Supergod #1 is the debut issue of a new five-part miniseries from Avatar press, written by Warren Ellis, with artwork by Garrie Gastony.

Supergod is a superhuman comic, but not the sort of affair where you’ll see men flying around with their underwear on over their trousers, and saving people from burning buildings. In fact, if you are familiar with Ellis’ work at Avatar Press, you will know that this is the third superhuman series which he has produced for the publishing house, all of which take a somewhat alternative look at the superhero mythos. In short, these three series, Black Summer, No Hero, and now Supergod, take a more realistic look at what would happen if there were a small number of individuals in the world in possession of god like powers. The stories tend to focus on these individuals becoming corrupt, and abusing their new found powers.

Supergod opens on a scene of a man named Simon Reddin, who is recording a message for someone called Tommy. Reddin says that his recording is “an oral history of how we all died”, and begins talking about the story of the Golden Calf from the Old Testament, and says that mankind is always building amazing creatures that will save the world, which didn’t work out too well… the ‘camera’ then pans back to show us that Reddin is sitting by the river Thames, while London burns in the background!

Reddin then goes on to give the reader a history of the superhuman projects of the 20th century. Apparently it all started with the British, who were the the first to launch a rocket into space (in secret in 1955). The Brits decided to put three astronauts on a poorly shielded rocket, and leave them drifting in space for a while, just to see the effects that cosmic rays etc. had on them (a bit of a nod to the way in which the Fantastic Four gained their powers). What came back was nothing like they expected. The three astronauts had fused together with alien mycological mass, to make a three headed giant!

India was next, when they created a superhuman in the appearance of Krishna, with the aim that the creature would use it’s god like powers to save India, and improve the quality of life of its people. Krishna decided that India’s biggest threat was overpopulation, and so began a culling, in order to remove the pressure on the ecosystem!

In the last few pages we get a quick taster of superhumans built by the Iranians, which they intend to use to commune with god, and a Rastafarian superhuman created by the Somalians. The book closes by hinting at the superhuman created by the USA, named Jerry Craven… mark those initials!

If you are familiar with Black Summer and No Hero you’ll know that Ellis sometimes likes to draw a line of decency in the sand, then proceeds to piss all over it. For example, No Hero had a scene where the protagonist ripped a mans spine out, then strapped it to his crotch and pretended it was his penis. Hell, it made me laugh out loud, but I know a few people who dropped the series immediately after that issue. There is some of that sort of high-jinx in this issue, but so far this series seems to be a lot less gory and grotesqueness than No Hero, though that may completely change next issue, which is half the fun with a Warren Ellis story!

In terms of storyline, this one is far more compelling than No Hero (which I enjoyed), and has a far more cerebral quality than its predecessor. Ellis is playing with a lot of global religion and politics in this book, and appears to have done exhaustive research, which is relayed in the voice-over by Simon Reddin.

The artwork on the series is by an artist called Garrie Gastony, who I’ve never heard of before, and can find very little reference to online, so I’ll have to assume that he is an industry newcomer. If this is the case, then color me impressed, because Gastony’s artwork is rather wonderful, and he handles everything Warren Ellis throws at him with the apparent ease of a seasoned professional.

Supergod #1 was a thrilling read, and is highly recommended for those who like their superheros to be a little less hero, and a lot more Holy! If this debut issue is anything to go by, then Supergod could be Warren Ellis’ best Avatar Press miniseries yet! Considering the body of work that Ellis has put of through Avatar, that is really saying something!

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