A God Somewhere

A God Somewhere by John Arcudi and Peter Snejbjerg is an original graphic novel.

A God Somewhere is an interesting graphic novel. It is about a man who one day becomes super powerful. Little by little he starts thinking of himself as a new God. The book in a way is a study of what could happen with a superhero on the real world. Comics have dealt with this question many times. While this is a topic that has been covered many times, I think this book was worth reading for several reasons. First of all, the book builds up slowly and has plenty of characterization. The first ten or so pages are about the normal lives of the main characters and there are some flashbacks throughout to give more depth to the characters. The wonderful art helps a lot in this, because a lot of the characterization comes through subtle drawings (such as facial expressions depicting disappointment when the dialogue doesn't make it evident, just as it would happen in real life). Another reason this is very good is that it follows the surroundings of the "hero" more than the hero. We get to see how his actions affect his family and his best friend. Finally, another great reason why this comic is very good is the conflict that the best friend has. It is interesting to see how a man reacts to seeing his best friend, a great man, become a monster. Very interesting.

The art in this comic is superb and the story is very good. Without too many pages (about 130) the comic changes a lot, from a superhero tale to a monster tale. The main drawback for me was how the transformation wasn't truly explained. The main character is very vague and his transformation is quite drastic. I think this makes the book very interesting but at the same time it feels like it could have used a few more pages. One could argue that all the information that is not in words is in the art.

A very interesting book. Worth reading and one that probably feels different if read multiple times since a lot of it is vague.