Godfell‘s first issue is the story of a warrior’s journey home. Whether it’s because she’s weary or I am, the journey so far feels like a chore.
Godfell #1
Jim Campbell (Letterer), Triona Farrell (Colorist), Ben Hennessy (Artist), Christopher Sebela (Writer)
Vault Comics
February 22, 2023
It’s a frustrating pronouncement to make because if there’s one thing I love, it’s a comic about a warrior lady. To this day, I will relentlessly talk up the Keatinge/Campbell Glory revival in its all-too-brief brilliance! So I take no joy in pronouncing this first issue as flat and uninspiring.
Godfell #1 sets up its world well enough. Six societies are affected as a god falls from the sky to land dead on the ground. Two of those societies, the Dominion and the Rule, are at war; when the story picks up, the Rule has just routed a castle belonging to the Dominion. I cannot tell you more than that, because the name of the castle, nor its importance, is never given; I have no idea what this victory means for either nation, despite a preponderance of narration.
That may be the thing that is dragging me down about this book. It’s certainly not the art; Ben Hennessy’s linework and composition are dynamic and energetic when they’re allowed to be, and Triona Farrell’s colors are well-known here at WWAC (we love her). But due to a combination of first-issue establishment-setting and a taciturn lead in Zanzi Vuiline, the vast majority of the book’s story is delivered by narration. That narration tries in the opening to establish the tone of a storyteller, but it’s held back, either by the translation of what should be spoken word to caption boxes or by a simple failure to properly present those caption boxes with the necessary aesthetics that might draw a reader in. I don’t suppose it matters; whether by the medium or by issues of craft, it’s limited all the same.
I want to care about Zanzi, but I don’t know anything about her except her name, her gruffness, and that she’s good at fighting. When she meets another woman on the road, she’s quick to say that while they can travel alongside each other, they owe each other nothing. This doesn’t change throughout the story; she’s unwilling to help others, having spent years fighting for a cause not her own. That’s a fine character trait, but when it’s all one has, the result is a flat tale.
I don’t have a reason to care about this character yet, who she is, or what she does, and because of that, I don’t know that I have a reason to keep reading beyond this issue. Perhaps the only reveal of note is the way the body of the fallen god looks when the story’s leads finally come across it; it resembles nothing so much as a giant sentai warrior of some sort. If that’s the case, and this story is a fusion of those two disparate concepts, then perhaps there might just be enough to stay interested. I suppose time will tell.
