The filth and degradation of Old Testament times is brought to vivid life in “The Goddamned” #2. The creative team has created a world that will stick to you like grime long after you have entered the realm of the goddamned.
Written by Jason Aaron
Illustrated by R.M. Guéra“And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.” –Genesis 6:6
Jason Aaron, R.M. Guéra, and Giulia Brusco depict the brutality, barbarism, and bleak desolation of the world after the fall of Man in “The Goddamned” #2. After the first brilliant issue, writer Aaron and the artistic team prove it wasn’t a one-off fluke. This is one of the most violent, funny, and profane comics I’ve ever read and that’s high praise indeed. Aaron, like he does with the impeccable “Southern Bastards”, is able to take evil deeds and evil people and make it all feel real without resorting to simply shocking his readers for cheap thrills (although those have their place at times). We care for the enigmatic yet familiar Cain, reel at the deeds of the dogmatic Noah, and experience characters who suffer greatly in a world caked with blood and excrement.
One of the myriad appeals of this issue is how Aaron doesn’t bombard us with biblical interpretations. He doesn’t expect us to know the stories of Cain and Abel or of Noah before the great flood. Aaron simply lets us experience characters traipsing through a world in violent abandon who are obsessed with surviving in a more than cruel world. Cain is apparently our “hero” as evidenced in “The Goddamned” #1 and 2. Aaron hints at Cain’s compassion beneath the hardened man who has gone through the growing pains of Humanity itself and been there since its inception. Innocents such as a woman pining for the safety of her son and the hordes of different types of monstrous humans (devilish creatures?) mingle in a world on the brink of destroying itself before it has barely begun.
That destruction is gorgeously rendered by “Scalped” artist R.M. Guéra. He imbues a thick layer of corruption that appears physically encrusted on the worst of the worst characters. Those that have been maliciously corrupted against their will as attack dogs, such as a horde of certain individuals, will shock readers as much as it shocks Cain. And speaking of our “hero”, Guéra illustrates him as the only one who is clean and pure as one can be in this world. Cain is also the only one whose body language is that of a man with true authority.
Guéra’s art style complements Aaron’s story and Guéra uses the utmost delicacy when depicting the world of “The Goddamned” #2. There is a methodical way in which he creates the world and the unspeakable acts that desecrate it. Symbolism bursts from the setting, with trees and barren land serving as the backdrop for this ungodly world. Hard rocky terrain, bones, and blood pepper a world that bares no life. The lives of “The Goddamned” are damned to live on a punishment of a world that bestows no mercy. Guéra has us readers experience this world in a simple yet astounding way.
There is also a method to Giulia Brusco’s colors that highlights Aaron and Guéra’s contributions. Having worked with Guéra in the past, she sets the tone for the issue’s happenings in unison with Guéra. The earthen colors of the land feel almost tactile on every page, with the thick muddiness encrusted on the people vibrant with blood and other assorted substances. This is a dry, desolate, and open air lived-in world with the red of blood soaking its ground and denizens. The only “bright” spots that Brusco brings to “The Goddamned” #2 are the moments of bloodshed or blood-covered characters. Blood becomes another character in this issue, with Brusco conjuring the red blood of the land and its people from her brush.
“The Goddamned”, after only two issues, has cemented itself as one of the best new series of 2015. In these two issues, a world and its people have been conjured from words, pencils, and color. The simplicity of the story and the intricate simplicity of the art have come together to create an experience that will have you shocked as well as laughing. When something this horrendous is depicted, the only thing you can do is laugh. That response is proof that Aaron, Guéra, and Brusco are eliciting primal responses from their readers. We can’t help but be attracted to the ugly of the world and “The Goddamned” #2 deliciously beckons us toward it with gusto.
Final Verdict: 9.5 – The creators of this blasphemous book have given us another perfectly delectable chapter with “The Goddamned” #2.
