Godhead

by Ho Che Anderson

In this gritty thriller, chaos ensues after a powerful corporation creates a device to communicate with God. Godhead  ricochets from the streets of a working-class African American community to the glimmering halls of corporate America to a mobile scientific laboratory located in the Pacific Ocean. A sprawling contemporary saga with a science-fiction edge, Godhead explores a collision course between science and religion when a corporation creates a device that can talk to God. Is this humanity’s salvation or the equivalent of a Doomsday machine? Godhead is Ho Che Anderson’s most conceptually and thematically ambitious graphic novel to date, his first in over ten years. Visually, he employs a variety of drawing techniques from tonal images to stark black-and-white to full color painting in order to convey a thriller that ranges from intimate domestic drama to globalist corporate intrigue. Black-and-white illustrations with some color

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Science Fiction, Religion

192 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2018

About the author

Ho Che Anderson was born London, UK, but moved to Canada with his family when he was five years old. He was named after the Vietnamese and Cuban revolutionaries Ho Chi Minh and Che Guevara. He has become one of the most prominent artists of black American comix, and is affiliated with Fantagraphics Books. Ho Che Anderson authored the impressive comix biography 'King on Martin Luther King', and the erotic 'I Want to be your Dog' in 1996. He co-produced the grungy subculture series 'Pop Life' (1998) in collaboration with fellow artist Wilfred Santiago.

Reviews

[Derek Royal · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been a while since I've read any Ho Che Anderson, and part of that reason may be due to the fact that I haven't seen anything new from him in some time. This is the first of what I assume will be a multi-volumed series of some ambition. In this initial effort, Anderson is setting up the various moving parts to his story, and there are a number of them that come into play. In fact, I found myself as I was reading often flipping back to previous scenes to refresh myself on what had happened previously, and then try to make sense of it again or fit it into the context of what I had just read. At first, the lives of the various characters seem more loosely connected, but the narrative strands appear more tightly woven the closer you look. The slight futuristic tone helps to confound things a bit -- but in a good way -- in that we're making sense of things within a world that isn't entirely recognizable.

I wonder when the next volume of Godhead will be released? We're interviewing Anderson soon for The Comics Alternative, and I'll ask him.

[Beth Tabler · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had a difficult time following this over complicated plot. It was over complicated and at the same time slow and dull. I’m not sure what to expect from other books from this author, but I will give some of his other works a read, this one was definitely not for me.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had potential but didn't really get anywhere in the first volume, at least not enough to pull me into the second volume.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps this volume is badly timed - the story built to no real climax and just sort of stopped - now I’m waiting for the next volume.

[Bryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story could be great... eventually.

My biggest issue with this volume is the way it was marketed and blew its own spoiler. Its marketing and the book's own description tell you exactly what the main plot point of interest is yet that thing is not actually in or revealed in this volume so A: I finished it thinking "wtf, it never even got to the content it advertised to me" and B: if it had not TOLD me what the big plot point is then it would have at least ended with some suspense.

If you're interested in this book i would wait until the next volume comes out and you can read them back to back or don't read the product description for the book anywhere before reading.

I am enjoying the character development and what could potentially come once the main plot point is brought to light and developed but this edition alone left me high and dry.

The art is... odd. Sometimes it really works and creates a great atmosphere and sometimes it feels rushed and sometimes the characters just look poorly drawn and kind of goofy.

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring story in which nothing much happened except for some oddly-drawn characters (weirdly proportioned, with overemphasized teeth--seriously, that's lesson 1 in portraiture, do NOT outline every single tooth) acting angsty, engaging in boring violence or dull (and unnecessary) sensual scenes, making exaggerated efforts to make people seem gritty and badass. They even, on multiple occasions, use the lazy image copy-paste when showing conversations, instead of making the effort of drawing characters' faces differently in each frame to give some nuance of expression that cues readers to how their personalities work or how this interaction is going. Before the halfway point I was skimming, and by the end of the volume, I still had no clear idea of what exactly was going on or why I should care, and I didn't care at all about any of the characters, which means I have zero plot-interest or emotional connection to make me want to pick up the next volume.
Fail.

[Cale · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to admit, the first issue of this (which only collects two issues) almost turned me off entirely - the black and white artwork is an interesting amalgamation of styles between its character work and backgrounds. But the plot was almost incomprehensible - characters are introduced with no explanation, their relationships opaque. Violent moments and nudity appear out of nowhere, and rationales are light on the ground.
Fortunately, the second issue collects the dots, linking the characters and actually moving the story forward. The idea of building a machine that will talk to God is interesting, and some of its ramifications are explored here, even as the characters are further developed. It's still not something I'm completely sold on, but it's a decent series once it settles in. Just accept that there will be lots of violence and nudity kind of at random.

[Rick Ray · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really wanted to like this more since Ho Che Anderson's artwork is brilliant. The story is unnecessarily convoluted and the dialogue is dull and uninspired. There is a lot of potential here, since the concept is pretty cool and Anderson's cartooning is ambitious and confident. But I had very little to connect to in terms of plot or character, making this a pretty taxing read. The back of the book shows some page coloring concepts that I do wish had been used since the artwork popped a lot more with color (and I'm usually someone who really likes black & white comics). I'll still give the upcoming sequel a try since there was just enough in here to keep me interested, though I'd hesitate to recommend this book due to the poor storytelling execution.

[Michael Norwitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anderson's latest project is certainly an ambitious one: an extended story, over a number of 150+ page volumes, detailing a corporate world's confrontation with a machine which, purportedly, allows the user to commune with God. I appreciated the technique of the book, but found no way to relate to any of the characters, nor did I have any sense of what it meant to commune with God in this context (as opposed, to say, have an hallucinatory experience).

[Nicholas Bond · Rating 4 out of 5]

It started out very oblique. I found myself getting distressed as I was frequently reminded of Ales Kot's disappointing series Zero, which I read earlier this year. However, around the midpoint, the style settled down and it started providing concrete answers to questions and I found myself getting more and more wrapped up in the story. This book isn't quite what I thought it would be, but what it is in enjoyable.

[Emilia P · Rating 3 out of 5]

EIGHTIES STYLE. Moderately violent. Made me want to read like...Watchmen? Or watch Brazil? Or even maybe like IDK Aeon Flux? I think there was something cool here but it was taking a ridiculously long time to get there. Another ding for stall-y comic book logic. But uh, good, stylistic, deliberate art.
Cool.

[Sasha Boersma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked it up from the library because it was on some sort of 2018 year end top reads list. I don’t know why.

Lovely art, but not clear why some scenes had one style and others had a different one. Difficult story to follow and comprehend. First books are sometimes choppy, but one was too choppy for me.

[Ricky Lima · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know what it is I really liked about this book. Maybe it's the interesting architecture that's both futuristic and old. Or maybe it's the slow burn of the mystery Anderson creates. Or maybe it's the well written dialogue that feels real but also full of meaning, like no line is wasted. To me Godhead represents cartooning at its finest. I'm excited to read volume 2.

[Comics Alternative · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://comicsalternative.com/comics-a...

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a perfect example of a good idea derailed by a choppy exposition.

[Bill · Rating 2 out of 5]

(This is the 2nd time Goodreads has frozen when I try to save my review and I really can't be bothered trying to re-write it. Hopefully I'll remember next time to save it this way.)

Disappointing.

[Joe Cavanaugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked it, but there's a lot going on. Hope they manage to wrap it all up. Love at least some of the art.

[Chalupa Batman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting premise, but the delivery is very clunky.

[Kyle Burley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Provocative story with strong art.
My rating may go up when it’s finished.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great art, but possibly too slow a burn that's spoiled by th vsolicitations for the book.

Also, woefully incomplete, I had ordered this not realizing it was just Volume 1.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of a difficult narrative to jump into but definitely loved the artwork.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Futuristic setting. Tower of Babel. Still too many moving parts that need to come together. Dangerous experiements.