Zenescope Entertainment 2016
Written by Joe Brusha
Illustrated by Sean Hill
Coloured by Marco Lesko
Lettered by Matt Krotzer
In the middle of the death and destruction caused by the new gods and their mutant army, Olympus is flooded with memories of the same horrors happening on planets across the galaxy and vows to stop them this time. Meanwhile, tensions rise as the Hellions are sent on their next mission to take down the goddess Kali. While they are away, Zyana strikes the base while it is undefended. The team rushes back from their mission, only to be caught in a trap sprung by Chaos, Atlas, and Anubis in their way. Can the Hellions defeat three gods at once?
I really am torn on this one. I like the idea of God’s revisiting Earth taking human vessels and trying to reclaim some kind of former glory. That there isn’t one single pantheon represented but a myriad of them here is fantastic as it does feel like it represents the various backgrounds of their hosts. That this is modern times so the fact that they take on the appearance of comic book styled heroes makes sense. Still it comes off like i’m reading the adventures of the Crime Syndicate.
I kind of wish they had taken their visage straight out of old mythology instead of trying to look like modern day gods. Anubis for example actually strikes more fear because of how he looks than a rogue Superman like Chaos. Plus the idea that God’s have once again returned to Earth would’ve been more effective had they looked like we once knew them instead of pretenders per se.
Sean does some amazing work on the visuals here. His linework and attention to detail are amazing to see on the page. His use of page layouts utilising angles, perspective and the even the use of limited backgrounds really makes the pages pop. That two page spread is extremely impressive.
What I found myself liking the most aside from Mercury changing sides, temporarily(?) is what we see at their base when the Doc examines him. When they learn the truth about the God’s and can extrapolate where they come from. It’s too bad we didn’t learn this earlier as time spent on this aspect holds greater interest than just having a bunch of all out fight scenes. It also gives them hope that since the hosts are human they are more defeatable. So there’s a lot at play that just feels more like filler or afterthought that could’ve been more focused on.
Bless his heart Joe’s an ideas man. He has great ideas for stories but when it comes to executing them he should turn the reigns over to someone who can realise them better. The transitions between panels and scenes could be smoother, I feel like i’m missing panels at times and honestly I get wanting to see the big fight scenes but sometimes the better part of the story is the story itself. Too many ideas making the page and not nearly enough room to make it all fit properly.