Review: God Complex, Vol. 1: Dogma

God Complex, Vol. 1: Dogma by Paul Jenkins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rating 4 out of 5 | Grade: B+; The Gods of Olympus, rule over all mortals

It was a couple of years back, when I picked up the series God Complex, written by Paul Jenkins. But for one reason or the other, I never continued the series, even though the first chapter was very much to my taste.

Even without having any background about the premise of the story, what caught my eye was the cover art. In a rare instance, the cover art did what it was meant to, and drew in unsuspecting readers, promising them an engaging tale.

I can’t point out what exactly about the cover caught my eye; objectively speaking it’s quite straightforward. It’s a solo pose of Hermes, one of the main ‘Rulers’ characters in the series, posing stoically.

Other than the athletic frame, and dapper style waistcoat and pants, all other features, especially those where the all too important human features ought to be, are covered, or replaced by a clearly cybernetic looking head.



With its sleek, smooth metallic design, as well as the golden accruements which project from his ‘face’, Hermes is made to resemble a Mecha version of his Olympian namesake. I suppose this imposing yet lean, mean fighting machine-esque character design, blending organic and cybernetic so seamlessly is what drew my focus to the series.


Premise:

Getting into the story, it takes place in a futuristic techno punk, semi-dystopian city of Delphi which is under the administration of God-like cybernetic beings known as the Rulers. The rulers created various tools and utilities which allow the citizens of Delphi to lead a life without many challenges.

They also created an omnipotent intelligence network called the Stream, which only they can access and manipulate. Along with seeing to the needs of all the people of Delphi, it is also an all-pervading predictive surveillance apparatus, which can not only monitor the daily lives of the people, but also controls them.

By gaining information on every aspect of their lives, by controlling what they eat, drink, do, don’t, think, feel, the Stream is able to predict the collective behavior of the populace and direct it in a way the Rulers decree. No thought, no action, no feeling is hidden from it; and through it, even the innermost sanctum of your mind is no longer safe.



The story follows Seneca, a jaded detective of the Delphi police agency, who works with Hermes, one of the ethereal rulers of Delphi, who are basically treated as Gods who walk among mortals. They are investigating a series of murders related to the Trinity church, a rival organization who spurns the authority of the Rulers, and professes the worship of Trinity, whom they consider the one true God.

Now Seneca & Hermes must get the root of a possible conspiracy which can disrupt the very foundations of Delphi. Over the course of their investigation, Seneca will cross paths with other Rulers, such as Apollo, Athena, Hephaestus, each who seem to want to use him for some mysterious agenda. While the last thing Seneca wants is to be dragged into the world of the rulers.

Thoughts

First of all, fair warning, God Complex is a series which only has one volume, with 6 chapters. It started publishing in 2017, and after issue #6 abruptly stopped publication, ending the first arc in a cliffhanger. So read at your own risk of being c**kblocked.

As I mentioned in my introduction, the main draw for me regarding this series was its phenomenal art. The pages, especially the covers are so eye-catchingly stylish; and neat. Neat is the principal descriptor which would come to mind as your eyes run through the covers. The character lines are detailed and have a pleasing flow to them. There is this intermingling of the shadows with the light sheen emanating of the metallic part, especially for the rulers.



Even in panels which are shrouded in darkness, the illustrators find a way to illuminate the panels in a tron-esque bright neon streaks, which all the more give such a satisfying finish to them.



Not to mention, there is a full page shot of a freaking mechanized minotaur clad in scavenger rags, with its red eyes blaring in menace. It’s just awesome, as is the true meaning of the word.



The Story, as far as I got to read, was adequate. We have some difficulties connecting with the characters, and by characters, I mean Seneca, is the only human character that we spend any length of time with. He is passable, but for the most part, acts as a POV device to explore Delphi as well as the world of the rulers.

The rulers themselves are the key draw for the series. They’re sort of like well-designed monsters, without the monster part. Seneca is working for them and gets support from them. But never do we feel like the rulers are our allies or friends. It is made pretty clear that to them, Seneca, and humans in general, are pawns, cattle to be herded and kept under control. They are tools to be used to fulfill the agenda of the Rulers.

Which, I assume is absolute dominion of the humans/ mortals. There might be some storyline where, much like in Greek mythology, the worship of mortals is what powers the Rulers/ Gods. Only, in this case, the worship might be a matrix-esque collective neural network, which provides the necessary processing power for the rulers and their toys.



Not much information about Delphi and the people who inhabit it is given to us in bits and pieces. Due to its shortened run, we don’t really get to know where Delphi stands in the grand scheme of things. Is it the final city of humanity, much like Zion? Or is it merely a dystopian futuristic state ruled by superhuman entities? Or are the rulers, creations of ancient humans, created to be guardians of the last of humanity to help them tide through apocalyptic times? Outside Delphi, are there Titan-like beings of metal roaming the land, preparing for a techno punk version of Gigantomachy? All of that remains unresolved.



But to be fair, for the story that is being narrated, this drip style exposition works in its favor. Rarely are we as readers inundated with cumbersome amounts of exposition. We are let known enough to keep us engaged in the plot, which is something which I appreciate.

One weak point that I observed is that Despite being told that the rulers control every aspect of the lives of people, we are not really given a glimpse as to how this affects the people negatively. Sure, we see the rulers employ mercenaries and goons that are ready to kill and die for them. But it’s not made clear as to what ramifications the absolute control of the rulers present.



I mean, if I was a citizen of Delphi, and the only thing asked from me in exchange for safety and a comfortable life is lack of privacy & absolute compliance, I would consider it a worthwhile trade…...Wait, oh my God, is this what the CCP is doing to their citizens in china?



Well, that aside, the lack of stakes means that the resistance fighters, those who are trying to subvert the rulers, don’t really have a clear goal as to what they’re fighting against, other than, generic oppression. Anyways, they’re more like one note characters, in the sense that, they literally only show up for one scene, and are never heard of again.

Despite some of these shortcomings, the story was progressing in a good way, that is until it was abruptly cut off. Which is a shame, since I’d have loved to read the continuation of the series.

But alas, all we are left with is a bunch of phenomenal art, and a well-made first act of a story that could’ve been.

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