I hadn’t been reading Godland by issue, instead waiting for six, so I had to readjust to what was going on in Joe Casey’s wacky world. I still don’t remember all the specifics with the villains, but it didn’t really matter. Godland succeeds because it’s packed. Casey has a bunch of stuff going on in each issue--I counted six stories going on throughout the issues (collected as Another Sunny Delight) and none of them get resolved. Not one. Casey has an actual ongoing comic book here, one without finite story-arcs and one with a whole lot of content each issue. Tom Scoli’s art adds to the content-rich feeling and it perfectly matches Casey’s tone for the series. It’s light without being too light and heavy without going overboard. Godland is fully aware of itself, there’s no attempt to mimic any sort of reality beyond the reality it creates.
Casey fills Godland with appealing characters. With a single exception, none of the characters are without appeal. They’re funny and silly and stupid, no matter how grandiose (or miniscule) their plans for world domination. The only thing I missed about these issues of Godland was the main character. Casey puts him through a bunch of trouble--I also forgot he’s not a particularly competent superhero, especially when he isn’t getting help--and those scenes are funny and exciting enough, but he’s somewhat abandoned. The supporting cast is large and Casey keeps adding to it and he spends more time with those characters than his hero. Given the hero’s naiveté, he’s at his best with other characters and Casey gets to write funny dialogue, but I barely remember him in the last two issues. I don’t even remember if he has a superhero name. I know his last name’s Archer (and his first might be Adam), but because he’s got three sisters who are occasionally referred to by full name.
The complaints are minor. I thought of them writing up this post, not when I was reading the comic. It’s too much fun to notice them.