Comics Review: “The Goddamned” Issue 1

- by Ninja Ross, 12 November 2015

The Bible is full of amazing stories. Some of them really stick with you and one of my favourites is the story of Noah. The lessons you can learn from that story! He overcame the odds and, despite the insults and jokes from his neighbors, he opened a pet shop on a boat and even made sure to have spares of everything. It's a story of determination and thinking ahead. But this week, Jason Aaron and R.M. Guera give us their take on the story of Noah.
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Click to enlarge

Humanity has been out of the Garden of Eden for 1,600 years and things aren't going so well. There's violence and poop everywhere. And in some of that poop, we find our protagonist lying face down after just having his throat slit by a gang going by the name of the Bone Boys.

But he's fine. He wouldn't be much of a hero if that killed him.

The identity of our hero is left unsaid, but you don't need to be a bible expert to figure out who this immortal man is, although it is spelled out towards the end of the book. Our hero isn't Noah, of course. Noah himself isn't introduced until the end of the book and he's not really anything like you'd expect.

There's not really a lot to say about the story in the first issue; it's set before the flood and there's a lot of violence. That's all there is to it, so far. But it's done in a way that keeps things intriguing. While violence and the terribleness of the world is what's most obvious, we've also got a hero who's very reminiscent of characters like Conan the Barbarian, with his single mindedness and love of beating the shit out of things.
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The second worst kind of pond!

This means we have a book where violence seems nice. And fun! Like a good violent movie by Quentin Tarantino or Paul Verhoeven. The violence is complimented by style and a cool character, stopping it from seeming excessive and boring.

It's also not filled with ye olde Bible speak, as you'd expect something like this to be. Instead, Aaron uses familiar American speech patterns, with a southern accent thrown in. This is another thing that helps with the style of the book.

Along with Aaron's fast paced, sharp script is Guera's art, which is a perfect fit for the brutal tone of the book. But it's not overly dark and depressing, instead it's more stylised and gives the book a lighter quality. The book wouldn't be the same without Guera's art.
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He will crush his enemies, see them driven before him and hear the lamentation of their women!

​But Guera's art wouldn't be the same without Giulia Brusco's colours. The world shown in The Goddamned is brutal and unforgiving, but with Brusco's colours, everything just seems better. It feels more lively with some bright blue skies above the blood and mud.

It's easy to keep comparing this book to the likes of Conan. Even the hero kind of looks like a cross between Conan and Geralt of Rivea from The Witcher, but it';s still its own books. The team on the Goddamned is clearly influenced by the greatest sword swingers around, but they take that and create something that feels familiar, but still stands out from what they were inspired by.
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Lovely view

The point is, it's fun and violent, which is all I've ever wanted in a comic book based on a bible story. I highly advise picking up this first goddamned issue and prepare yourself for what is most likely going to be one of the coolest series out there.


Did you pick up the first issue of The Goddamned? Let us know what you thought of it in the comments below!

Tagged: comics, Reviews.

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