Advance Comic Review – Alpha Gods: Betrayal #1

Alpha Gods is an original superhero team book from UK based independent comic company Orang Utan Comics. ‘Betrayal’ is the second volume of Alpha Gods, and follows on from the original two-part Alpha Gods series that was released earlier this year (see review here.) Alpha Gods is written by Ian Sharman, with art by Ezequiel Pineda, and colours by Mauro Barbosa. The books also features a gorgeous fully painted cover by the amazing Azim Akberali, shown below:

Alpha Gods is set in the year 2086, a time when a new breed on humans has emerged, called Extra Humans. Extra Humans is a catch all term for anyone with “super powers”, or mutations that give them supernatural powers etc. The rest of humanity began to panic when Extra Humans first emerged, so in 2050 the Department for Extra Human Affairs (DEHA) was founded, with the remit of containing the problem. By 2086 the tensions between Humans and Extra Humans has escalated to flash point, so the DEHA has formed a team, composed of Extra Humans, tasked with policing the Extra Human community. This team is called the Alpha Gods.

Alpha Gods: Betrayal #1 opens with the team launching a raid on a high-rise building that is the suspected stronghold of an extra-human criminal. The location is heavily guarded by robotic sentries, and a large battle ensues. We soon learn that the team is here to rescue a young girl from being murdered at the hands of the twisted warlock Lester Cravely. The team turn up in the nick of time, just as Cravely is raising the knife to execute her. The team then makes there escape, pursued by a legion of robotic guards, but as they reach the roof and their waiting plane, they find a female extra-human waiting there for them. This woman attacks Paladin, the team leader, and for some reason seems to know his real name, and lots of details bout his life. Paladin is confused, but doesn’t have time to pursue the issue, as he has to make his escape before the robot troopers catch up with him.

Back at base, we discover that the young girl that the team rescued is actually an extra human that Cravely bred to be able to open gateways between dimensions. The girl, Selena, would not comply with Cravely’s wishes, and locked her ability on to a dimension of nothingness, rendering her powers useless to him, so he decided to execute her. It seems that Cravely is working for Malak, a Nephlim (preogeny of angels and mankind), and is working on ways to bring Malak’s fathers, the fallen angels, back to the mortal plane.

To find out more about what is going on, team members Paladin and Outrage are sent to see Ethal Nuaragi, a Spartelian, who the DEHA beleve may have important information about Malak and his activities. However, little do they know that Malak has dispatched an agent to dispose of Nuargi, Paladin’s extra-human mystery woman… will the team make it there in time? Who is this mystery woman, and how does she know so much about Paladian? Find out more when Alpha Gods: Betrayal #1 hits later this year…

Ian Sharman has created a refreshingly original take on the superhero team book in Alpha Gods. The book bears some similarly with the X-Men titles, but is unbound by years of slavish continuity, and is set in a all-new original world, where anything is possible. Sharman’s plot is fresh and original, and takes the concept of the superhero book and mixes in elements of the supernatural and the extra terrestrial, to create something far more than the sum of its parts. The dialogue in the book feels really organic and never forced, and is perfects for an all-ages readership. The artwork by Ezequiel Pineda’s artwork is also incredibly impressive, his line work is really vibrant, and his grasp of physique and facial expression makes the characters just pop out of the page. Mauro Barbosa’s use of colour is also really good, and contributes greatly to the moody sci-fi feel of the book.

Alpha Gods: Betrayal is a fantastic comic book, and is a real breath of fresh air in a market filled with superhero books from the big two, where you know that the characters are never in any real danger, because they are worth more to the companies alive than dead. In Alpha Gods Sharman is free to do what he wants, and how he wants it, so you never know what is going to happen next. This is a fantastic series, and and I can’t wait to read more!