Few things in life engender more pride than being from New Jersey.
Much of that is because we are always on the defensive; consistently, the uninformed shit all over it without reason. Part of it is because the corridor between Newark Airport and New York City is what most people know of/see of Jersey when they visit, and that is unquestionably the worst part of the state. Part of it is because of Bon Jovi. I get that part.
But New Jersey residents are fiercely proud, quick to defend their state against being maligned by people who have no clue what they’re talking about. Give me a summer’s evening on a Jersey lake, a good diner, the fantastic local produce, Titus Andronicus, the Feelies, Ted Leo, Lou Costello, some Cricket Hill, Lauryn Hill, Grover Cleveland, professional baseball, taylor ham, Tom Scharpling, the Ironbound, Cory Booker, Zapp Comics and “Born to Run” over whatever your shitty state has to offer.
That said, one thing we don’t have is gods. So Glen Brunswick had to invent them.
“Jersey Gods” was a 12-issue series from Image Comics that combines suburban ennui with Jack Kirby, with results that match that awesome-sounding description. Part romance, part war book, part family drama, and a ton of cosmic battle tossed in for good measure, “Jersey Gods” was probably both the most conventional superhero book Image published in 2009/10, and the most unusual.
Illustrated by Dan McDaid, known mostly for his work with Dr. Who, this book looks like the Kirby tribute it is certainly meant to be. A little sloppier, sure, but who is the King but the King? McDaid does a nice job with both the suburban newspaper scenes and the cosmic civil war scenes. His pencils have feet both in the epic and the tongue in cheek, which is exactly where they need to sit for this book to work.
That is because Brunswick (the perfect name for the writer of a Jersey book) never forgets two things: that he is writing a comic, and that he is writing something meant to be comic. There are lots of jokes here, but there are also lots of aliens joining together to make UNION and FUSION, two giants who fire energy blasts and meteors. In less skilled hands, the book could feel schizophrenic, but Brunswick does a great job at balancing the two tones.
The whole book is only 12 issues long, is collected in three different trades, and is easily some of the most fun I’ve had reading comics in a long time. The entire first issue is online, so there is no excuse to ignore this any more.
And visit Jersey, damn it.
