As a longtime lover of comics and proud nerd, I’ve read a lot of comics out of order. Not intentionally, mind you, but usually as a result of doing a lot of my reading at my local public library. You never know what they’ll have on the shelf, and sometimes they might not have things in release order. But that doesn’t always stop me from reading a story anyhow, especially if it has incredible art and a compelling premise. Which brings us to the latest comic I’m reviewing, Godfell Volume 4 by Vault Comics.
Now, as you might suspect, jumping into a series 4 volumes in means that I’m a little lost story-wise. But that doesn’t stop Godfell Volume 4 from being a compelling read. It’s also relatively short, at only 30 something pages. So even though I went in without some context, it didn’t take me all that long to get mostly caught up.
The hook for Godfell is that the land of Kerethim that Zanzi and Neth are traveling through is actually the corpse of a fallen god (hence the name). In this volume, they’re trudging through the viscera of the god’s guts, when they come across something called the Nihli. Though it’s made clear almost immediately that Zanzi is a warrior queen with skills like Conan, she’s not ready for this threat. Surprisingly, the more demure, definitely not an action hero Neth IS prepared for the surprise encounter. Mostly because the Nihli can infiltrate the minds of their victims. And Neth is definitely the thinker of the group.
What I found especially interesting about the comic is how it plays with the issues of faith, and what it means to believe in something greater than yourself. Zanzi clearly doesn’t believe in divinity, despite literally hacking and slashing her way through a god’s corpse. Neth, meanwhile, has given up at the start of Volume 4, only for her encounter with the Nihli to instill her with faith again. And then there’s a bloody group called the Sensates, who are hunting them both in order to appease their god.
It’s crazy, hectic fun, and it occasionally devolves into violent conflict. But the vast majority of this volume is told through mental communication and flashbacks. We learn that Neth is not the wallflower Zanzi thought her to be, and she has a sordid history as well. Zanzi, meanwhile, loses herself, and decides that her only mission is to help bring Neth to the god’s head.
Overall I had a great time reading Godfell Volume 4, and it definitely makes me more likely to check out other content from Vault Comics. If you don’t mind a little gore and a lot of conflict, this is definitely a story worth checking out.
Rating: 4 stars
