Gods of Brutality #1

Gods of Brutality #1

Black Caravan/Scout Comics 2021

Written & Coloured by Rich Woodall

Illustrated by Mark Welser

In 2020, Rock God Nick Dillion will step off the stage for the final time, ending his 37-year career as the head of the Metal Band: Gods of Brutality. They are about to release their final album, completing the story he set out to tell 37 years before. In his final interview, Nick reveals that when he died for 1 minute, 24 seconds in 1984, he was actually in hell, where he was tortured by demons. In an act of desperation, Nick prayed to any God that would listen. Thankfully his pleas were answered when Thor and Hercules were dispatched to save him. This is the comic telling of that story.

I do so enjoy me some Black Caravan Imprint from Scout Comics, well Scout in general for that matter. You never know quite what kind of story you’re going to get but you know it’ll be entertaining as all get out. Where we pick this book up from and what happens once the story gets underway was a lot different than what I was expecting thankfully cause it is a whole lot better than I could have asked for! There are moments you know will absolute certainty that you will enjoy something and that happens on page five of this book for me.

I am very much enjoying the way that this is being told. 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 we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter fleshes the characters out exceedingly well. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story, introducing the characters and their world we are oddly fascinated and impressed by what we see.

I am pretty impressed with the way we see this being structured and how the layers within the the story emerge and grow. I like how we see the avenues opening up and those that are mentioned but unspoken. These layers contain some great characterisation, plot devices and interesting dynamics that add depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is beautifully achieved.

The interiors very much feel like an indie title and for a story like this one that’s the perfect feel for it. The imagery is great and i like how the linework is strong, clean and crisp, with its varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail work that we see. The creativity and imagination on display of marvellous and creating the demons so that they are unique from one another must have been a chore. I wish we’d see more backgrounds but then the way we see the composition within the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is achieved well to make up for that. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show an extremely talented eye for storytelling. Also I love how different Zeus and Odin look compared ot the rest. The colour work is brilliantly rendered. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is so well rendered it’s mighty impressive.

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I really found myself enjoying this way more than I was expecting to. It’s has its own unique charm and wit to it that allows us to get into the story, into the characters and lays the foundation for what is to come sensationally well. With this strong, superb writing and incredible characterisation wrapped up in some extremely good interior artwork this is going to thrill you as it takes you on a wicked journey.