Of Gods and Men by Jean-Pierre Dionnet and Theureau #BookReview

The world turned upside down in 1929, starting in the United States. As the Great Depression shook the nation, so-called “gods” began to appear along Route 66, and quickly grew in number. With humankind slowly dying out, history then took a different course… This is the story “of gods and men,” set in the year 2047.

Title: Of Gods and Men | Author: Jean-Pierre Dionnet and Theureau | Publisher: Europe Comics | Pub. Date: 15 May 2019 | Pages: 64 | ASIN: B07QX5QCB1 | Genre: Science Fiction | Language: English | Triggers: None | Rating: 3 out of 5 | Source: NetGalley

Of Gods and Men Review

This is one of those books that’s hard to review in that I liked it for reasons I’m not sure I can define. It’s a French comic that is incredibly confusing even by the standards of French comics. I kind of thought I knew what was going on in it until I read the synopsis and realised that I’d got it completely wrong. You can read the official version above, may take on it is as follows.

It’s set in a future America where some bad shit has obviously gone down. There are these random superhero type dudes who battle against each other. It feels a bit like one of the later issues of ‘Watchmen’ but with none of the build up. As a result, it’s disorientating, and it does little to help the reader find their feet. I spent much of the story scratching my head. Actually, saying there is a story at all is a bit of an exaggeration, it’s basically just people in spandex posing and fighting. Oh, and spouting weird macho dialogue, too.

But, and it’s a but of such epic proportions that Sir Mixalot would be fully into it, the artwork is freaking great. It manages to be polished and rough at the same time. It’s almost perfect, but you can see every pen stroke. Best of all, it’s packed with a vibrancy and kinetic energy that really leaps off the page. There are a couple of really great set piece pages too, I won’t tell you more than that because spoilers, but they work brilliantly.

So like I said, a hard one to review. There’s a lot that is pretty bad about this book, but a lot that is great. It’s bewildering, but memorable, and it left me wanting to know more about the world its set in.

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