If you're looking for a comic that has direction, beauty, and emotion, pick upGoddess Mode.I can't recommend a comic more than I recommend this title right now. I want to talk more but I also want to keep this clear of any spoilers. At the end of the day, Goddess Modespeaks to people struggling to find confidence in their power and keep the fight going even if everything inside of you is telling you can't. Read Full Review

Oh my that was bad. I can't believe that an editor let something like that go out. The narrative is a complete mess, but even worse are the characters and the dialogue. This truly is execrable. Where do I begin?

Narrative structure:- The first panel leads directly on from last issue, but there is nothing to remind us what happened a month ago. Readers should not have to re-read the last issue to work out what's going on. Zoe, you are writing a monthly comic, not a graphic novel: there is a difference and it is an important one. As the issue progresses not much happens, but we are treated to some random scenes that may make sense in the larger picture, but so poor is the writing, that they don't. The art is at fault here too; panels don't help to tell the story in any meaningful way. Yes, it looks good, but only in terms of individual panels, not in comic book story-telling terms. I honestly had no idea what was going on for much of the issue.

Characters:- Far from the assertion by Sean Blumenshine (DC Comics News) that the comic has, "characters that are engaging and fun," I have only encountered incredibly annoying whiney and "sassy" characters who do not engage me at all and are about as fun as having eczema. Indeed, these characters seem to exist only to wise-crack (in a pretty unfunny way too) or to opine at how bad they are at life. Nobody is bad at life; life is a state of being. What makes it really obvious that I don't engage with any of these truly awful characters is that I can't remember any of their names, even while I'm reading the comic, let alone five minutes after I close the back cover.


Dialogue:- Oh we have some true corkers this issue! "I'm just as pathetic at being an oracle as I am at being a functional adult..." "Where are we and why does it smell like depression?" "Oh no. We're wendigos who eat the flesh of dorks who ask too many questions." "I love that I can protect my family by smashing shitheads with my magic powers." "I'm a human blooper reel..." The one that so neatly summed up how I felt about this issue, however, was this, "As the Oracle of Garbage your domain's magic deals with reclaiming power from hopeless and otherwise lost causes." As well as that being terrible motivational self-help bullshit, it also had me saying that I was currently reading the oracle of garbage and that there was almost nothing that could reclaim its power: it really was a lost cause.


I've already mentioned one professional reviewer, whose opinion is the polar opposite of mine, but here are a few more choice quotes:


"With the technological conspiracies growing around her, Goddess Mode #3 solidifies itself as a gung-ho story of empowerment..." (Megan Peters, ComicBook.com). Yep, a gung-ho story of empowerment! Well, I guess it fits the modern media narrative. It's just a shame that it is utter drivel.


"GODDESS MODE #3 has deeper and darker storytelling by Zo[sic] Quinn." (Sydney Cooper, Comicsverse). Deeper and darker story telling? Where? Did you read a different issue from me? Where, exactly, was the deep and dark story-telling?


"An issue full of increasing drama and deep mysteries..." (Trey Campbell, Comic Watch). The biggest mystery is how this book ever saw the light of day, closely followed by how anyone can keep a straight face while praising the writing.

How on earth has this comic, let alone this issue, received 10/10 reviews? What are these people smoking?

I'm not convinced many people are reading this title either. The first issue got eight user reviews or ratings on here, the second got one (mine) and the third likewise. I won't be writing a review for Issue #4 because I'm out.

I liked the first issue: it was full of promise, but I also cautioned that it could all go horribly wrong. I'm sad to say that it has, but even more disastrously than I imagined. This is sub-par Young Adult nonsense. Vertigo have a turd on their hands, and after the troubles with other titles this year, the 2018 relaunch is looking pretty tawdry and tattered. There are some comics that Vertigo are publishing which do what they should, but Goddess Mode is not one of them.

In case anyone is uncertain, I did not like this comic. more