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Goddess Mode #1-6
Goddess Mode, Vol. 1
Don't miss the start of a new series by Hugo Award nominee Zoë Quinn and Spider-Gwen co-creator Robbi Rodriguez! Cassandra Price's life changes forever when she discovers a hidden digital world beneath our own, one where a group of super-powered women are locked in a secret war for the cheat codes to reality.
In the near future all of humanity's needs are administered by a godlike artificial intelligence called Azoth, and it's Cassandra Price's humiliating job to do tech support on it. The advent of Azoth has deepened inequality and robbed humanity of its soul, but Cassandra's life changes when she finds herself dragged violently into Azoth itself, manifested as a secret digital world beneath our own, one built on a combination of magic and metadata. There she encounters a group of apparently magical girls locked in a war with mysterious monsters for the power to fix the world -- if only they could agree on what the world should be.
Why was she chosen? What is the omnipotent Hermeticorp up to? Who created the Azoth world? And who are these girls anyway?
Collects issues #1-6.
In the near future all of humanity's needs are administered by a godlike artificial intelligence called Azoth, and it's Cassandra Price's humiliating job to do tech support on it. The advent of Azoth has deepened inequality and robbed humanity of its soul, but Cassandra's life changes when she finds herself dragged violently into Azoth itself, manifested as a secret digital world beneath our own, one built on a combination of magic and metadata. There she encounters a group of apparently magical girls locked in a war with mysterious monsters for the power to fix the world -- if only they could agree on what the world should be.
Why was she chosen? What is the omnipotent Hermeticorp up to? Who created the Azoth world? And who are these girls anyway?
Collects issues #1-6.
160 pages, Paperback
First published October 22, 2019
2 people are currently reading
208 people want to read
About the author
Zoe Quinn
27 books13 followersZoe Quinn lives in Maryland and still loves reading comic books. The Caped 6th Grader books are her first novels.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
December 30, 2019
What an incoherent cybermess of a story. This had something to do with the global internet of the future and how a few people were sucked into it and attacked by internet daemons. This had so many infodumps and narration in it I wondered if it was a prose story that was then illustrated.
Robbi Rodriquez's and Rico Renzi's art only added to the confusion. All those overly busy panels with too many effects made it difficult to follow the story through the art. Everything about this book was a complete miss for me.
Robbi Rodriquez's and Rico Renzi's art only added to the confusion. All those overly busy panels with too many effects made it difficult to follow the story through the art. Everything about this book was a complete miss for me.
October 22, 2019
You can find my review on my blog by clicking here.
Back in 2018, DC Comics saw to the relaunch of “DC Vertigo”, looking to give one of the most revolutionary comic book imprints the chance to kickstart another era of incredible creativity targetting a mature audience. With seven new comic book series (Border Town, Hex Wives, American Carnage, Goddess Mode, High Level, Second Coming and Safe Sex) as well as four others set within Neil Gaiman's classic Sandman universe, DC Vertigo was on course to reinvigorating the comic book business and expanding its reach, trying to accomplish what writers like Alan Moore have given to fans through the Vertigo imprint back in the day. Unfortunately, in June 2019, DC announced the end of this imprint as they wished to regroup their content into three distinct labels: DC Kids (young readers), DC (for readers age 13+), and DC Black Label (mature readers). While some of the new series was canceled since their announcement (Border Town, Hex Wives, Second Coming, and Safe Sex), sometimes before even publishing a couple of issues, the rest lived to see their publication, including a magical girl cyberpunk comic book series written by the Hugo Award nominee, Zoë Quinn, and drawn by Spider-Gwen's co-creator, Robbi Rodriguez.
What is Goddess Mode about? Set in the future, an all-powerful artificial intelligence called Azoth provides all of humankind's needs by making use of nanotechnology. Supported by Hermeticorp, its parent company, the world's deepest desires are all known as they tap into the minds of every individual. However, Cassandra Price, the low-level tech support who works at this very company that her father had helped see its rise knows that there's much more to this company now run by a despicable president than what the eye can see. Although she has never been able to expose them for the inequality and social atomization that they've instaurated in the world, it is on the day she is sucked into a secret virtual realm of mayhem and metadata within Azoth that she discovers the Oracles' war against a growing horde of Daemons. With consequences beyond her grasp on both the online and real-world, she discovers that her role is also far bigger than she ever wished it was.
This brand new comic book series definitely brings the desired “modern, socially relevant, high-concept, inventive” touch that was looked for in the rebirth of the DC Vertigo imprint. Without tackling the usual platitude associated with a future founded on technology where nothing but bad can come from it, this story brilliantly fuses technology and magic together, making it near impossible to distinguish one from the other, while also allowing the reader to understand that they are both nor bad or good but tools that we can control to do what we desire most. The world-building in Goddess Mode is also incredibly complex and multilayered, making it easy for the reader to immerse themselves in the cyberpunk universe.
What is especially notable from this comic book series is that it revisits some of the classic tropes seen in women-centric superhero stories. In this case, it suffices to imagine Sailor Moon within a cyberpunk era to see where I'm coming from. The story essentially revolves around Cassandra Price and portrays her as a broken and powerless lady who is reeled into a secret world where she's forced to make decisions that she never thought she'd ever had to take. Within this first volume, she goes through a sequence of self-discovery filled with revelations on what she can accomplish if she believes in herself and what she can do for others if she first understands what she is capable of.
Through friendship and hardship, the main character evolves before your eyes and it is wonderful to see it unfold, especially thanks to Robbi Rodriguez's artwork and Rico Renzi's colours. From epic splash pages to magical group chats occasionally substituting dialogue bubbles, the artwork is a treat for fans of a more aggressive retrofuturistic visual style. The kaleidoscopic colouring is incredible and vibrant from cover to cover, capturing the fusion between magic and technology with near perfection. Although the story is a bit verbose, it remains captivating even if the world-building is sometimes dumped on the reader without warning. While it is an intricate story, I do believe it would've been nice if it had more issues to flesh out the ideas. Instead, it personally often felt like there was too much flesh for too little bones.
Goddess Mode is an empowering, kaleidoscopic, and multi-layered story about overcoming your deepest fears by not only believing in yourself but those around you to ultimately bloom.
Yours truly,
Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/
December 10, 2019
There's some solid girl power in Goddess Mode, as well as a remarkably accessible technological world, but the plot fizzles hard and the villain is a no-show. I give Zoe Quinn credit for making it easy to parse some densely layered concepts (basically, super-powered Google Glass plus Tron) and for introducing a protagonist who (logically!) spends an entire issue disbelieving that she's the chosen one in this strange, sub-internet world. In so many narratives where the main character discovers she has great powers, she immediately accepts this radical change. Smartly, Goddess Mode let's the characters process things a bit.
Of course, this means that there's heavy dialogue and narration in Goddess Mode. Most of it is fine, well-written, charming. It does drone on, though, especially as we near the incomprehensible conclusion, which might have been comprehensible if there was a clear villain. Cass and her three musketeers keep fighting "daemons" in the Azoth, but despite all the info-dumping, it never becomes apparent who or what is pulling the strings. I'm not even sure if they won in the end. The final issue is a total mess. But hey, at least the art is good when it isn't a neon blur of indecipherable color waves.
Of course, this means that there's heavy dialogue and narration in Goddess Mode. Most of it is fine, well-written, charming. It does drone on, though, especially as we near the incomprehensible conclusion, which might have been comprehensible if there was a clear villain. Cass and her three musketeers keep fighting "daemons" in the Azoth, but despite all the info-dumping, it never becomes apparent who or what is pulling the strings. I'm not even sure if they won in the end. The final issue is a total mess. But hey, at least the art is good when it isn't a neon blur of indecipherable color waves.
June 16, 2021
1.5 stars
This was a fun read about 1 issue in. Goddess Mode is a dystopian sci-fi set in a Chinatown nightlife-like environment—aka what white people have appropriated and repackaged to sell as a "cyberpunk aesthetic" 🙄😂 Anyway, the first issue had a lot more exposition than I'd like. It was forgivable, but then it was the only kind of writing that moved the plot along. Despite it being a graphic novel with tons of beautiful and expressive art, there was an excessive amount of "telling" instead of "showing." The author would do things like explain in giant walls of text about people's abilities, the worldbuilding, even how people felt instead of just showing via any other means—the art, the plot, character development, anything! It was like the writer didn't believe the reader could be smart enough to figure things out if they wrote it any other way. The last issue really lost itself and became an incoherent mess. I gave stars because of the art and all of the sapphic-ness, but that's it. Everything else felt like a waste of time. People can flip through and just look at the art to figure things out.
This was a fun read about 1 issue in. Goddess Mode is a dystopian sci-fi set in a Chinatown nightlife-like environment—aka what white people have appropriated and repackaged to sell as a "cyberpunk aesthetic" 🙄😂 Anyway, the first issue had a lot more exposition than I'd like. It was forgivable, but then it was the only kind of writing that moved the plot along. Despite it being a graphic novel with tons of beautiful and expressive art, there was an excessive amount of "telling" instead of "showing." The author would do things like explain in giant walls of text about people's abilities, the worldbuilding, even how people felt instead of just showing via any other means—the art, the plot, character development, anything! It was like the writer didn't believe the reader could be smart enough to figure things out if they wrote it any other way. The last issue really lost itself and became an incoherent mess. I gave stars because of the art and all of the sapphic-ness, but that's it. Everything else felt like a waste of time. People can flip through and just look at the art to figure things out.
August 8, 2020
Didn’t understand most of this.... and I read the whole thing, hoping it would start to make some sense. Inconsistent characters (personality, behavior, design and coloring), hard to follow. Loved the art style, the palette, the runes/symbols used to represent characters in chats (though those were confusing enough at the end that even the characters were joking about not knowing who was talking). Humor fell flat, as did what would otherwise be heartfelt moments. Not much to recommend here... left me feeling dumb and confused.
June 27, 2019
All right two things 1) Having to wait for a plumber to arrive, and them being here for about three hours, gave me some extra reading time today. 2) If this series is one of the last things to come out of DC's Vertigo imprint before it was shuttered this past week, then I really believe that the imprint was in the process of making a significant impact and return.
A criticism here is that arguably none of the characters quite stick with me, or at least I'm having trouble remembering their all of their names (Galena, Cassandra, Hollywood, etc.), so please forgive me for that. However, in span of six issues (read as digital floppies) Quinn does a good job of fleshing each character out (as in Hollywood's realizing what do you do if you win the war and survive, what is the after?)
Cassandra, whom at the beginning is lowly freelance tech support gets hired by the biggest software company in the world, the one that developed the virtual reality world Azorth. Somewhere along the line some people began lapsing into comas, but appear to be surviving, somehow, in Azorth. In addition, it appears Daemons are leaking into reality and that is where Hollywood and her companions find and drag Cassandra into their war against the Daemons.
Yeah, magic is sort of used, but this is a science fiction story believe me. One that might even make some people think a little about their relationships with people, VR and online life.
A criticism here is that arguably none of the characters quite stick with me, or at least I'm having trouble remembering their all of their names (Galena, Cassandra, Hollywood, etc.), so please forgive me for that. However, in span of six issues (read as digital floppies) Quinn does a good job of fleshing each character out (as in Hollywood's realizing what do you do if you win the war and survive, what is the after?)
Cassandra, whom at the beginning is lowly freelance tech support gets hired by the biggest software company in the world, the one that developed the virtual reality world Azorth. Somewhere along the line some people began lapsing into comas, but appear to be surviving, somehow, in Azorth. In addition, it appears Daemons are leaking into reality and that is where Hollywood and her companions find and drag Cassandra into their war against the Daemons.
Yeah, magic is sort of used, but this is a science fiction story believe me. One that might even make some people think a little about their relationships with people, VR and online life.
November 2, 2019
This would probably earn 3 stars for someone who reads it just for the top level story of powerful women fighting internet demons, but it gets an extra star for people who know Zoe Quinn's story and can see how much the book reflects her life experiences in a metaphorical manner.
The art is amazing, like Tron on hallucinogens - it makes some of the action sequences a little hard to discern, but it works really well in all the other situations. The story is a bit convoluted, balancing real world and digital world stories and the people who can cross between the two, with avatars and real people dealing with problems on both the macro and micro levels. None of the characters are perfect, and they screw up a lot of the time, but their biggest super power is their willingness to keep trying, in spite of it all. It's pretty text-heavy, but justifies the use for the most part. It also tells a complete story, although I wouldn't mind seeing it continue in the new paradigm the story ends in.
The art is amazing, like Tron on hallucinogens - it makes some of the action sequences a little hard to discern, but it works really well in all the other situations. The story is a bit convoluted, balancing real world and digital world stories and the people who can cross between the two, with avatars and real people dealing with problems on both the macro and micro levels. None of the characters are perfect, and they screw up a lot of the time, but their biggest super power is their willingness to keep trying, in spite of it all. It's pretty text-heavy, but justifies the use for the most part. It also tells a complete story, although I wouldn't mind seeing it continue in the new paradigm the story ends in.
January 3, 2020
Goddess Mode is a neon colour splatter of underexplained concepts, trope-y characters, and scifi technobabble that sorely needed an editor. A common problem with graphic novels is the writer tries to fit too much into a short volume. Yes, most comics are quite compressed, but shape your story to the form. When in doubt, keep it simple! Goddess Mode definitely could use a lesson in streamlining things. While it tackles an interesting science-fantasy world, it's execution is muddy and difficult to follow.
January 19, 2020
DNFing this piece of shit....Apparently this future world demons control the internet...like Matrix. Plus this was so heavily dialogue filled that it really was no fun to read. Huge panels of text take up each and every page full of stuff but with no real explanation of wtf is going on.
January 2, 2023
I think it was hard to follow at times and had a LOT of exposition, but overall I think I liked cyberpunk Sailor Moon (complete with its own man in a tux and tophat to help out of nowhere!)
November 29, 2019
Not bad, but not great; very adolescent. The concept is cool, the art is fun, but the story is complicated for nothing. Felt like something a teenager came up with, but didn't know how to put together
December 30, 2019
Really, really enjoyable.
A fresh interesting take on science-fantasy and the living inside a machine trope and one that has a diverse cast and rejects traditional power structures subtly and beautifully. It never feels the need to point things out to you - the way that oppression and intellectual theft and hurting of our loved ones can lead to some of us becoming what others might view as monsters to get what we see as justice - it's just there, it just plays out in the character of Antimony. The same with the fact that those who think they are being resistant but are still using the master's tools - it's shown in Mary and how after realizing she's not the be all and end all to resistance she breaks down instead of moving forward like many privileged people do when faced with obstacles in resistance work.
Would recommend, probably one of my favorite graphic novels in the past couple of years. Really hope it becomes an ongoing.
A fresh interesting take on science-fantasy and the living inside a machine trope and one that has a diverse cast and rejects traditional power structures subtly and beautifully. It never feels the need to point things out to you - the way that oppression and intellectual theft and hurting of our loved ones can lead to some of us becoming what others might view as monsters to get what we see as justice - it's just there, it just plays out in the character of Antimony. The same with the fact that those who think they are being resistant but are still using the master's tools - it's shown in Mary and how after realizing she's not the be all and end all to resistance she breaks down instead of moving forward like many privileged people do when faced with obstacles in resistance work.
Would recommend, probably one of my favorite graphic novels in the past couple of years. Really hope it becomes an ongoing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 12, 2019
This Book is far from being bad and I really liked it ( see? 3 stars = liked it).
The art was slightly above average mainstream by playing with a digitalized theme but also thanks to this it was sometimes hard to read it.
The story starts kinda like a classic predictable story with few plot twists but in the end, it seems a little bit harsh and I think that it could use at least one more issue, cause when there is apocalypse happening ...it rly does not feel like more catastrophe than a little disturbance during afternoon tea.
Overal is above average comics mix of superheroes and crazy science fiction. Thumb up for Zoe Quinn and I will be looking forward her next work.
The art was slightly above average mainstream by playing with a digitalized theme but also thanks to this it was sometimes hard to read it.
The story starts kinda like a classic predictable story with few plot twists but in the end, it seems a little bit harsh and I think that it could use at least one more issue, cause when there is apocalypse happening ...it rly does not feel like more catastrophe than a little disturbance during afternoon tea.
Overal is above average comics mix of superheroes and crazy science fiction. Thumb up for Zoe Quinn and I will be looking forward her next work.
October 27, 2019
Great, ridiculous fun! This feels like not just old-school Vertigo, but the Helix imprint and the Cyberella title from back in the day. Loved the art, the development of the characters and their world - and the threats to it. If you don't mind being jerked around and confused by big changes, this is recommended.
March 3, 2020
Grabbed this on my lunch break because I forgot my book and IT WAS SO GOOD
March 9, 2021
Some interesting ideas but very hard to follow.
December 26, 2019
the meme references make sure this will be dated in a blink
July 13, 2020
The story could be interesting, but after vol. 1 it just keeps getting worse. The dialogue is written as if it's some kind of twitter conversation and doesn't add much to the story.
The characters get more generic and uninteresting as the story progresses. The initial introductions are also very unnatural. The world is interesting, but world building isn't done in a natural way while telling the story.
The art is cool, some panels feel a bit rushed but it's honestly the only thing that kept me reading.
Would've expected more from Zoe Quinn, she seems like a fun and glib woman.
The characters get more generic and uninteresting as the story progresses. The initial introductions are also very unnatural. The world is interesting, but world building isn't done in a natural way while telling the story.
The art is cool, some panels feel a bit rushed but it's honestly the only thing that kept me reading.
Would've expected more from Zoe Quinn, she seems like a fun and glib woman.
January 23, 2020
Hard one to rate. This feels like a world that should live and breathe off the page: the concept of techno-magic is nothing new, but I really liked the female-led resistance gang in this world.
Maybe that's my main issue, this series feels like a bunch of random other notes thrown together that should result in something fantastic, but instead it just hits some of the same chords.
Maybe that's my main issue, this series feels like a bunch of random other notes thrown together that should result in something fantastic, but instead it just hits some of the same chords.
January 29, 2020
Cyberpunk magical girl series. That was all I needed to know, and I did enjoy it. The ending felt a bit murky, though.
September 9, 2021
This book feels like the creative lovechild of a William Gibson novel and the anime series Puella Magi Madoka Magica, and I absolutely LOVED it. Author Zoe Quinn has carefully crafted a complex and beautiful story, full of rich world building and characters that absolutely come to life on the page. The story is complicated, and at times feels confusing, but it rewards the patient reader as the details teased out over the story's six issues give the world greater form and meaning. I've seen some reviews complain about the "info dumps" but I found all of the exposition to be presented organically and in very digestible bites. It's just that some of it only makes sense retroactively after you're given later bits of context (which makes me immediately want to reread it).
The characters are all very well defined and each of the Tall Poppies has a wonderfully unique voice and personality. What I found particularly fun were pages that depicted the group chat shared by the Poppies (each character given a color and a symbol for her text boxes). I've read a lot of comics that have tried to depict chat rooms, and I cannot think of one that has done it better than this. The chats feel organic, the individual voices realistic, and each character has a distinct writing/typing style that makes their text readily identifiable. It seems like such a simple thing but I've never seen another book portray it this well.
The art by Robbi Rodriguez and Rico Renzi is a perfect match to this story--it's frenetic, busy, and delightfully colorful--and therefore perfectly suited to portraying the chaotic and troubled digital world of Azoth. Rodriguez's character designs are wonderful as well, giving us insight into each of the Poppies' personalities by their overall style.
This book feels like it was intended to be a complete story, but it offers up some wonderfully intriguing hooks near the end that could give the story some new direction, were the creators to want to do a sequel. I'm a bit torn on that--much as I am VERY interested in learning more about one fascinating new development that occurs right before the ending, the story feels like it concludes on such a poetically perfect note that I worry that to do more might detract from what we have now. I think the future of this story may best be left to the readers' imaginations.
I highly recommend this story with the caveat that it's not going to be for everyone. It requires a fair amount of patience as the world slowly reveals itself to you, but if it turns out to be your kind of jam, it's likely to make quite an impression on you. This is the kind of rare comic that has such a wonderful marriage of story and art that the panels actually have me hearing music as I read them. Definitely my favorite read of 2021 so far.
The characters are all very well defined and each of the Tall Poppies has a wonderfully unique voice and personality. What I found particularly fun were pages that depicted the group chat shared by the Poppies (each character given a color and a symbol for her text boxes). I've read a lot of comics that have tried to depict chat rooms, and I cannot think of one that has done it better than this. The chats feel organic, the individual voices realistic, and each character has a distinct writing/typing style that makes their text readily identifiable. It seems like such a simple thing but I've never seen another book portray it this well.
The art by Robbi Rodriguez and Rico Renzi is a perfect match to this story--it's frenetic, busy, and delightfully colorful--and therefore perfectly suited to portraying the chaotic and troubled digital world of Azoth. Rodriguez's character designs are wonderful as well, giving us insight into each of the Poppies' personalities by their overall style.
This book feels like it was intended to be a complete story, but it offers up some wonderfully intriguing hooks near the end that could give the story some new direction, were the creators to want to do a sequel. I'm a bit torn on that--much as I am VERY interested in learning more about one fascinating new development that occurs right before the ending, the story feels like it concludes on such a poetically perfect note that I worry that to do more might detract from what we have now. I think the future of this story may best be left to the readers' imaginations.
I highly recommend this story with the caveat that it's not going to be for everyone. It requires a fair amount of patience as the world slowly reveals itself to you, but if it turns out to be your kind of jam, it's likely to make quite an impression on you. This is the kind of rare comic that has such a wonderful marriage of story and art that the panels actually have me hearing music as I read them. Definitely my favorite read of 2021 so far.
September 28, 2020
A cyberpunk twist on the magical girl genre with some heavy social commentary and luminous colours. Madoka Magica meets the Matrix on acid I guess.
It's fair to say Quinn's experience at the centre of a certain culture war have deeply influenced the story, characters and world building. This book has a lot to say about how the internet has affected people for good and for ill and uses the fantastical cliches of the genre to personify trolls, those targeted by them, social networks and so on. On the one hand this lets her retell the stories of those crushed by doxxing and cyber-harrasment and repaint them as warriors who have survived their trauma and work to make a better world. However it feels like there simply weren't enough panels to let the world come together naturally, so there's a lot of "as you know bob" and sudden plot twists. A pretty common flaw in many comics though so easily overlooked.
The art and colours are what really makes this volume stand out though, it's often a bit chaotic and scrappy but that suits the the nature of the story. The characters always look great and flourescent colour palate makes for lots of attractive scenes.
However, the real kicker was that the digital copy of the trade I read finished with an ad for the re-print of Transmetropolitan which now seems like a dark (though almost certainly unintentional) joke.
It's fair to say Quinn's experience at the centre of a certain culture war have deeply influenced the story, characters and world building. This book has a lot to say about how the internet has affected people for good and for ill and uses the fantastical cliches of the genre to personify trolls, those targeted by them, social networks and so on. On the one hand this lets her retell the stories of those crushed by doxxing and cyber-harrasment and repaint them as warriors who have survived their trauma and work to make a better world. However it feels like there simply weren't enough panels to let the world come together naturally, so there's a lot of "as you know bob" and sudden plot twists. A pretty common flaw in many comics though so easily overlooked.
The art and colours are what really makes this volume stand out though, it's often a bit chaotic and scrappy but that suits the the nature of the story. The characters always look great and flourescent colour palate makes for lots of attractive scenes.
However, the real kicker was that the digital copy of the trade I read finished with an ad for the re-print of Transmetropolitan which now seems like a dark (though almost certainly unintentional) joke.
November 11, 2019
The art is gorgeous, in its rich hyper-saturated style. When the art is at its most intricate (especially in the last chapter), it made me wish the pages were poster-sized, as some panels feel like they deserve so much more than the few inches they get on the page.
I had a hard time interpreting what was going on in the fight scenes. That bothered me at first, until I realized that what's being offered here is not in the blow-by-blow action. Despite the trappings of magical girls battling demons in a fantastic realm, this isn't an action move. Or even an adventure story.
The story is an emotional one, and I couldn't help but see much of the author in our protagonist.
And it's allegorical. As allegory, I think it's lacking in subtlety, but I certainly found it relatable and relevant.
I had to get over a few of my expectations and learn what this story was not, and in reviewing it I feel like I ought to provide a better idea of that it is, so you can decide if it's a good match for you. I think I won't. That might be because I'm finding it difficult, but I think it sounds better if I say I don't want to leave you with a different set of (potentially misleading) expectations.
I'm glad to have read it.
I had a hard time interpreting what was going on in the fight scenes. That bothered me at first, until I realized that what's being offered here is not in the blow-by-blow action. Despite the trappings of magical girls battling demons in a fantastic realm, this isn't an action move. Or even an adventure story.
The story is an emotional one, and I couldn't help but see much of the author in our protagonist.
And it's allegorical. As allegory, I think it's lacking in subtlety, but I certainly found it relatable and relevant.
I had to get over a few of my expectations and learn what this story was not, and in reviewing it I feel like I ought to provide a better idea of that it is, so you can decide if it's a good match for you. I think I won't. That might be because I'm finding it difficult, but I think it sounds better if I say I don't want to leave you with a different set of (potentially misleading) expectations.
I'm glad to have read it.
May 22, 2020
Goddess Mode by Zoë Quinn, Robbi Rodriguez, and Rico Renzi is frenetic, bold, and filled to the brim with ideas and color. The story is sort of a magical girl anime reimagined for a cyber-punk future with a forecast of where modern technology will lead us.
As fun as this comic is, sometimes the writing stumbles because it feels like Quinn is trying to shove all of their ideas for their perfect comic into each issue, which makes it feel a little overwhelming and confusing. To the same extent, the art and neon feels a little same-y sometimes because everything is so stylized. It’s almost as if the writing and art is so grand and vibrant that things just start to blend together.
This doesn’t mean the comic is bad by any means. I just think that if this was given 2 more issues to breathe, we may be looking at one of the best comics of 2019 (to be fair, it’s on plenty of best of lists). I also appreciate that Quinn directly confronts some aspects of their real life and how technology and sexist hatemongerers almost ruined it. Quinn came out stronger and so does the comic. I’m excited to see what else Quinn comes out with and see if this same team hangs around for even more content.
As fun as this comic is, sometimes the writing stumbles because it feels like Quinn is trying to shove all of their ideas for their perfect comic into each issue, which makes it feel a little overwhelming and confusing. To the same extent, the art and neon feels a little same-y sometimes because everything is so stylized. It’s almost as if the writing and art is so grand and vibrant that things just start to blend together.
This doesn’t mean the comic is bad by any means. I just think that if this was given 2 more issues to breathe, we may be looking at one of the best comics of 2019 (to be fair, it’s on plenty of best of lists). I also appreciate that Quinn directly confronts some aspects of their real life and how technology and sexist hatemongerers almost ruined it. Quinn came out stronger and so does the comic. I’m excited to see what else Quinn comes out with and see if this same team hangs around for even more content.
August 31, 2020
Visualmente muito interessante, com um estilo colorido, luminoso e garrido que mistura estéticas cyberpunk, mangá e glitch. A história parte de uma excelente premissa. Num mundo futuro onde todos estão dependentes de uma inteligência artificial à escala global, detida por uma mega-corporação, para conhecimento, entretenimento e até sobrevivência, há uma convergência entre a realidade física e a virtual através de manifestações de misticismo. É pegar na ideia de código computacional como análogo às incantações de magia e incorporar numa história onde adolescentes combatem os demónios que se escondem no código virtual. O desenvolvimento narrativo é simplista, mas o traço e a cor mantêm-se sempre num elevado nível de exuberância.
November 13, 2019
This book has some really great art. All of the visuals were really stunning.
However, the story seems very sparse. You don’t really get to know any of the characters very well. Sometimes I was unsure which character was talking because there was no character trait that was really differentiating them.
The world they live in seems really interesting and cool. What is Azoth, the program everyone talks about? That question will not be answered. It’s maybe a VR/AR?
There will be a lot of questions that just aren’t answered. And, maybe they will be in future volumes, but I needed a few more from this book.
However, the story seems very sparse. You don’t really get to know any of the characters very well. Sometimes I was unsure which character was talking because there was no character trait that was really differentiating them.
The world they live in seems really interesting and cool. What is Azoth, the program everyone talks about? That question will not be answered. It’s maybe a VR/AR?
There will be a lot of questions that just aren’t answered. And, maybe they will be in future volumes, but I needed a few more from this book.
March 16, 2020
More like 4.5 stars, but you can't do half-stars on Goodreads. I only docked it by half a star because I found the "group chat" at the end a little confusing - I didn't know who the green, seafoam, and light purple chat bubbles belonged to.
I did find I had to re-read some parts of the story because it's a bit techy-techy, and I only have a basic understanding of computer science, but it's still worth reading. It's kind of like "Sailor Moon meets Ready Player One". Or "Sailor Moon meets Reboot". You get the picture.
I did find I had to re-read some parts of the story because it's a bit techy-techy, and I only have a basic understanding of computer science, but it's still worth reading. It's kind of like "Sailor Moon meets Ready Player One". Or "Sailor Moon meets Reboot". You get the picture.
September 9, 2023
🍍 Read for the 2023 Weaponized Bingo of Pineapple-y Doom™ (WBoPD™) challenge at Weaponized Pineapples 🍍
Bingo Images:
•• 18. Cyber Shaman ••
⚡ 3rd Bingo ⚡
Bingo Images:
September 26, 2022
Oh dear! This made no sense! I THINK the overall idea was a world-wide internet was always on in people's minds and it kinda separated the classes, but that part was abandoned quickly. And some people have a disease. But man, could I not ever tell who was talking, acting, what was happening, the actual world I was reading about, or...anything at all. At one point a character (who? dunno) says "This is the closest we've gotten to an ending yet." and I thought, "What was the middle! Or beginning!"
Anyway, this was a big miss for me.
Anyway, this was a big miss for me.
March 22, 2025
This is the definition of an “I’m not mad, just disappointed” sort of two stars. There were plenty of ideas here I liked, but the writing was too messy to back them up. Characters felt either underdeveloped or inconsistent, and while some of the dialogue did make me chuckle, it definitely wasn’t either of the times the dialogue was literally just internet memes (and one of these lines was supposed to be *serious*). I’d like to see more comics try things like this, but with better execution, I suppose.
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