First, let's get this out of the way right now: thematically, Supergod is a marriage of the ignorant and the repulsive. Ellis's famous little digression on the orgins of and problems with religion is wrong on an anthropological and neurological level, and was even when he wrote it. And quite apart from the self-righteous atheism, he also fills the story with his unique, ugly brand of anti-humanism. Every country is nothing but bastard-coated bastards all the way down, with literally the only mention of an emotional response to the carnage being a few researchers vomiting at Maitreya's assault on India.
But, let's set that aside. Hell, let's assume that my theism has somehow tainted my ability to judge the work thematically and instead look at Supergod as a story.
To which I respond: what story? Aside from the rampaging supergods, there are exactly two characters in the entire story, maybe three if you count "Tommy." And only one, the narrator, has any personality traits at all, and they begin and end with "drug-addled" and "crazy." For that matter, only three of the supergods are really characters at all, and Krishna is barely a character. J. C. is the only half-way interesting one, and he's literally just there to die at the end.
Dangly plot threads litter the work. Why is an entire page devoted to the superfluous character of Ras? Why does the narrator blame J. C. for the destruction at the end of issue one, only to praise him as the only human supergod in the finale? Why does Maitreya, himself a transformed human like J. C. and, if his introduction is anything to go by, one that retains his compassion, become such a monster during the last few pages? Why does Krishna immediately slaughter so much of India's population rather than uploading their brains into some kind of computer network (invoking reincarnation in the process) or freezing them in suspended animation until suitable methods can be found to sustain them, or any one of a hundred other things a few moments' thought could easily supply that would instantly negate any need for the event that kicks off the end of the world?
The narrator claims it's because their minds are alien. Too unlike ours to understand. Well, fine, but I'd like to point out that, functionally, that means their actions are indistinguishable from lazy, Let's You and Him Fight writing.
The art's not half-bad, in an apocalyptic sort of way. And if you're literally just here to watch admittedly-creative smash-ups between angry cybergods while the narration shouts semi-sensible technobabble about how they work, well, okay, fine. That happens, and it can be interesting, even if the gloomy, preachy tone sucks out a lot of the fun.
But if you expect literally anything else, any kind of comprehensible story, compelling characters, coherent, non-repulsive themes, or real thought, you will be deeply disappointed.
Angry, nihilistic techno-porn, confused as a story, thematically broken.
First, let's get this out of the way right now: thematically, Supergod is a marriage of the ignorant and the repulsive. Ellis's famous little digression on the orgins of and problems with religion is wrong on an anthropological and neurological level, and was even when he wrote it. And quite apart from the self-righteous atheism, he also fills the story with his unique, ugly brand of anti-humanism. Every country is nothing but bastard-coated bastards all the way down, with literally the only mention of an emotional response to the carnage being a few researchers vomiting at Maitreya's assault on India.
But, let's set that aside. Hell, let's assume that my theism has somehow tainted my ability to judge the work thematically and instead look at Supergod as a story.
To which I respond: what story? Aside from the rampaging supergods, there are exactly two characters in the entire story, maybe three if you count "Tommy." And only one, the narrator, has any personality traits at all, and they begin and end with "drug-addled" and "crazy." For that matter, only three of the supergods are really characters at all, and Krishna is barely a character. J. C. is the only half-way interesting one, and he's literally just there to die at the end.
Dangly plot threads litter the work. Why is an entire page devoted to the superfluous character of Ras? Why does the narrator blame J. C. for the destruction at the end of issue one, only to praise him as the only human supergod in the finale? Why does Maitreya, himself a transformed human like J. C. and, if his introduction is anything to go by, one that retains his compassion, become such a monster during the last few pages? Why does Krishna immediately slaughter so much of India's population rather than uploading their brains into some kind of computer network (invoking reincarnation in the process) or freezing them in suspended animation until suitable methods can be found to sustain them, or any one of a hundred other things a few moments' thought could easily supply that would instantly negate any need for the event that kicks off the end of the world?
The narrator claims it's because their minds are alien. Too unlike ours to understand. Well, fine, but I'd like to point out that, functionally, that means their actions are indistinguishable from lazy, Let's You and Him Fight writing.
The art's not half-bad, in an apocalyptic sort of way. And if you're literally just here to watch admittedly-creative smash-ups between angry cybergods while the narration shouts semi-sensible technobabble about how they work, well, okay, fine. That happens, and it can be interesting, even if the gloomy, preachy tone sucks out a lot of the fun.
But if you expect literally anything else, any kind of comprehensible story, compelling characters, coherent, non-repulsive themes, or real thought, you will be deeply disappointed.