With Should I Be Reading… ?, ComicsAlliance hopes to offer you a guide to some of the best original ongoing comics being published today.

In the days before the Flood, the world was full of violence. Welcome to The Goddamned, an Image series by the Scalped writer/artist team of Jason Aaron and R. M. Guéra, that explores a world so grim that God saw no option but to destroy it.

 

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WHAT'S IT ABOUT?

In a miscarried world, decaying before it is even born, full of men and monsters and as dystopian as any sci-fi future world you’ve seen, Cain --- the First Murderer --- seeks the Nephilim, children of angels and humans, who he hopes will be able to put an end to his life.

But there are other things in the darkness -- people struggling to hold onto hope, and those eager to rip it away. As he searches for death, Cain comes into contact with people striving to stay alive in a world that God has forsaken.

 

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WHO'S IT BY?

The Goddamned is written by Jason Aaron, perhaps best known for introducing the Jane Foster Thor to the Marvel Universe, or for his independent work on titles such as Scalped and Southern BastardsR.M. Guéra, the artist who worked on Scalped with Aaron, is also known for his work on the comic adaptation of Django UnchainedThe Scalped reunion is rounded out by the presence of colorist Giulia Brusco, who also worked on Django Unchained, as well as many DC and Marvel projects

WHAT MAKES IT SPECIAL?

Aside from the art --- which, c’mon, you can see how gorgeous and terrible it is:

 

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... this is a disturbing tale set in the darkest period for humanity, real or imagined. A time so terrible that God has given up on his creation, and you can feel it in every page, in every sentence; a world abandoned and soon to be destroyed.

Did you see the Darren Aronofsky movie Noah? If so, you'll know how it attempted to tell a supernatural, harsh, amazing story of Noah’s ark --- one that managed to mix the meaningful with the magical, and the mundane with the monstrous. This comic does all of that --- but it actually succeeds. It is perhaps the first great adaptation of the Old Testament since R. Crumb’s Book of Genesis Illustrated.

 

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WHO SHOULD READ IT?

People who thought Crossed was a little too tame. Fans of Aaron’s medieval adventures in Thor: God of Thunder will also find much to love here, though it’s much gorier and more intense than Marvel would ever allow.

Anyone interested in an intense, Biblically-accurate story that makes the world of Mad Max: Fury Road seem like a pleasant place to be should get this comic immediately.

WHERE CAN I READ IT?

The Goddamned is available at better comic book stores and on Comixology. Four issues have been published thus far, with issue #5 due out at the end of September, and the collection of the first five issues out in November.

 

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