The title “The Golem Walks Among Us!” heralds the return of Joe Golem, and yet there’s a striking absence in this story which Christopher Golden, Mike Mignola, and Peter Bergting use to powerful effect. Read on for our spoiler-free review.
Written by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden
Illustrated by Peter Bergting
Colored by Michelle Madsen
Lettered by Clem RobinsThe Golem has a long memory. . .
After being awakened from his long sleep in a shrine in Eastern Europe, Josef the Golem aids in the fight against the witches that once again terrorize humanity. Deployed to a small village where a cult has taken root, Josef encounters not only witches but an old enemy who remembers him well. . . and is out for vengeance!
Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden continue the legacy of Lord Baltimore’s world in another tale from the Outerverse, with art by Peter Bergting and colors by Michelle Madsen!
“The Golem Walks Among Us!” takes place a month and a half after “Lady Baltimore: The Witch Queens,” several months before “Cojacaru the Skinner” and “Imogen of the Wyrding Way.” I’ve already spoken before how this jumping around the timeline changes the reading experience and how readers waiting for the collections will have an entirely different journey. In this case, I can see why “The Golem Walks Among Us!” was held back. While “Cojacaru the Skinner” and “Imogen of the Wyrding Way” largely stand alone, “The Golem Walks Among Us!” would have spoiled bits of “Lady Baltimore: The Witch Queens” if it had been released earlier.
And ultimately, the timeline jumping doesn’t affect this story much. Like the previous “Tales from the Outerverse,” this is functionally a standalone, even though it’s clearly doing a lot of worldbuilding for future tales.
This is a title where my expectations have jumped around quite a bit. Early on when it was first announced, I’d thought it would be a continuation after the events of Joe Golem and the Drowning City in the 1970s or perhaps back in the distant past when he was hunting witches in Europe. The dawn of World War II was not something that even crossed my mind until he showed up on the cover of “Lady Baltimore: The Witch Queens” #5, so we’re exploring unknown territory here.
The thing is, even though the golem is the focus of this story, this isn’t really a Joe Golem story, because Joe, the human that we know from “Joe Golem: Occult Detective” hasn’t really come into existence yet. Josef the Golem is barely a character, just a magical construct, with only glimmers of who he’ll later become. He’s proto-Joe. And from this perspective, “The Golem Walks Among Us!” is a very grim story. It shoves how soulless the golem can be right in our faces, and since we know this is what Joe becomes again at the end of Joe Golem and the Drowning City, it hits home harder than ever the tragedy of that ending. Joe’s sense of purpose is so great, ultimately he’ll strip away everything that makes him human to fulfil it. We’ve seen flashes of this machine-like golem in flashbacks, but now to have a full story where the golem is the main character and yet Joe is functionally absent, that emptiness is so much more striking.
“The Golem Walks Among Us!” is grim in almost every aspect. Life in the fishing village Camogli is all kinds of horrible right from page one, and the more we learn about it the worse it becomes. But Camogli isn’t special. After the other “Tales from the Outerverse” it’s clear that this is just what the world is like now. There are no safe havens to run away to, or if there are, they don’t stay safe for long. Yet “The Golem Walks Among Us!” feels more grim, perhaps because I read “Cojacaru the Skinner” and “Imogen of the Wyrding Way” first, or perhaps it’s because those other stories had elements in them that were proxies for hope in some form or another, whether it was the unity of people gathered in sacred places, young girls with burgeoning Wyrding powers, or someone like Imogen who inspires hope in others and found light for herself to cling to even in the darkness. The only hope in “The Golem Walks Among Us!” is the slim chance of survival.
Continued belowAnyway, it’s just good to know what you’re going into here if you’re feeling particularly beaten down by the state of the world in a pandemic—“The Golem Walks Among Us!” isn’t exactly escapism. If you’ve read all of “Baltimore,” then you’ve already seen how nasty the Outerverse can get at times, so you should have some idea what to expect and you’ll know if you’re in the mood for it.
However, if you loved the viciousness of the combat in “Cojacaru the Skinner,” then “The Golem Walks Among Us!” is definitely going to work for you. It is relentless, and Christopher Golden and Peter Bergting do not hold back when it comes to showing the golem in action. And Bergting is in excellent form here too—without saying too much, there’s a monster design in here that looks fantastic and I really want to see what Bergting does with it in the next issue.
I’m afraid this is going to have to be an uncharacteristically short review as there’s very little I can say about the issue without ruining the experience of reading it. I’ll save the deep dive for the next issue.
Final Verdict: 8 – “The Golem Walks Among Us!” #1 is a grim and relentless issue, the perfect match for its grim and relentless lead character.
