Godshaper #3 jumps back into the world of personal deities with an unexpected beginning. Well, it caught me off guard.
Writer: Simon Spurrier
Artist: Jonas Goonface
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
With fellow shaper Clench in the hands of mob boss Benotti at the end of issue two, I was expecting three to start with Ennay and Sal planning a rescue mission. I forgot what world we’re living in, however. Despite the camaraderie shapers may feel when together, it’s all more of a guideline when trouble comes around. So instead of a rescue, we find Ennay at a birthday party, trying to work, trying to survive. Trouble comes around regardless though, and the shaper/god duo is on the run despite their best intentions.
Simon Spurrier does a good job with moving this plot along while never missing a chance to push the world out farther and farther, showing us the classic “rich spoiled kid’s birthday party” trope, but what it would look like in this new status quo. And now that the heavy lifting of exposition and introductions of the first two issues are done, we can really get into the meat of story. Throughout this issue, there are some intriguing threads laid out here. More and more clearly do we get a sense of who the major players are going to be and by the end we get our first introduction to the major conflict that will dictate the course of the rest of the series. One of Godshaper’s few weaknesses is its reliance on big info dumps to catch us up to the speed of this new world, so it was nice to see a more action-centric issue, showing the new ideas rather than exclusively telling.
Jonas Goonface, meanwhile, keeps up his end of the bargain and continues to produce some really awesome art. His strong choices in color palette continue to serve him well as he manages to somehow use every single color of the rainbow without any of them clashing. Along with panel layouts that, even at their most reserved, never have any right angles, Goonface keeps up an impressive level of energy throughout the entire issue. Plus, with a key page near the end, he shows a slightly different texture to his art, and with it suggestions of an ever deepening mystery…
The series has been a real treat, presenting a super fun, fresh new world to play in, and with issue three, we’re finally really biting into the action. If Spurrier and Goonface keep up the pace they’ve set, they’re on their way to one of the best comics of the year.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login