With New Gods #6, Ram V, Filipe Andrade and Evan Cagle have crafted the quietest and most contemplative issue of this series so far. For much of the book, Andrade’s portion, readers accompany The Black Racer, Death’s embodiment, as they deliver a soul to The Source. This takes on a unique tone and character to the other segments of this story so far. It’s melancholy and hopeful and vast in a way that makes you, the reader, smaller. New Gods #6 is the kind of singular and unexpected story-telling experience which is necessary to pull off a storied, grandiose series like New Gods.
More than in previous issues V is interested in introducing concepts to readers and then intermingling them. Questions he’s presented in previous issues come alongside concepts which have previously been explained in order to further layer the themes and lore of this series. Reincarnation, archetypes, conceptions of deity, life, death and more get their moment in the sun at some point in this issue.
With that being said, V runs dangerously close to dealing with these concepts in ways that are too esoteric. There are times, such as when The Black Racer and The Great Darkness interact, wherein it isn’t totally clear how things fit within the frameworks that V has built. I recognize that this may be a result of my unfamiliarity with the Hindu concepts which he’s brought to the book. In general though, it can feel as if the introduction of things like “unborn and unliving concepts,” can muddy the water of the intended metaphor.
Despite all of that, this quiet contemplative narrative delivers the most interesting character work on Lightray that I’ve ever read. His innocence in his relationships, his perception of the universe and his unabashed desire to do good things come through so earnestly. There’s a childlike richness to him that wins you over so completely.
This plays out within the narrative as Lightray makes the same impression upon the most unexpected character, driving them to take more agency in the ongoing conflict. Unmistakably, it’s the light within one character which has made two shine brighter, and that’s an incredible credit to V’s narration and dialogue.
It’s also a credit to the soft, beautiful, emotional artwork of Andrade. The world through the eyes of The Black Racer takes on such a rich, harmless nature which completely upends the reader’s impression of everything.
The way that color, motion and shape overtake what previously would’ve been intricate details and designs serves to successfully convey the sense of seeing a world beneath our own. There’s a sense of primacy to the world as The Black Racer experiences it. As the plot moves a long Andrade’s composition crafts new emotions for the reader to experience than any detailed attempt at what’s explicitly happening.
It’s incredibly engrossing to read.
The rest of the issue’s narrative sees V completing the New Gods journey to Earth which began in the previous issue. This isn’t a complex or dynamic piece of the narrative, yet it does take up a chunk of the space here. While there’s certainly a setup here which promises to deliver interesting interactions and storytelling, it doesn’t feel like that progression developed a ton from where readers were left in the previous issue.
That being said, Cagle continues to deliver a masterclass in modern sci-fi artwork across the four or so pages he’s drawing in this issue. There’s so much detail, energy and excitement in every page he puts out. The promise of everything which is to come from this issue’s setup as potentially imagined by Cagle’s pen should have readers salivating.
While this is a slower issue with less plot movement than previous issues, it’s also the kind of creative stretch which is awesome to see in such a big and important series from the Big Two. Readers would be lucky if every author went out of their way to try and deliver a unique experience like this one. As long as this team is pushing the New Gods in exciting and deeply unexpected directions like this, I’ll be coming back again and again.
