Review: American Gods: The Moment of the Storm #1

American Gods is a book by Neil Gaiman, originally written in 2001. In 2002, it won the Hugo Award for Best Novel, Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel, and the Nebula Award for Best Novel. As well as the comic series by Dark Horse Comics, it has spawned a TV series on the Starz Network, which is currently on its second season. Merging Americana, fantasy, and mythological stories from across the world, American Gods is the story of Shadow, a man released from prison to find his world turned upside down, and then turned inside out by a mysterious man, who goes by Wednesday, as he finds himself in the middle of a war between the old gods, and the new gods, such as Media and Technology.

American Gods: The Moment Of The Storm #1 is a continuation from Dark Horse Comics“ American Gods: Shadows, which covers the beginnings of the book on which it is based, and it“s sequel, American Gods: My Ainsel. Where the latter left us, is where we find ourselves now. Wednesday is dead, and a deal for his body must be struck. Shadow, as always, is left in the dark of why things must play out as they should, lending himself to be our proxy within the story ”“ asking the questions we want to know the answers to. The gods, however, do not always tell the whole truth, leaving us with enough lingering questions to keep us wanting more.

The art within American Gods: The Moment Of The Storm #1 is a nice combination of painterly and solidity, using the contrast between two styles to bring emphasis were needed. During a dream sequence, the decision to make Shadow a white silhouette amongst the sublime painted backgrounds works great for setting the tone of the dream ”“ one could not accidentally open the page and mistake it for being part of the main narrative.

While we“re talking about the dream sequence, it also plays with the text boxes themselves. Throughout the rest of the comic, omnipotent narration, when present within the panel, is colourised in blue, to distinguish it from character speech. However, in the dream, these boxes become green, a colour used in the waking world to state the name of a location. Shadows dreams play a large role in American Gods, as they did in the ancient world when these gods were revered, so it is fitting they be given this attention to detail within the comic.

The story of American Gods is approaching 20 years since it was first brought to the world, and this comic demonstrates that it can still capture the attention of audiences to this day.

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(W) Neil Gaiman, P. Craig Russell (A) P. Craig Russell, Scott Hampton (CA) Glenn Fabry