The easy approach to Godland is to think of it as Kirby pastiche. To be sure, the spirit of The King (no, not Elvis, the other King) looms large over Godland, which takes its inspiration from equal parts Fantastic Four, New Gods and Kirby's giant monster comics, to name but a few, but there's more to it than that. Casey and Scioli are aiming to bring a sense of fun and imagination into Godland that springboards from Kirby inspiration but goes off into new territory as well, and the first issue is certainly a promising step in that direction. A mixture of old storytelling approaches and newer, more sophisticated coloring techniques and a little bit of modern setting flavor makes for an interesting stew, a book that is part cosmic adventure, part nostalgia trip and part reinvention of superheroes into something different than the rest of the superheroes on the market.
It's funny, because a lot of the storytelling devices in Godland are fairly old, but they've fallen out of favor to such a large extent that they come across as fresh and new in this context. Casey makes heavy use of thought balloons (heresy in the eyes of many modern-day pros) and narration from a bombastic narrator (rather than a dry internal monologue from the hero of the piece), as well as cleverly cutting between modern day story and flashback to origins, and in so doing just packs Godland #1 with story. All too many comics these days skimp on either the origin or (more frequently) on having some action in the first issue, but Godland delivers plenty of both. Some readers may find the style a bit over-the-top, but it's a step back from being corny or overly old school, and indeed there are any number of fun quotable lines here without the book falling into camp. I worried a little when Casey used "Face Facts, True Disbeliever," but aside from the first couple caption boxes, he's not really emulating Stan Lee and Jack Kirby so much as channeling them through his own sensibilities.
From the solicitation and promo artwork, I was expecting something akin to the cosmic adventure of the New Gods, but Godland is a little bit more grounded than that. Instead, the vibe is more of a "science explorer" type thing, similar to the early Fantastic Four. Again, that's more an inspiration than direct correlation, though. I really enjoy that the lead character is an astronaut given formidable powers, and that his support system is made up of his sisters, all of whom resent him to some degree for ruining the normalcy of their own lives. The sisters only get a few panels to distinguish themselves, but with those panels, I've got the rough structure, which includes a military officer, a scientist and a twenty-something punk/rebel. Those are just frameworks at this point, but I like that with only a couple of pages, Casey has told us all the basics about Adam Archer and his supporting cast. This economy of storytelling is a big part of the strength of Godland as well.
While Casey's dialogue and old school pacing is a big part of what makes Godland work, I don't want to underestimate the importance of the artwork by Tom Scioli and Bill Crabtree. I was impressed with Scioli's Kirby pastiche on Freedom Force and what I'd seen of Myth of 8-Opus, but Godland is a step up. The bulky, sometimes craggy look of the Kirby-style characters is there, as is the clear action storytelling, but there's also a richness to the backgrounds and the same imagination in design of the monsters and cosmic stuff that really makes the book work. Crabtree's lush colors give the book an almost painted look, and they're especially notable on the oppressive reds that characterize the hostile atmosphere of Mars or the vibrant yellows and greens that represent the energy discharges of Archer or the machine that gave him his powers. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention just how cool the design is for Basil Cronus, the villain of the piece. It's a deceptively simple Silver Age-y design, but just the right touch on his helmet and head gives him something unique and instantly recognizable, despite being an obvious nod to the weird types of villains that Kirby used to design.
Godland is no mere nostalgia trip. While it's gonna be like crack cocaine to the imagination-starved Kirby fans who have been looking for big, unapologetic cosmic action, I believe that the more modern superhero reader will dig it as well. The lush artwork and spectacular action should be enough to earn it a look from most superhero readers, and those who fear corny or campy dialogue need not worry, as Casey is definitely playing things stylized, but he's saving the more outlandish flavor for the cosmic action and keeping the main characters more down-to-earth and real.
