Belle in Thunder of Gods

Belle in Thunder of Gods

Zenescope Entertainment 2021

Written by Dave Franchini

Illustrated by Ismael Canales Riveiro

Coloured by Juan Manuel Rodriguez

Lettered by Kurt Hathaway

A warrior is only as good as the weapon they master, unless that weapon is capable of destroying all in its path. The underbelly of Philadelphia is stirring, and the rumblings are whispering war. Belle is about to get pulled into something she doesn’t fully understand but something that could destroy all she holds dear is about to be unleashed. Don’t miss this epic clash as Belle takes on the thunder of gods!

Over the last few years since she’s been introduced Belle has become my favourite character in the Zenescope Universe. She hasn’t had time to truly relax and figure out how she needs to run her operation with just her and Mel but now isn’t the time for that. Belle needs her own ongoing or at least ongoing series of arc after arcs. She’s learning but she needs more time to put it all together to rebuild her mindset and figure out how she’s going to move forward. I wouldn’t mind her hooking up with Peyton the way Robyn has done. She could really benefit from expanding her network.

I am loving the way that this is being told. The opening grabs your attention as Dave goes through a bit of history concerning the gods and how they came to be is a nice recap that sets us up for the events that have happened to Belle and the ones that are going to happen. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development is marvellous! The chatting between Belle and Mel is priceless and it adds both levity and greater understanding of the two women and their relationship. The pacing is perfect as it takes us through the pages revealing the story to us.

I am a fan of the way that this is being structured and how we see the layers within the story coming from previous ones to really tie things together and foreshadow where it’s still on course too. I love the way we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow. The way Dave is able to tell this story with the then and now format brings us to these crazy and great encounters and their results is stupendous.

The interiors here are incredible! The linework that we see with its varying weights and techniques are laid down so that the level and quality of the detail work is astounding. That we see backgrounds utilised so prevalently makes me a very happy man. Not only do they enhance the moments and fill us in on what’s happening they bring us this great depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show an extremely talented eye for storytelling. The colour work is spectacular! How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is simply divine. Also that we see it utilised to create the added texture and musculature is impeccable to see.

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This is why I love Belle, she’s as fearless as she is inquisitive. She has smarts, she teaches kids after all, and she’s open to learning how to work with others even after the disastrous experiences of the past. I want to see here development those investigative instincts and really become a modern day superheroine. This makes you excited to be reading a book about a superhero who isn’t dark as dark can be and reminds us why we love the medium to begin with. This is everything a comic book should be and then some.