While the artwork was quite good, you're thrown into the middle of a confusing story that's only somewhat explained by reading the one-page character sheets at the back. That's not how I want to read my comics. The actual comic should tell the story, not these one page character write ups that you threw in the back.

‘Of Gods and Men: 1. The End of the Beginning’ is written by Jean-Pierre Dionnet with art by Laurent Theureau. It was published by Europe Comics in May 2019 and translated from the French by Joseph Laredo.

I originally accessed it via NetGalley but accidentally failed to download before its archive date. However, I recently bought it when it was on sale and so now able to give feedback.

From publishers: “The world turned upside down in 1929, starting in the United States. As the Great Depression shook the nation, so-called "gods" began to appear along Route 66, and quickly grew in number. With humankind slowly dying out, history then took a different course… This is the story "of gods and men," set in the year 2047.”

This is the first in a four volume series and plunges us into the action from the opening in the form of a duel between two gods: the Lord of the Flies and Number One. Later in the story we are introduced to the Snow Queen, the elegant goddess who features on the cover. The final section provides background on these three gods.

I felt that the art work was extraordinary. At 56 pages it is a quite short graphic novel, though I found it an intriguing opening and will be interested in seeing where the story goes in future volumes.

Description
The world turned upside down in 1929, starting in the United States. As the Great Depression shook the nation, so-called "gods" began to appear along Route 66, and quickly grew in number. With humankind slowly dying out, history then took a different course… This is the story "of gods and men," set in the year 2047.

MY REVIEW:
The comic and graphic novel Of Gods and Men was a bit of a disappointment. I expected a bit of a longer story. Also, the flow was not something I could ignore. The potential is there, it just needs some work.

I received this book for free in exchange for my honest opinion.

"Of Gods and Men" is an interesting graphic novel. It wasn't quite for me, but I'll recommend it to our sci0fi fans all the same.

One of the biggest piles of pathetic, druggy claptrap I've ever had the misfortune to download. Gaudy, nonsensical, and seemingly created by people who have never seen a narrative form before in their lives.

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free comic!*

"Of Gods and Men" had so much potential and yet it did so little. Gods are once more walking destroyed earth, humans are not faring well as birth rates have gone down.

This super super short first part of the story does not explain anything, it's just a very random conflict without any background information. It annoyed me a lot. Especially after finding the explanation for everything in the descriptions in the end.

Cool panels, great ideas, yet this first part is just weird and confusing. Sorry.

2 Stars

Of Gods and Men was little bit of confusing and beautiful. I loved the artstyle. I will definitely pick up the next volume.

If I was just basing this review on the artwork, I'd give it 5 stars, it's freakin' gorgeous. The story is vague and confusing, there's some male posturing with a couple of gods fighting each other in the sky, the back story is just barely hinted at- this is set in the future, humanity is dying out, their are gods/superheroes/mutants who seem to be immortal, then the fight ends and everybody goes home. The Lord of the Flies (one of the two fighting gods, who can control any type of fly- super random superpower) goes with his wife, The Snow Queen, to visit her human friend, who's just had a baby. The humans apparently live in domes that the gods don't go into- no explanation why. There are so many odd, disjointed details floating around, with no explanation within the story, then it just ends. This feels like an introduction, and really should be followed by more chapters to fill in what's going on. There are brief character bios about the three main characters at the end that give a little insight, but I really wish there was more actual story to this. It seems promising, like something interesting could happen and throw some conflict into the mix; we'll see, I guess. That artwork, though....totally swoonworthy! I'd buy the next installment just to look at the pretty pictures!

An interesting teaser. It was reminiscent of comics from the 80s/90s like Astro City, Squadron Supreme and Watchmen. Has piqued my curiosity enough to pick up the next issue.

Recommended for fans of Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely and Alan Moore.

'Of Gods and Men: 1. The End of the Beginning' by Jean-Pierre Dionnet with illustrations by Laurent Theureau is a graphic novel about the doom of mankind and gods fighting in the sky.

In 1929, coinciding with the Great Depression, new "gods" started showing up along Route 66. It's now 2047 and the book starts with a god called the Lord of the Flies fighting another one called Number 1. After the fight, Lord of the Flies heads home to face the music from his wife (?), but she is consumed by media and visiting the dying human population.

This book looked very cool. The art is definitely in the style of Moebius. Unfortunately, the story starts out confusing and doesn't advance enough to make me want to read more, unless it's for the graphics. We learn nothing about these fighting "gods" or what happened to the humans. There is an afterword that talks about the three godlike characters, but it feels like it fills in the story as an afterthought.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Europe Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

I’m always open to offbeat takes on super heroes. I was particularly intrigued by Of Gods and Men, as it appeared to combine super heroes with Moebius, and setting it on an Earth that had a long history of super heroes that lead to a very different culture. I was all about giving this series a shot.
In 1929, super heroes began to appear. With their arrival, the human race began to die out. Now, in 2047, these super hero “gods” are becoming apathetic to the world and their lives, while humanity has possibly just had its very last baby.
This sounds like the set up to an awesome epic. Instead, I was bored. The art was fully of color and style, but also was occasionally a little to stilted. More difficult to move through, though, was the dry interactions of detached, inhuman gods who are tired of the monotony of their lives. I find myself just as tired of the monotony. This book had lots of potential, but failed to live up to it. I won’t be continuing on reading it, as there was not enough in this first volume to draw me back.
Review will be available at provided link on May 23, 2019.

This is one of those books that’s hard to review in that I liked it for reasons I’m not sure I can define. It’s a French comic that is incredibly confusing even by the standards of French comics. I kind of thought I knew what was going on in it until I read the synopsis and realised that I’d got it completely wrong. You can read the official version above, may take on it is as follows.
It’s set in a future America where some bad shit has obviously gone down. There are these random superhero type dudes who battle against each other. It feels a bit like one of the later issues of ‘Watchmen’ but with none of the build up. As a result, it’s disorientating, and it does little to help the reader find their feet. I spent much of the story scratching my head. Actually, saying there is a story at all is a bit of an exaggeration, it’s basically just people in spandex posing and fighting. Oh, and spouting weird macho dialogue, too.
But, and it’s a but of such epic proportions that Sir Mixalot would be fully into it, the artwork is freaking great. It manages to be polished and rough at the same time. It’s almost perfect, but you can see every pen stroke. Best of all, it’s packed with a vibrancy and kinetic energy that really leaps off the page. There are a couple of really great set piece pages too, I won’t tell you more than that because spoilers, but they work brilliantly.
So like I said, a hard one to review. There’s a lot that is pretty bad about this book, but a lot that is great. It’s bewildering, but memorable, and it left me wanting to know more about the world its set in.

This was incredibly confusing. Here is what I gathered:
There are all these super heroes on earth in the distant future but they all call themselves Gods. Humans all live in domes and the birth rate is incredibly low so the Gods are pretty sure we'll die out soon.
All the Gods keep talking about being born "on the road" but no one ever explains what that actually means (unless you read the end notes and you learn they are referring to Route 66).
There is one God named #1 who has encased himself in rock to meditate and one called Lord of the Flies who wants to fight him and also controls flies. He has a girlfriend called the Snow Queen. She likes music and has a human friend who just had a baby.

That's pretty much it. Other than the fight between #1 and Flies there is NO story, NO character development and NO reason behind anything.

This one is a little harder to rate. I was definitely not impressed by the story or the writing. The conversations were really hard to place too - the whole time I was wondering whether the characters were trying to sound tough and heroic or just joking? It was a little cringeworthy. I was also confused about the starting point.. it feels like volume 4 or 5 in a story where a lot of epic events has already taken place. HOWEVER, I loved the artwork! It's everything I want in a comic - vibrant, a little rough and with deep colors. I'm also intrigued by the world since there wasn't much info about who's who and what's what.. definitely want to know more.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this copy.

I read almost 1/4 of it, but I didn't enjoy where the story was going, guess it's not my cup of tea...

I was hoping this would be something similar to American Gods or The Wicked + The Divine, but unfortunately it didn't really deliver. The artwork here is probably the best part. I like the bright colors and the layouts are very pretty as well. The character designs are interesting although also a bit ridiculous at times, but I think it works well overall. However I have no idea what was supposed to be happening with the plot.

I think this is a disconnect between European and American comics because many of the European comics I have read from NetGalley seem to be very very short and do not have what I would call a 'traditional' story structure. This just throws us into the middle of a few random scenes and then expects us to read all the backstory after the fact in some character sheets at the back of the book. Maybe this works for some people but it doesn't work for me.

I read the English version of this. I really enjoyed the bright and colourful artwork but I thought the story was thin and it felt like an introduction.

This volume introduces us to the gods who are superior and powerful beings controlling the earth. Humans live in protected areas and they are dying out. This story focuses on conflict between two of the gods. I hope the second volume will develop the story a bit more.

Copy provided by Europe Comics in exchange for an unbiased review.

Of Gods and Men
By Jean-Pierre Dionnet and Theureau

**Disclaimer-I received a free review copy from Netgalley.

I found the artwork of this piece to be beautiful, full of bold colors and retro-futuristic design. The action was vibrant and dynamic, as well.

The writing was hard to figure. There were clear attempts at surrealist satire, I think, but a lot of the language seemed almost half-done, as if the writer struggled with English more than I'd expect from someone trying to write it professionally. Or perhaps the dialog was meant to be stilted and nonsensical at times. It's a difficult difference to find sometimes.

I liked what I read, but not enough to buy any issues, I think.

Received via NetGalley for review.

The art is beautifully and incredibly stylistic. Unfortunately, I was expecting more plot and backstory to the Gods. Instead, we're dropped in to some kind of grudge between Number 1 and The Lord of the Flies that doesn't ven get resolved.

The first thing that got my attention in this book was the cover art, that seemed different from other comic books with its 1920's feel to it and the art is indeed my favorite part. The way every frame is used is almost cinematographic and the way movement is conveyed in the drawings is amazing. I also loved the colors used and the fashion with every character having a very distinct reason to dress the way they did.
The weakest part of the book for me though other than the plot itself, which I expected more from after the premise of the book, was the female character and the way she interacts with her husband.
Thank you to NetGalley and Europe Comics for this ARC.