G.O.D.S. #1 is a powerhouse first issue that trades in the typical tropes of a Hickman comic for something more personal, driven by raw emotion rather than endless plotting. The issue captures a doomed romance and bittersweet melancholy for the new characters of Wyn and Aiko, building up their hurt hidden beneath titles of cosmic magnitude. Schiti takes that emotional core and refines it by infusing an effortless charm to the designs and establishing a striking visual language for the massive ideas unfolding on the page. Read Full Review

G.O.D.S. #1 shows you don't have to change the hierarchy to change an entire Universe. Read Full Review

I love Schitis artistic style a lot and it is on full, glorious display throughout this first issue. The lively panels filled with great action and gorgeous characters drew my eye with every page. Read Full Review

Editor Tom Brevoort has said, "This really sits on the axis of Saga and Sandman, and after reading the first issue, I'm not sure. The Sandman aspect is most obvious with Wyn and his entire vibe, but the Saga elements aren't quite there yet. I'm cautiously optimistic this series will soar after a few issues are out, but the first issue doesn't bring the wow factor House of X and Powers of X did. Regardless, visually sumptuous with a complex lead character, G.O.D.S. fascinates as it expands the Marvel Universe. Read Full Review

Other than the initial confusion mixed with the weird retconning as if our heroes already know about Wyn and these two factions, the story itself was quite interesting and filled with some pretty wild action. The mystic, more supernatural reader will really enjoy the heck out of G.O.D.S. #1. Plus, like most Hickman stories, the potential is endless. You can tell he's been dreaming this up for quite some time. Read Full Review

There's a lot to love here, especially in the roguish Wyn and his deadpan assistant, but having it take place in the Marvel Universe, on the framework of sixty-plus years of storytelling, makes it a little less approachable. Still an excellent debut. Read Full Review

And after 64 pages of this debut issue, you might just leave more confused than ever. To try and provide any kind of linear summary of "G.O.D.S. at this point is futile. It is cliche to say, but this is a book to be experienced directly rather than just read a review of it. Read Full Review

This first issue is a charming, clever and enjoyable read, but it doesn't live up to the earth-shattering, industry-changing hype Marvel put in place ahead of this launch. Read Full Review

G.O.D.S. #1 meets and subverts expectations, leaning into some familiar Hickman tropes while shining the narrative spotlight in unexpected places. Read Full Review

G.O.D.S. #1 is gorgeous and gigantic. The series’ ambition must be commended, willing to slice into the fabric of a dimension to find new stories. And when doing that, it’s not going to be easy to explain what’s happening. Read Full Review

At $9.99 for the first issue, G.O.D.S. #1 is a “pass.” If it had a cover price of half that, it'd be a “read.” But, as is, the comic feels like a one-shot that has little connection to the Marvel Universe and impact featuring a trio that's are a clone of Doctor Strange's world. For a series that was built like it'd shake things up, it just introduces a bunch of new characters who deliver Hickman's charm and cool concepts but there's not much else beyond flashy art. It's the blockbuster that is all style and little else. Read Full Review

To Hickmans credit, though, a strength of G.O.D.S. #1 is that it doesnt feel like a Marvel comic. A lot of the shared universe-ness comes across as cursory for better or worse and theres definitely a version of the series thats an entirely original, creator-owned work. Would that improve the comic as is? Unclear, but its commendable that Marvel editorial felt willing to take such a big swing with a new IP like this one. And above all else, it looks gorgeous thanks to Valerio Schitis art, which helps it go down smoothly despite some of the narrative roughness. Hickman definitely gives Schiti a lot to work with; this is Eisner-worthy stuff. I just wish the story being told excited me a little more is all. Read Full Review

GODS #1 is a mildly entertaining, beautifully rendered magical adventure that expands the mystical side of the Marvel universe with a charismatic lead in Wyn. Unfortunately, the issue is too long, doesn't deliver enough meat for the cover price, and effectively turns Wyn into a Doctor Strange clone. GODS #1 is a fine one-shot, but Hickman didn't do enough to get Wyn to stand out or apart. Read Full Review

Johnathan hickman is my favorite writer and I love the magical realm of marvel so I was beyond excited for this book. After reading it I have to say I exceeded all my expectations! This was absolutely brilliant!

This was actually very easy to read even with all the new high concepts and bunch of new chars.
I liked it a lot.

Jonathan Hickman is easily the most ambitious writer in comics, and he's got the skill to back it up and pull off his big, ballsy ideas. Some might say that he can, at times, be a writer whose reach exceeds his grasp, and time will tell whether that's true here, but Hickman has proven that he deserves my full confidence. So I'm happy to follow him down this magical, winding, cosmic rabbit hole and see where I pop out at the end. This issue was only the tip of the iceberg for what Hickman's got in store and I can't wait to see what's next. Schiti absolutely killed it with the art too.

Price is ridiculous but this is already great on every level. Let's hope Hickman has another winner is his hands.

Read this immediately

I wasn't quite sure what to expect with this one, but I'm really happy with what we got. Wyn is already a great protagonist that's likable from the start. Aiko and Dimitri are really good characters as well. Dimitri is a fun sidekick, and I really enjoyed the conversation between Aiko and Wyn in the bar. I'm really looking forward to more content involving the two of them. This was just a really nice introduction to this new section of the Marvel Universe and I can't wait to see what comes next. I sense big things coming with this series.

BEHOLD BABYLON!

Loved this! Very happy I picked up physical instead of digital this time.

Jonathan Hickman & Valerio Schiti’s long-teased series finally hit shelves after weeks of promotion from Marvel and complaints from comic book shops frustrated with an expensive number one without the backing of any major Marvel superhero front-and-center on the cover. I’ll leave the marketing strategy debate for other sites and focus my review solely on the issue itself. And boy did this feel like a meaty Hickman story if there ever was one. Putting aside the glaring fact that these G.O.D.S. are meant to have existed four hundreds, if not thousands, of years yet have been missing in action up until now, this issue read with a level of gravitas that is hard to pull off with a cast of brand new characters and factions.

Speaking of the new characters, I found them to be instantly endearing and I was actively interested in their lives and connections by the end of the issue. Hickman did a tremendous job developing Wyn, Dmitri, and Aiko to set them up as believable main characters. That was helped by the sheer number of pages that featured dialogue exclusively between them, but selling these characters may have been THE job Hickman needed to this issue and I thought he did it in spades for these three. I was less sold on the new villain, Cubisk Core, but he was given much less of a backstory in this issue. Hopefully that will be explored more in future issues as readers need to understand, and even potentially sympathize, with some aspects of a villain’s perspective to give them credibility and complexity.

Schiti’s art matches Hickman’s elevated writing panel-for-panel. The designs for characters and scenery bring the book to life, with a sense of humanity that grounds readers in this unfamiliar world. Facial, especially those from our new main characters, evoke emotion brilliantly and set the tone for how characters are experiencing the events we’re watching unfold. The breadth of the different types of environments and scenery we see is awe-inspiring and Schiti and colorist Marte Gracia create some truly breath-taking panels that are some of the best work you’ll see this year.

Some will say this issue needed to stop readers dead in their tracks with a big WOW moment, but I think the exact opposite. I wanted to convinced why I should care about brand new characters and Hickman and Schiti surpassed any expectations I had. Was it worth the $9.99 cover price? That’s not a question I can answer for everyone. Was it a nearly perfect debut issue for what promises to be a monumental moment in the Marvel universe? Absolutely.

Rating: 9/10 more

This is more like it. Hickman really dropped the ball with Ultimate Invasion. Whether that was an editorial mandate to keep it to 8 issues and not go anywhere with it being an ultimate universe set up is a mystery, but here Hickman has a new playground to go off in and it's very enjoyable. While Ultimate Invasion felt like an emotionless funeral with events just happening, Wyn and the other characters in GODS feel like they have good motivation and setup and it sets up a lot more enjoyable stuff in this one issue than the entirety of ultimate invasion. The art here is a lot more kinetic as well since it's more than just a massive toy box fighting every issue. I'm on board, and I can only hope it gets better from here.

https://youtu.be/vV2EmbnlutU?si=aMByIS32UNowCn7v

Review at (1:23) in link.

Hickman and Schiti are off to a great start here as they bring readers one of the single most rare things in Big 2 comics: a prominent, centerpiece book starring brand new characters that feel fleshed out and well developed. I was really surprised at, and appreciative of, how self-contained this issue was. Hickman's a notoriously elaborate plotter, which is a big reason he's one of the best writers in comics today, and I appreciated him pulling back a bit on building in favor of really introducing us to these characters.

I thought all of the banter around Wyn was fun and I'm really looking forward to his relationship with Aiko being explored further. Wyn comes off a bit like Constantine, mixed with a little Dr Strange, with an extra dash of hard sci-fi thrown in and I am here for it. There seems to be a ton of potential here in just the new characters alone and it's pretty easy to have faith in Hickman to deliver a big time story that helps them stand out in the Marvel Universe.
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Art: 4/5
Story: 3.5/5
Total: 7.5/10

I really enjoyed the two protagonist characters and that they represent magic and science but I'm afraid the rest just isn't for me. Awesome art. Great writing (when it didn't fly over my head) I'm just getting back into reading current modern comics and I'm going to pass on the series for now. Probably check it out later when it hits Marvel Unlimited if I read that the story did some cool stuff.

A monster sized first issue (with a monster price tag) and a whole host of cameos. The issue does a good job of making the new celestial additions to the Marvel feel like they have always been there and we just haven’t noticed them before. The villain looks weird and beyond starting a universe ending event doesn’t have much to do, but that’s ok. This is an issue about introducing the new G.O.D.S. The-Powers-That-Be and The-Natural-Order-Of-Things, except they don’t actually appear. Instead we get the relationship between two of their representatives, Wyn and Aiko. A married couple who are on different sides of an eternal lack of agreement. Are they trying to say something about marriage?
A fun story, great artwork and interesting characters. A solid first issue.
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I feel like if you have read the Magic Order by Mark Millar first, this issue gets a lot worse points. As it kind of feels like Hickman read that and when... hey I can do that.

Now if you havent read it, this issue is probably a 7.5/10 cause you dont realize that there is other better and cheaper stuff out there (you can get the entire first volume of magic order for less than the first issue of this overprice bloated book).

Might also read issue 2, but if the next issue isnt any good, I cannot see myself continuing this.

Pretentious twatness.

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Ultimate Goblin - Oct 5, 2023

I didn't read it yet, but this opinion looks very plausible

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Unpopular opinion, but I was left whelmed by this issue. Maybe I'm an idiot who cant understand art, but my problem with Jonathan Hickman is that when he writes dialogue, it doesnt come off as natural and it comes off like Christopher Nolan or robotic. The dialogue is clunky, and it takes up the majority of hte page to the point where I dont really care and feel bored. I dont really feel attached to the new GODS and Marvel version of John Constantine. The. characters dont make an impact on me.

Overall, I didnt like this issue as much, which is going to be polarizing and having people talk about me behind my back. Which is a shame, because I think Jonathan Hickman is a great writer and I applaud him for trying mature new things, but he's just not the writer that I am fully on board. I think after reading his Fantastic Four and Avengers run, then being dissapointed with his X-Men run is why my opinion on him changed. But it still doesnt change the fact that to me, Jonathan Hickman is the greatest modern Marvel writer of all time more

Wyn is just a less relatable Doctor Strange, and there is not on sympathetic character in this comics.