Gabriel #2 is a comic written by C. K. Riley with art by Branko Jovanovic. Gabriel is brought to Asgard where he is put to the test. This is a supernatural comic that features heavy interaction between different belief systems like Christianity, Norse Mythology, and Irish Mythology. The main man for this tale is Gabriel, a former archangel who has been tasked with warning the other pantheons of incoming hostilities from Yahweh. Gabriel will cross paths with legendary figures like Frigg and Odin throughout his journey. The story begins with Gabriel floating in space talking to an unknown voice. He is soon transported to a place where he makes interesting, startling, and dangerous discoveries. The violence in this story can get bloody with some gore. The pacing here is a bit on the slower side as deep thoughts and difficult questions are explored here. The tone is dramatic and the intensity comes from violence and arguments. The dialogue is mostly conversational with a lot of back-and-forth, some narration, and intense discussions. There aren’t any word-heavy pages but it can get close. This is a sequel issue that moves the story forward, expands your perspective, and hints at greater things to come.

            The art here is very detailed and drawn in a style that is reminiscent of comics form the 70’s and 80’s. This is in black-and-white and has heavy shading. For scenery there are picturesque shots of space filled with celestial bodies as well as some mountains and grass. The location changes a few times with a majority of the scenes being outdoors. The backgrounds show the location most of the time but occasionally it’ll be a solid or stylized(speckles, halftone-dotting) color. The expression level here is around average as we get a decent variety of looks but Gabriel frequently sports a stoic demeanor. The main emotions here are despair, doubt, sadness, anger, determination. The faces are well-drawn and have a high amount of detail so most of the time the intended expression will be clear. The mystical effects tend to be fiery with blur. The violence can involve swords but other times it is physical. The action scenes tend to come in bursts with a good amount of panels and a flow that won’t confuse you.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes, if this is up your alley.

“Would I like this?”

If you like dramatic supernatural stories that deal with gods and heroes from many different religions with some violence and deep conversations then this is for you.

“What would this comic’s film rating be?”

R. Violence, gore.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“I see now why your people were conquered.”

 

Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08FT8Q2Q5

 

***** I received this review copy for free. *****

***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 30

Violent Pages: 7, for 23% of the comic

Sexy Pages: 0, for 0% of the comic

 

**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**

 

Violence Level – 3

“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”

“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”

“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”

“This was a tournament arc.”

“All my life I had to fight.”

 

Gore Level – 4

“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”

“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”

“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”

“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”

“This is a slaughterhouse.”

 

Death Level – 2

“And everybody lived happily ever after.”

“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”

“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”

“Yeah this was a tragedy.”

“Think Gettysburg.”

 

Porn Level – 1

“Everybody kept their clothes on.”

“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”

“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”

“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”

“Oh. This is porn.”