I have been waiting awhile to read this book. Donny Cates has been teasing fans on social media with the awesome cover, and some incredible interior art from Geoff Shaw. That is the first thing you notice about any comic, the artwork, and God Country #1 made me notice right away. We all know story matters, you really need both the art and writing to be good to love a book. If one is solid and the other is breathtaking, that is even better, but if one is off, it can hurt the whole package, and your experience with it. This book doesn’t have that issue. Both the writing and art are well done.

For now, let’s focus on the art. I really loved the colored pencil and sketch style that Shaw used in this book. Emotions are huge throughout as we deal with a father with dementia, his son who is trying to care for him, and his own family that he is having to worry about as his father is getting worse. Shaw does an excellent job of showing the pain, anger, frustration, and sadness a family would feel, as caring for someone in that state isn’t easy. I felt uncomfortable as I turned each page as I watched a family in turmoil, but the art and story made me want to read more. Cates and Shaw both work well together to showcase that.

I do not want to spoil too much, as the set up for the ending of this book is pretty awesome, and leaves a lot of questions to ask, but what I will say is there is more than meets the eye to Roy’s father. It is very cool, and we see a massive tornado and storm of biblical levels, a demon, a massive sword, a badass moment, and a trippy cosmic ending page. Cates does a great job with narration, and dialogue to set up what appears to be an old angry man with his good days behind him. You go from being sad for this man, to wanting to know more about him immediately as he shows a badass side. The writing is sharp, and the set up works. Even as the book goes off the rails from a story about a son wanting to care for his father to another thing completely, it all works.

There is no calm before the storm. Not in this book. We get the storm, but no calm. I am very excited to see where this series goes, and will be reading this going forward. I would recommend that everyone give this book a try, and I hope you feel as intrigued as I do to find out more about this man, his sword, and more of this awesome mystery. This was a good first issue, and I have a feeling it is going to get crazier from here. It isn’t easy to be original, especially with so many good stories out there, but God Country #1 does a good job showing us a few things we’ve seen before, a few things we haven’t, and it does it with some beautiful art.

Story: Donny Cates Art: Geoff Shaw Color: Jason Wordie
Story: 8 Art: 9 Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Buy

Image Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review