Image Comics has decided that the world is ready for Thor only with Greek Gods in place of Norse ones. Enter God Complex the new title from Powers co-creator and artist Michael Avon Oeming. Complex tells the story of Greek God Apollo who has forsaken his omnipotent life in order to live as a mortal, which in turn angers his father Zeus who decides Apollo must be brought back immediately to answer for his crimes.
God Complex sounds like an interesting concept and it would be, save for some the fact that Oeming has decided to allow his new title to root itself in concepts that have long worn out their welcome. Granted this is only the first issue but if the foundation of Oeming’s story is this boring, how much better could God Complex get over time?
Why does Apollo give up being a God? Well, he wants to be human because he feels that being immortal doesn’t allow him to really experience life. How many times are we going to hear that as the reason some omnipotent power decides to slum it with the humans? What’s worse is Oeming doesn’t even allow Apollo to exist on Earth with no powers, as an actual human having to face our hardships plus an angry Zeus all on his own. Instead Apollo is portrayed as more of a superhero, which is easier for plotting purposes but has much less impact.
From that rather tedious plot device, the story moves to a place where if you’ve ever read or seen a story about a fallen hero you know right where it’s going. That’s right, Apollo gets a lowly job working in a restaurant for….you guessed it….an incredibly beautiful woman who is too tough and independent to need to fall in love. No tough-as-nails-but-still-hot lady wouldn’t be complete without a wacky sidekick, a part played by an old man who helps run the restaurant with her.
Think hard, I’m sure you can vibe out this next part. It’s the mob, - yep you guessed it - here comes the low ranking tough guy mob idiots to start trouble in said beautiful woman’s restaurant. Complete with paint-by-numbers dialog the unwelcome mob guys push too far and Apollo comes out swinging.
So now Apollo has a beautiful woman he wants but there’s tension, a loyal and kooky sidekick and big trouble with the mob. Add to that the way Oeming turns Zeus and his Gods Of Mount Olympus into an evil multinational conglomerate and what you get is a run of over-used lot devices instead of a real story. I mean seriously, The Gods Of Mount Olympus are now an evil conglomerate. What a trite and easy way to portray them as evil without really having to work at it. This whole book is nothing but hot button plot devices lined up and executed in an incredibly dull way.
Art-wise, I think God Complex is a matter of taste. If you like the art for Powers then you’ll love God Complex. However if you’re like me and find it too blocky and over exaggerated then you’ll be instantly turned off. It’s not at all that Oeming can’t draw but I personally find his art very boring. Every panel looks the same, there’s no real momentum to anything and the shading and color is so muted nothing pops off the page. Combining a drab story with drab art and you get a book that feels almost half done. I’m hoping God Complex gets better as it goes on but based on issue #1 I won’t hold my breath.
