Set in the days prior to the Biblical flood that covered the earth and washed away the unholiness that had become humanity, The Goddamed is a fictional account of Cain, the son of Adam, who for 1600 years has sought death, but been denied it by God. Cain committed the first murder (of his brother Abel), and as punishment is refused his own death. He's watched the world waste away into the cesspool that it is during the days before the flood. While he searches for the Nephilim in the hopes that their "semi"-divine power will end his life he comes across Noah, a vicious slaver who's collecting animals and building his famous ark, and finally finds something to live for.
Witten by Jason Aaron and illustrated by R.M. Guéra for Image Comics, The Goddamned was first released in 2016 and made numerous top comic lists for that year. When I picked it up, I had no idea what it was about, It was one of the comics I purchased following my $5000 win at Chapters last Christmas when I was exploring the realm of comic books, something that has always intimated me. I grew up on Star Wars comics and that's it. How was I supposed to know what was good or not?
But the premise of this comic book series hooked me. Growing up hearing about the stories of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and Noah, I was always interested in that time following the murder of Abel, and the flood. The Bible doesn't go into great detail of that time, but mentions things like the Nephilim and the wickedness that had taken man, and for some reason I always wanted to know more about that time. What was so horrible about the earth that God wanted to wipe it clean? And what/who were the Nephilim, what did they look like? Were they the race of giants from the Bible? Were they something more mythical and powerful? That whole span of 1600 years is steeped in mystery and fantasy, and as a fantasy author, I just find that era interesting, and I love the various interpretations of both Noah's story and the culture of man before the flood. For example, I loved Darren Aronofsky's 2014 film Noah... and I don't know anyone who liked it, it's just an interesting time period when things were so different.
While I liked the premise of The Goddamned, I was a little let down by the comic as a whole. Remember, I'm new to comics (and also a hard critic), and the more I read them, the more I wish they were graphic-novel-ish. I'm often left unsatisfied by the pacing of comic stories, I want something meaty, something in depth, and often comic books feel a little shallow and quick. I basically want a literary novel with pictures, that's what I'm looking for, and I rarely get something like that. Pacing aside, I was also a little let down by the story as a whole. It has an amazing premise, with an interesting lead character, and even the portrayal of Noah is interesting and unique, but there's hardly any depth to these characters, I never felt connected to either Cain or Noah, or anyone else for that matter, It seemed more interested in portraying shocking visuals that help depict how far man has fallen, than creating any character depth. I also didn't really enjoy the writing... It didn't feel genuine to me. I mean, every other word was a curse word. I don't have anything against cursing, but when every single character's dialogue is weighed down by it, it almost feels a little unintelligent to me. On the other hand, I loved Cain's internal dialogue, it really showed how torn he was as a man, how depressed he was, and how he felt like the world being in the state that it was in, was all his fault.
That being said, I am curious to see how the story progresses from here and I will definitely be continuing with this comic series. I think I just to lower or change my opinions when it comes to reviewing comic books, because I think I go into them expecting some literary classic illuminated with images, and that's just not realistic. But I'm also new to comics, new to the medium, new to comics outside of the Star Wars universe, and I'm slowly learning to change my expectations and try things out of my science-fiction/fantasy norm. So who knows, I could come back to this comic in a few years and be blown away by it!
