“Every ninety years twelve Gods return as young people. They are loved. They are hated. In two years, they are all dead. It’s happening now. It’s happening again.”
The book begins in London, with fan girl Laura attending a music concert of Amaterasu, one of the young Gods, and while there befriends Lucifer, another of the Gods. Lucifer seems to randomly pick Laura, and now Laura is privy to some of the secrets of the Pantheon. We meet several more of the Gods, who are pop-culture saturated enigmas. A murder occurs, but who did it and why? Laura is on the case, along with a reporter, trying to understand more about this generation’s newest Gods and the miracles and power that they wield.
I read a previous Marvel book from the same author/illustrator duo of Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie, Young Avengers: Style>Substance, and liked many of the fresh illustrations but thought the title was apropos. This book too seems to have a fantastic idea, but an incomplete follow through. I needed a cheat sheet to keep track of who was who, and wish I had discovered the following graphic sooner. The world building was sketchy and character back stories were non-existent. There is the briefest mention that the Gods were originally regular teens, before the deities merged with them, and this new fame and the knowledge they will be dead in two years corrupts many of them.
Thus, this first volume makes a huge gamble- it doesn’t give you all the information you need about who all the characters are- it deliberately leaves you in the dark on four of the twelve Gods. Will this confuse and piss you off or will you be intrigued and want to read further into the series to put it all together? In my case, it was both. My initial feeling was frustration and wondering why this book had good buzz. But a fantastic college student at my library (MD!) told me the second volume gets much better. The vivid and beautiful art work plus the promising premise of the story are worth the gamble and I have the next few volumes on hold. So…my final decision on whether the series is wicked or divine has not been made yet.
-Nancy
I pushed on and read Volumes 2 + 3! Then I read Volumes 4+ 5!
July 14, 2017 at 4:46 pm
I loved the artwork but didn’t really have a clue what was going on and who was who
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July 14, 2017 at 5:18 pm
Exactly! Reading other reviews of volume one show that that was definitely a prevailing problem for many readers.
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July 17, 2017 at 7:33 am
Thank you for highlighting this! I still have Phonogram ready to
be read & Young Avengers Vol 2 is sheer brilliance. Gillen &
McKelvie are such a powerhouse collaborative team so it will
be interesting to see their take on this series. Aren’t the lines
between good & evil ambiguous, confusing, & subjective IRL also?
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September 1, 2017 at 8:56 am
I decided the series was intriguing enough to read volumes 2& 3. I do agree that Gillen & McKelvie are a good team- for they bring interesting perspectives to issues.
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July 17, 2017 at 3:55 pm
This is one of my new favorite series! The first volume is a bit jumbled plot-wise, but it does clear up in the second volume. I love the characters and find the artwork pretty interesting!
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September 1, 2017 at 8:57 am
I did push through and read volumes 2+3, but plot still seems jumbled. I do have volumes 4+5, so despite my misgivings, I believe I’ll end up reading the complete series.
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July 17, 2017 at 5:58 pm
I have been eyeing this on Comixology. Now I am hesitant. I think it would be more frustrating for me than anything. I am not good about continuing with GNs if the first fails to grab me. Thanks for all of the insight!
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July 17, 2017 at 9:15 pm
I normally feel the same way- if I don’t like the first volume, I’m done. The pictures helped with this series, for when I didn’t like the story or art of Sandman I quit, but because the art is great on W+D, I am willing to make an exception and try volume two.
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July 19, 2017 at 1:18 pm
Hmm.. I started Sandman but have only made it two volumes in and lost interest. I need to revisit and see how I feel about it.
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