Review: American Gods: The Moment of The Storm #4

Everyone knows that I love love love Neil Gaiman. From his books to his comics, I’ve prided myself on absorbing as much as I can that spews forth from his brilliant mind as each and every single bit of writing is so beautifully, wonderfully different. So much of it – his writing – differs from one thing to the next. I think the most recent title I had picked up graphics-wise previous to this American Gods title was actually A Study in Emerald but these stories…the ones touched by Gods and Demons and lore of old times, they are some of my favorites.

This story, written by Gaiman and scripted by P. Craig Russell, with art by Scott Hampton (colors by Hampton and Jennifer T. Lange) with letters by Rick Parker is all about the end of Shadow Moon. Or the not end. Or the beginning. It’s hard to say, for sure, which comes first and which comes next as time is not always linear for Gaiman titles, nor is one ending pertinent to an actual end. A theme of the title itself that circles back; moving back to meet itself like the great snake Jormungandr devouring his own tail. It is a cycle of perpetual life death life and, while this might be a metaphor for the human condition of perpetual redefinition after self introspection that leads to killing off bits of us that might not be conducive for living or learning, for Gods it becomes quite literal.

I’ll be honest, at first I wasn’t quite sure how much I really liked the art in this title. I’d assume that it’s a difficult task in general to find someone who can birth images worthy of Gaiman’s proselike writing, but after reading further and further into the title, the panels started to shift. Faces moved with the words into a state of clear and beautiful refinement before fading back into the background to let the syllables on the page be the thing that really takes your focus. There’s a subtle but smart balance to the ebb and flow of these transitory periods of almost dream-like simplicity to a honed, well focused study on someone’s face in which colors swirl and swim like stars across the sky. I didn’t realize the actual significance behind this until I had the hindsight to sit back and really think about it. So I take back every single ignorant thought that I had about the art.

I think that the most poignant part of this title is the parallels to what Laura is experiencing. Like opposite ends of the same coin which, again, echoes a lot of the theme in this 4.5 out of 5 title. I highly suggest getting your hands on it, reading it, immersing yourself in it and all the nuances that mesh both story, art, and color together and then telling me if you agree.

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