Comic Book Review: God Complex #1

God Complex #1

Created by: Michael Avon Oeming, John Broglia, and Daniel Berman
Story by: Mike Oeming
Script: Dan Berman and Mike Oeming
Art by: John Broglia
Letters by: Aaron Walker
Colors by: Dan Berman
Logo and Website by: Tim Daniels
Cover by: Mike Oeming and Val Staples
Published by: Image Comics
Cover Price: $2.99

You know, of all the powers which are often described as curses and yet I can't quite see it as a curse is immortality. I know and understand the theory...if you couldn't die but everyone you cared for could, then you would become lonely. Maybe it's that immortality is such an alien prospect to us that, for me, makes it something I still can't quite grasp as a big deal. I mean, people die, it's sad, we move on, we meet new people, we remember those who have passed but value the new relationships we make...I think the notion of immortality is just too alien for me to grasp the curse which it is often portrayed as. An exception to this is poor Yancy Queeg from DC's 1987 dystopian limited series The Outcasts by John Wagner, Alan Grant, Cam Kennedy, and Steve Mantano. Yancy was immortal and by the end of the series was nothing but a disembodied head. Ok, that would be a curse, but full body granted, I'm missing the curse.

So Oeming, Berman, and Broglia's God Complex does lose me with its main character, Apollo, resigning from the pantheon of Greek gods to lead a mortal life. Maybe it's less that he wants to live and die as a mortal and more that he wants to just meet new people, because centuries of the same arrogant, issue ridden blowhards could drive one to seek that final peace.

Despite not being able to udnerstand the desire to die, God Complex turned out to be an enjoyable read. Apollo, as Paul, attempts to lead a quiet, normal life, but local hoods force him to reveal his abilities to his new neighborhood getting him a reputation as a hero. That leads the hoods to a witch woman for help and leads the Kronos Corporation, run by the gods, to Apollo.

Oeming and Berman create a serious tale which is not bereft of some lightheartedness like a Kronos Corporation secretary saying of Zeus, "He runs this place like he thinks he's a god" and Hercules is hilarious. Just look for his comment about the new Star Wars.

The story does bare some resemblance to the Olympus Group in Incredible Hercules, but as much as I like Marvel's ol' Herc, God Complex's Apollo, being a more modern character, and certainly more humble, makes for an interesting contrast.

I look forward to the next issue to learn more about the Kronos Corporation and see if Apollo can catch the eye of the fair Sophia.

If you haven't already picked it up, do so...or risk the wrath of the gods...