Everything’s bigger in Texas. Even gods.
And Donny Cates’ God Country is no exception either. In its premiere issue, readers were quickly introduced to the aging Emmett Quinlan and his burdened family when suddenly a cosmic twister drops a magical sword into Emmett’s lap, curing his Alzheimer’s and granting him godly strength. Admittedly, the first issue may have been just a tad too big. Introducing readers to the Quinlan family at too quick of a pace, making it difficult to really relate to Roy’s struggle to care for his dying father, a decrepit childhood home, and his wife and child. Heavy in narration and saving its fantastical appeal to the very end.
Issue one was a brief, to-the-point set up for the series; issue two however is the true hook. Dialing back the omnipresent narration, Cates gives us a sincere insight into the life of Emmett Quinlan and the painfully slow death of memory. Roy and his wife Janey’s shock and disbelief at Emmett’s sudden regained health at the hands of a talking, symbiotic 12-foot sword grounds readers. So when the towering war god Aristus comes to reclaim the sword and parlay with Emmett, the series doesn’t lose itself in its own fantasy.
Not only does Cates establish a world rich with imaginative mythos, an intergalactic kingdom, war gods, and an eternal sword of all swords, but switches gears in storytelling. Rather than textually explain what Emmett has to lose in surrendering his newfound divinity, readers are met with intimate panels of a forgotten lost wife and uncomfortable hospital room conversations.
Washed in the gorgeous muted tones of colorist Jason Wordie and expressive pencils of Geoff Shaw, God Country #2 finds a perfect balance between the mundane and the titanic. Resulting in a Hellboy-esque tone, Cates draws readers into the surreal events of God Country without sacrificing believability and sincerity.
