So I’ll be honest, I don’t know much about Archaia Comics or Chandra Free,
The God Machine’s creator. If I had to name a well known story with similar characters I’d have to say this comic is a cross between Disney characters like Jafar from
Aladdin and a dark Tim Burton style art from
A Nightmare Before Christmas. Overall…let’s just say this preview book grabbed me from the very beginning.
The story revolves around Guy Salvatore and his supposed journey to madness as he pines for his lost love Alexander “Sith” Ryder, who has recently passed. The characters are all intriguing and different teenagers going through various things that teenagers go through. The writing is sharp and entertaining and avoids the feel of another boring teen angst-fest. In a lot of the scenes Guy reminds me of a much less badass and more confused Vash the Stampede from the manga
Trigun. To learn more about Guy’s slow descent into madness and for a brief overview of this preview issue read on…
Guy starts off waking up to the television tuned into Public Access TV which currently is playing All Goth Channel programming. The show that comes on is Mr. Insane Sock Puppet. The character cracks me up, and Guy’s fascination with the show quickly fades as the puppet gets a little crazier with his suggestions. With that, Guy rushes upstairs to prepare for school, but while looking in the mirror a demon appears and suddenly asks for the floss. When Guy gives it to him, the Demon disappears. After this brief but troubling encounter Guy vows to give up Chinese food after 2 AM.
At school we are introduced to Guy’s friends Mari and Andrew. Mari is a bubbly and cheerful girl, while Andrew comes packaged in dark clothes and a Goth attitude. Andrew makes a passing comment about Sith’s death prompting an explosion from Guy that breaks Andrew out of character.
Back at home that night Guy goes into the kitchen at 2:30 AM to find more little otherworldly creatures stealing food from his kitchen. When they vanish in a flash Guy gets worried because he doesn’t know what the heck he did with the food. Are the monsters he keeps seeing real or just in his head? While he is sleeping he dreams of Sith, but that dream quickly turns to a nightmare. Sith vanishes and another woman takes her place. This beautiful blond quickly transforms into a hideous creature, and with a kiss Guy dissolves grotesquely away in his dream awaking with a start at 3 AM. NOT a good night’s sleep.
From here we shift into the other major setting for the book which is, as far as I can tell, the realm of the gods. Good God resides in heaven where a receptionist named Secretary Jay takes her messages. She appears reading the worldly tabloids and seems to be almost an administrator. She doesn’t really appear to enjoy the work, which I could only describe as being portrayed as something similar to the CEO of a major corporation…a nice touch. In Hell, Evil God hangs out and he appears to be a nerd-like figure with a mean streak. Apparently he also has the spare keys to Heaven, and he and Good God hang out from time to time. Limbo God is their brother, and oversees the Limbo Dimension. Apparently the spare key to Heaven is in a grave in the Earthly world.
The gods go to retrieve the key and find themselves in the same graveyard where Guy is sitting at Sith’s grave. He sees them digging up the grave and chased after them to confront them. They find the key just as Guy arrives threatening to call the police. As Evil God begs to get out of there, Good God and Guy lock eyes and seem to almost fall for each other. They vanish in a flash and Guy is left to figure out once again if he is truly going mad. As he breaks down a mysterious elongated figure appears to tell him that it is the gods’ fault these things have happened. Who could this figure be? Why it is Satan of course!
Satan explains that Guy’s dreams and visions are not hallucinations, but actual openings through his mind to dimensions known as the Dream Worlds. Apparently Sith is trapped in the dream worlds, and Guy can save her, indeed he must. Sith should not be there, and if she disappears into the fabric of the universe it will throw off the balance of existence. Guy doesn’t believe him, and Satan vanishes in a fireball leaving behind a very confused, frightened, concerned, and depressed young man.
The cast of characters is set and it is very intriguing. This smartly written, funny, and strangely insightful look into the unraveling mind of the main character Guy has drawn me to this book. The interplay between the gods is lighthearted and amusing, while the woman Sickness in Guy’s dream is beautiful and grotesque all at once. Satan, as he almost always does, remains a mystery figure for now. While I didn’t know of Archaia Comics before this comic, I’m more then aware of them know and looking forward to seeing how this book turns out. It looks to be a great book on teen loss, the god, and other dimensions only with a fresh perspective and some unique characters and ideas.
Check out some interiors below and look for The God Machine OGN Preview Book in comic stores.
So I’ll be honest, I don’t know much about Archaia Comics or Chandra Free, The God Machine’s creator. If I had to name a well known story with similar characters I’d have to say this comic is a cross between Disney characters like Jafar from Aladdin and a dark Tim Burton style art from A Nightmare Before Christmas. Overall…let’s just say this preview book grabbed me from the very beginning.
The story revolves around Guy Salvatore and his supposed journey to madness as he pines for his lost love Alexander “Sith” Ryder, who has recently passed. The characters are all intriguing and different teenagers going through various things that teenagers go through. The writing is sharp and entertaining and avoids the feel of another boring teen angst-fest. In a lot of the scenes Guy reminds me of a much less badass and more confused Vash the Stampede from the manga Trigun. To learn more about Guy’s slow descent into madness and for a brief overview of this preview issue read on…
Guy starts off waking up to the television tuned into Public Access TV which currently is playing All Goth Channel programming. The show that comes on is Mr. Insane Sock Puppet. The character cracks me up, and Guy’s fascination with the show quickly fades as the puppet gets a little crazier with his suggestions. With that, Guy rushes upstairs to prepare for school, but while looking in the mirror a demon appears and suddenly asks for the floss. When Guy gives it to him, the Demon disappears. After this brief but troubling encounter Guy vows to give up Chinese food after 2 AM.
At school we are introduced to Guy’s friends Mari and Andrew. Mari is a bubbly and cheerful girl, while Andrew comes packaged in dark clothes and a Goth attitude. Andrew makes a passing comment about Sith’s death prompting an explosion from Guy that breaks Andrew out of character.
Back at home that night Guy goes into the kitchen at 2:30 AM to find more little otherworldly creatures stealing food from his kitchen. When they vanish in a flash Guy gets worried because he doesn’t know what the heck he did with the food. Are the monsters he keeps seeing real or just in his head? While he is sleeping he dreams of Sith, but that dream quickly turns to a nightmare. Sith vanishes and another woman takes her place. This beautiful blond quickly transforms into a hideous creature, and with a kiss Guy dissolves grotesquely away in his dream awaking with a start at 3 AM. NOT a good night’s sleep.
From here we shift into the other major setting for the book which is, as far as I can tell, the realm of the gods. Good God resides in heaven where a receptionist named Secretary Jay takes her messages. She appears reading the worldly tabloids and seems to be almost an administrator. She doesn’t really appear to enjoy the work, which I could only describe as being portrayed as something similar to the CEO of a major corporation…a nice touch. In Hell, Evil God hangs out and he appears to be a nerd-like figure with a mean streak. Apparently he also has the spare keys to Heaven, and he and Good God hang out from time to time. Limbo God is their brother, and oversees the Limbo Dimension. Apparently the spare key to Heaven is in a grave in the Earthly world.
The gods go to retrieve the key and find themselves in the same graveyard where Guy is sitting at Sith’s grave. He sees them digging up the grave and chased after them to confront them. They find the key just as Guy arrives threatening to call the police. As Evil God begs to get out of there, Good God and Guy lock eyes and seem to almost fall for each other. They vanish in a flash and Guy is left to figure out once again if he is truly going mad. As he breaks down a mysterious elongated figure appears to tell him that it is the gods’ fault these things have happened. Who could this figure be? Why it is Satan of course!
Satan explains that Guy’s dreams and visions are not hallucinations, but actual openings through his mind to dimensions known as the Dream Worlds. Apparently Sith is trapped in the dream worlds, and Guy can save her, indeed he must. Sith should not be there, and if she disappears into the fabric of the universe it will throw off the balance of existence. Guy doesn’t believe him, and Satan vanishes in a fireball leaving behind a very confused, frightened, concerned, and depressed young man.
The cast of characters is set and it is very intriguing. This smartly written, funny, and strangely insightful look into the unraveling mind of the main character Guy has drawn me to this book. The interplay between the gods is lighthearted and amusing, while the woman Sickness in Guy’s dream is beautiful and grotesque all at once. Satan, as he almost always does, remains a mystery figure for now. While I didn’t know of Archaia Comics before this comic, I’m more then aware of them know and looking forward to seeing how this book turns out. It looks to be a great book on teen loss, the god, and other dimensions only with a fresh perspective and some unique characters and ideas.
Check out some interiors below and look for The God Machine OGN Preview Book in comic stores.
Wow! Thank you for this! You really understood the story very well, and as a creator that's all one can ask for!
ReplyDeleteThank you for a very awesome review/overview!
-Chandra
It was my pleasure. I really enjoyed reading through the comic and just thought the writing, humor, artwork and just overall look and feel were well done.
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to read the review and I'll be keeping my eyes open for future titles!