. Rushmore, a blind god who has lenses that enable him to see at the subatomic level, is talking to Serius about Serius’ son Helius. Rushmore is concerned about how much partying on Cumulus that Helius does. Suddenly, Rushmore gets an alert over their monitor that Minog is on a rampage on Earth.

We cut to Barock and Helius on patrol. Suddenly, a hologram of Serius appears and he orders them to go to Earth to stop Minog.

We slide back to Cherry Hill Mall. Minog kills the guitar player and engages in some witty banter with Zoe. Suddenly, Barock and Helius appear on the scene. Barock states that the challenge is his and then Barock and Minog engage in combat. Helius stands and watches. Zoe asks Helius if he is going to help his friend. Helius replies that he cannot since it is forbidden to interfere in a challenge battle of honor between warriors.

We see Minog getting the upper hand in the battle. Minog is armed with the latest tech from Cumulus and that his new armor has shorted out Barock’s power gloves. Helius yammers on about his silk costume which can withstand the wear and tear of space and also looks nice. Helius say that he was voted the best dressed – – Zoe cuts Helius off and says that Helius is a “damn metrosexual retard” and says that Helius won’t get his hands dirty.

Minog then punches Barock over near Zoe. Zoe bends down and tries to pull Barock up. Minog tells Zoe never to get between him and his prey and that the penalty is death. Minog then charges at Barock and Zoe. Zoe thinks how her mother is always telling her to mind her own business. Zoe thinks why she does not listen to her mom. End of issue.

Commentary
The Good: Jersey Gods #1 was a solid debut issue. Brunswick whips up an issue that is certainly not your typical super hero comic book. Jersey Gods #1 offers a super hero themed story with the delivery and style of an independent comic book. Brunswick manages to hook me into this story without making it a standard issue Marvel or DC super hero tale.

Jersey Gods #1 was a well paced read. Brunswick took a risky approach by beginning this issue with a relatively slow and slightly boring five page scene focusing on Zoe. At the time, I was getting impatient with the issue and wondering what Brunswick was up to.

However, after finishing the rest of the issue, I understood exactly why Brunswick chose this unorthodox beginning to this issue. The muted start served as a nice way to ground the reader to our mundane reality before contrasting it with the wildly outlandish cosmic world of Neboron and the Walkers and the Orbiters. This made the inevitable clash of the two worlds at the end of this issue that much more jarring and interesting.

Brunswick made sure to deliver a rather balanced issue as the reader got treated to a proper mix of dialogue heavy scenes along with two action packed scenes. Jersey Gods #1 certainly builds in intensity as we proceed to the nice dynamic brawl between Barock and Minog. Brunswick does his best to make sure that this issue will appeal to action fans as well as readers who prefer dialogue heavy scenes focusing more on character interplay.

Jersey Gods #1 was a nicely plotted issue. Brunswick introduces the main characters, quickly establishes the setting for this title and then gives the reader a tiny hint of back-story concerning the Great War between the Orbiters and the Walkers. It was just enough to whet the reader’s appetite. What was particularly enjoyable was the organic fashion in which Brunswick delivers the setting to the reader. Rather than engaging in a monolithic monologue that reads more like a history book, Brunswick mixes the various factions and the structure of Neboron in a natural fashion within the dialogue of Helius and Barock.

I find the setting for Jersey Gods rather fascinating. The god planet Neboron is broken into two factions: The Walkers and the Orbiters. The Walkers inhabit the land city of Neboron while the Orbiters inhabit Cumulus which a city in the sky. We are lead to believe that the Orbiters are the bad gods and that the Walkers are the good gods. These gods of Neboron are neat New Gods styled characters. I love the New Gods, so it is of no surprise that I like what Brunswick presents us with this issue.

What I really appreciated was how Brunswick was able to make his gods of Neboron an obvious homage to Jack Kirby without them being purely derivative characters. Brunswick never gives the reader the impression that we are reading a New Gods rip-off. The reader can tell the influences from Kirby, but at the same time the reader feels that we are getting a new and different spin with the gods of Neboron. Brunswick does a nice job drawing inspiration from Kirby without becoming unoriginal or imitative.

Brunswick serves up plenty of solid dialogue. Brunswick employs a casual “realistic” style of dialogue which makes this issue easy to read. Considering this is just the first issue, each one of the main characters has a fairly well developed voice. Brunswick delivers plenty of humor in his dialogue without it becoming “Bwa-ha-ha” styled dialogue. I liked Brunswick’s sense of humor and enjoyed the little moments like Zoe’s irritation with Helius or Minog’s bemoaning the downside of his job. The reader quickly understands that Jersey Gods is a title that is never going to take itself too seriously.

Brunswick performs some good character work in this debut issue. Zoe is the character that receives the lion’s share of the character work. The reader gets a great feel for Zoe’s character right at the start of this story. Zoe’s ordinary problems with her job, family and love life make her a character than the reader can instantly relate to.

Brunswick also does a nice job giving the reader a good sense of Barock and Helius’ personalities. I like the combination of these two characters. Their differing styles and attitudes should provide for some interesting moments.

Personally, I like Barock more than Helius. And that is probably to be expected since Brunswick presents Helius as a rather shallow character. Barock is your stereotypical older tough guy. There is obviously more than meets the eye to Barock. He is more than a battle-hardened soldier. And the one line from Helius about how Barock did not always view love as a foolish waste of time hints at the fact that Barock has had his heart broken at some point in the past.

At first blush, Minog appeared to be nothing more than a standard issue monster villain. However, that façade is quickly peeled away as Minog worries over if his dialogue is properly villainous or not. We then learn that Minog hates his job and that he did not even want to take the mission of having to be the bad guy in order to kick-start the Orbiters newest skirmish. This scene nicely mirrors the opening scene with Zoe complaining about her job. Brunswick has a little fun by showing that no matter how spectacular a god might seem that they have the same type of life problems that us normal humans have.

Brunswick ends Jersey Gods #1 with a good hook ending as our hero and heroine are both in mortal danger. Brunswick delivered just enough in this issue to get the reader to come back for more with the next issue.

McDaid delivers some solid artwork. I will admit up front that this is not the style of art that I generally enjoy. I prefer more detailed artwork. Having said that, McDaid does a nice job giving the gods of Neboron a cool Kirby design. McDaid manages to evoke feelings of Kirby and pay tribute to that design style without aping Kirby.

The Bad: Jersey Gods #1 was a bit too talky at times. Some readers may not enjoy the indie styled dialogue that is a bit rambling and tends to focus on irrelevant or ancillary topics to the actual story. There were few moments where the dialogue seemed to lose its focus and wander on about topics that were of no particular interest at all.

There were a couple of moments to Jersey Gods #1 that could have been tighter. The beginning scene with Zoe could have been shorter than five pages. And the scene with Zoe and the guitar player was an unnecessary scene that simply served to burn panel space.

Overall: Jersey Gods #1 was a good debut issue. This title has plenty of potential and Brunswick gave me enough to get me to come back for more. Even if you are mostly a DC and Marvel reader, I would still recommend giving Jersey Gods #1 a try. Despite the off-beat feel of this title, Brunswick still has given the reader the basics of a solid super hero tale. And readers who generally shy away from standard issue super hero comic books might also want to give Jersey Gods #1 a try. Brunswick’s funky approach to the super hero genre will make this an interesting read to those readers who demand more than just a typical super hero story. But, best of all Jersey Gods #1 was simply a fun read.