"Godshaper" by Simon Spurrier - Graphic Novel Review

Godshaper introduces a vast world where there's a god for every person and a person for every god...though for Ennay, unfortunately exceptions may apply. People like him are Godshapers, godless social pariahs with the ability to mold and shape the gods of others. Paired with Bud, an off-kilter but affectionate god without a human, the two travel from town to town looking for shelter, a hot meal, and the next paying rock 'n' roll gig.

I got Godshaper on a limb, pre-ordering it because I liked the concept and I actually had a bit of spare cash to treat myself. And I loved it! The first thing that blew me away was the artwork. It's just so dizzyingly colorful and beautiful. Take a look:

The second thing that caught my attention were the two main characters: Ennay and Bud. Bud is the adorable, hat-loving god with no human. By rights, he shouldn't exist. He's one of the big mysteries of the story that some of the other characters are trying to solve. One of those characters...is not Ennay. He's very much the reluctant hero. Being a homeless pariah, he just wants everyone to leave him alone, and he'll leave them alone. Unless it's a concert, then he loves the positive attention. He's one of those characters who pretends he doesn't care about anyone or anything except him and his. But he gets dragged into doing the right thing by the other characters.

The one complaint that I have about this story is all the unanswered questions. We never find out why Bud is human-less, or where the gods came from, or why they all showed up when all of the power and electricity in the world suddenly stopped. This kind of open ending is obviously done on purpose. Ennay flat-out states that he and Bud just don't care . They're going to just keep doing their own thing and be happy. Everyone else can suck it.

I guess that bothered me because such an attitude goes against natural human curiosity. We're hard-wired to keep poking the bear until it either tells us what's going on, or (more likely) mauls us to pieces.

But that's more of a difference of theme and style than what I, personally, am used to. Open ending or not, this is still a very good story. It has humor, it has darkness, and it has some really great, really diverse ​ characters.