Godfell #4 // Review
Zanzi and Neth have made it all the way to God’s intestines. It has not been a pleasant journey through the corpse of a major deity, but they’re learning so much, and they have made it so far. Now, they face new dangers that they haven’t encountered before in Godfell #4. Writer Christopher Sebela continues to do interesting work with a provocative concept that is conjured to the page by artist Ben Hennessy and colorist Vittorio Astone. The story still hasn’t entirely lived up to Sebela’s premise, but it’s a very unique and distinct journey, which is quite an accomplishment for the high fantasy genre.
The Nihli have captured Zanzi and Neth. Neth is particularly upset about this. The Nihli are monsters. Naturally, the Nihli would tend to think otherwise...thinking of the humans as monsters in their own way. Zanzi will try to convince Neth to halt her aggressions, but it won’t be easy. Perhaps if they can stick around long enough and not get killed, Zanzi and Neth might learn a little bit about history before proceeding to other parts of the corpse of God. It’s not going to be easy: the Nihli think of humans as savages.
Sebela’s series opened with the death of God and proceeded to begin a post-mortem journey through the deity’s corpse. Since then, it’s ceased to live up to the potential of the premise. Sebela has a hell of a lot of ideas that he wants to explore in the confines of the series, and not all of them fit too terribly well into the central journey. As a result, the story seems to restlessly cram way too much story into the corpse of God. It’s too bad. Zanzi and Neth continue to seem like really, really interesting characters. The Nihli are potentially provocative as well. The script of the fourth issue is way too bogged down in storytelling and backstory to explore the potential of the premise or the appeal of the characters.
Hennessy’s visuals deliver a richly-conceived fantasy world that seems to have been pulled entirely out of another realm of existence. There’s weight and bulk to the vicious brutality of Godfell...but without a more central momentum to the action that’s taking place, Hennessy can’t do a whole lot with the action to make it strike the page in a compelling way. Zanzi and Neth look suitably heroic. The monsters and creatures that they encounter in the fourth issue have a deliciously nightmarish quality about them.
Astone grants the visuals a rich spectrum of color that feels somewhat immersive. It all looks good. It’s too bad the story assembling around the edges of the art doesn’t have a bit more momentum. Sebela and Hennessy have a really unique fantasy story on their hands. If they can manage to frame that story with just a little more focus, it’ll go a long way towards making a classic.
