Review: Godshaper #2
The last issue of Godshaper ended with Ennay coming to the aid of Clara Smith, after she confronted local sketchy businessman Benny and his supposed involvement with a load of missing military supplies. The action doesn’t last very long, considering the build up, and goes by without much of an impact to it. This issue does pass by with a wandering sort of feel, though the added exposition and character development is a nice change in pace from the chaotic trip of the introductory issue.
Simon Spurrier’s script is a little less concise this time around, with some comedic moments that don’t quite hit the mark and come across as more juvenile in their execution. There are some great moments that would have been nice to see extended out in conversation but perhaps information is being concealed for a later time. After Ennay and his trusty god sidekick Bud quickly leave the scene at Benny’s with Clara, the two make camp with another godshaper and friend named Clench. Clench has with him another young nogody and amateur godshaper, Sal. There is some more information learned regarding the life of a nogody and godshaper while they sit, reminiscing on their past young lives as orphans that were constantly travelling around and being put under the wing of various people. Constantly without a home and a steady sense of personal connection, godshapers like Ennay and Clench embody the life of a drifter, learning to survive through the places and people they encounter and unfixed to any particular purpose.
Jonas Goonface’s art continues to be very expressive and injects a boost of energy during the up and down pacing of this second issue. His attention to detail to capturing the array of emotions on the characters faces are fun to see; he has knack for showing the same emotion but with slight changes to someone’s eyes or mouth, attributing to his skills as an artist. Goonface could do wonders with a completely silent issue of the adventures of Bud, before Ennay came along. Background are not really drawn in all that much with more of an emphasis on the characters and their actions and instead chooses to use a consistent rotation of soft coloured backgrounds with warm blues, greens, yellows, etc. These colour choices continue to provide a surreal vibe to Godshaper, especially when contrasted to the bright, vibrant and prominently outlined gods. Goonface also specifically emphasizes anger with red, surrounding the frames of the frazzled individual with a dominant orange-red, similar to his playful use of borders in the first issue.
There are a few moments that stand out, providing some warmth, intimacy and social relevancy to the issue. Colin Bell’s lettering placements are especially important during the sequence in which Ennay and Clench get intimate, allowing for the moonlit pink and purple glow of their bodies to share a moment, entwined as one. Spurrier’s story during this single page is effective at adding a sense of melancholy while the artwork enhances the sense of loneliness expressed. Ennay’s narration suggests it’s better for fellow shapers to keep themselves separated, as having them together would only cause suspicion by others. Traveling, let alone remaining as a pair appears to dangerous for godshapers, and are fated to have just a moment of human to human compassion, only to be thrust forward before they know it on separate, wandering paths.
The sadness displayed here is further brought on by Sal as he describes being a runaway after a group of people, through distrust in him and the women taking care of him, assaulted them. Ennay’s response to the story is this: “Sometimes some folk just…need folk to blame, I guess.” Reminiscent of the classic townsfolk and Frankenstein’s monster dichotomy, the level of difference, of fear in a constructed otherness, is what places the godshapers into this kind of situation. The fact that the godshapers lack a sameness, a ‘normality’ that is represented in the accompanied gods for the majority, causes a platform of mistrust, anger and superiority to be created. There is an opportunity after this moment to dive deeper into this idea but it is quickly swept under the rug. Once again, there may still be room to dive further into these issues, especially if Ennay has faced them in his own past, soon enough. Through the introduction of a gang, the Crumpa Crew, whom Ennay denied a job with, the troubled past appears to be catching up to Ennay’s present.
Though somewhat not as tightly woven and energetic as the first issue, this second issue of Godshaper dives a bit more into world building, with a few humourous moments (though some are a bit awkward) and introduces some characters and elements that look to be early placeholders for being important, especially with their connection to Ennay.
Story: Simon Spurrier Art: Jonas Goonface Lettering: Colin Bell
Story: 7.5 Art: 9.0 Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Buy
BOOM! Studios provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
What if all of a sudden, one day, the aspects of daily life that make it easier, such as electricity, were to just suddenly stop working? Now, in the present year of 2017, there are actual gods that have been manifested as personal helpers (how, it has been made unclear, as of yet at least) and, as it says early in the first few pages, “A god for every person. And a person for every god.” Each of them can contribute to a variety of needs to their human counterpart, varying from actual powers to simply printing out smut to sell. Such is the way of world in Godshaper, the new series from the incredibly talented voice of Simon Spurrier and the electric illustrations of Jonas Goonface. As much as the premise and world makes it known that gods fill the present world, the main focus is drawn towards Ennay, a ‘nogody,’ or, someone who doesn’t have a god as a companion.
Goonface’s art is spectacular. It’s a perfect fit for this high-concept story that is filled with liveliness and an energy that is a great one-two punch with the free-flowing words of Spurrier. Each of the gods is a vibrant, striking colour that is outlined with a thin white stripping and stands out consistently from their imaginative and slightly warped animal bodies. Their presence throughout causes the book to seem like the world is experiencing a rainbow-melted acid trip; and that is a compliment, for sure. Colin Bell’s lettering also does a great job at filtering the amount of word balloons and sound effects with the busy illustrated frames (with some notable, funny and literal sound effects as well). Bell’s placements allow for the script and art to continue to flow at a quick pace.
Another great sequence is when Ennay is shown in his musical stage persona: Cantik (which is Indonesian for beautiful or lovely after a quick, curious internet search), a glam rock, androgynous presence who revels in his pure talent, without the need for gods to enhance himself. After Cantik’s explosion of noise, alongside a spread of purples, blues, oranges, reds, and yellows, Ennay is frequently placed multiple times amongst a double-page spread of a frozen crowd, being outspoken about bands who use gods to enhance their sound in profanity-laced tirades, making out with a variety of passerby, and reinforcing his own respect for letting the music be as natural as possible. With all this talk and appearance of performance and gender fluidity, whether it is intentional or not, the use of the combination of a soft blue and pink for this sequence is rather perfect.
Right from the opening pages of the first issue of Violent Love, it’s made quite apparent that this tale of eventual bank robbers and lovers Daisy Jane and Rock Bradley is greatly influenced by stories and films in the same genre; Dylan Todd’s striking designs connect with the cinematic aesthetic by having the creative team page look like it came right from the bottom of a movie poster. Though the influences aren’t even hidden all that well (Daisy seeing Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid), Frank J. Barbiere and Victor Santos are definitely crafting something different and unique both in its method of storytelling and flow of visuals.
He also uses color, or the lack thereof, to emphasize the importance of certain objects or actions. For example, when Daisy sits in the hotel room where she and Charlie just engaged in a hot and heavy game of extracurricular activities, her entire body is black as the eye is drawn to the muddled orange/red hat in her hands. The previous frame reminds the reader of its importance to her, also using the color red to deviate from the use of green to shift in time. This in effect not only deepens the impact of these kinds of moments and objects but also elevates and accentuates Santos’s ability as a visual storyteller.
The cover for Sombra #4 by artist 
Sombra, from the very beginning, has been a tale of good and evil, light and dark, and those that believe what they are doing has a justifiable purpose in it, even if from the other side, the morals around what is being justified are highly questioned. Justin Jordan’s scripts have been doing a great job at this push and pull between right and wrong.
Speaking of Useche, his colouring is easily the standout attribute to this issue. The bright colours of the children’s clothing, the buildings, the spray-painted happy faces, and the open blue sky all connect with Conrad’s speech to Danielle of the new purpose he is trying to build for the people here. The brightness of the scene and use of a more vibrant colour scheme all act as masks to the supposed purity of a utopian world. Some places are utopian on the surface, only to truly survive through dystopian means (just read 1984 or Brave New World). Danielle just won’t buy any of what Conrad is trying to sell her, even after Conrad shows a warmer side to him as helps up a young girl who trips and falls. The whole sequence plays out like a PSA for some random cult. The back and forth between Conrad and Danielle ends with a great transition, just after Danielle says, “I’ve seen enough.” The brightness of day cuts to the next frame of Danielle sitting alone at night within an enclosed jail cell; the thick, black darkness tells no lies, only truths. In the world of Sombra, lies hide in the wide-open sprawl of the day, while at the night, the harsh but true reality comes to life.
Sombra’s first issue ended with DEA agent Danielle Marlowe and local Mexico City journalist Esteban Tolva trapped under the floorboards of a church while a group of cartel members entered. Led by a man named Rojas, the cartel group knows that the two are in there and promise to lead Esteban to Danielle’s father, the former DEA agent Conrad Marlowe, whom has declared a violent war against the cartel. Trying to figure out an escape plan, Danielle and Esteban sit amongst an uncomfortable purple, blue haze of 
Colourist 
Emma Rios is one of the most talented creators out there that has proven her worth at both the writing (Mirror) and illustrating (Pretty Deadly) side of the comic book world. In I.D., Rios handles both the words and art, confidently presenting a story that is thought provoking and emotional with a respectable amount of research put into it; due in additional thanks to Medical Doctor Miguel Alberte Woodward whom writes a back essay to add more into the reality of the topic at hand. I.D. is about three individuals, Noa, Charlotte and Mike, whom apply for an experimental procedure in which your brain, mental capacity and self are maintained as you are placed within a different body. Through the five chapters, originally printed in Island Magazine, the three characters discuss and question their own motives towards making this process a reality.
These quotes are taken from a statement made by Mike, commented back by Charlotte. Questions of having pride in yourself can change on a day to day basis. When the pride of realizing that your true self is inside you but not reflective of your physical self cannot possibly be put into the proper amount of words unless someone identifies directly with wanting to or having gone through a physical transition or an acceptance of ones true self. And, what Charlotte responds with is something that she appears to take on as an attribute to her reasoning into wanting to make this body transplant. She is a writer and is the most cryptic into her reasoning. She continues to make remarks that appear to reveal her own insecurities regarding the nature of the transformation: “Being unhappy with what we are, or have, may sound frivolous but is inherently human. There’s nothing to be ashamed of. It’s our restlessness.” Restlessness may be the wrong way (or perhaps right way) to describe feeling trapped in a false vessel but what these statements made by Charlotte reinforce is the strength in which Rios writes these characters as three-dimensional human beings who are far from perfect, and that is totally okay.
Mike: “I wonder if just being bored, or lonely, is enough to do this…”
There are a number of reasons why The Spire is nominated for an Eisner for Best Limited Series. It features some confident, natural character writing from 
