Gods Among Men #1 is a comic written by Josh Mak with details & letters by Aaron Mak and art by Ben Sullivan. A restaurant owner looks to drugs to increase his sales. This is a comic about making money with a bit of drama and a strong focus on drugs. The main man for this tale is Jason, he is a father and entrepreneur who has opened a restaurant called Rize Burger which sells burgers with rice buns. He has his younger brother Osbert working with him as well, though he costs him money. His business partner is Muntaka Hashi, a Somalian man who can be funny but also late. This story begins at Rize Burger where it is a packed house and we get to see exactly how the burgers are made. We also see the interactions with the clientele, some of which are weed smokers, who Jason lets smoke out back. This takes place in Australia in 2009. There isn’t any violence here. The pacing here is steady with some slower parts and the tone here is that of a stoner movie and a get-rich-quick scheme. There aren’t any intense moments here. The dialogue here has Australian slang and terminology and it is mainly conversational with a good amount of narration of Jason’s thoughts. There are at least a couple word-heavy pages. This is an interesting debut issue that introduces us to the sizable cast and gives us an intriguing drug-dealing story to follow.

            The art here is drawn in a detailed style with a realistic aim and a slight softness. The color range is somewhat wide with a decent variety on each page. For scenery we have outdoor plants and a couple rows of trees as the majority of this takes place in and around buildings. The main location is the Rize Burger shop from the kitchen and dining room to the outdoor patio. We’ll also visit more private areas like Jason and Oz’s home. The backgrounds always show the immediate surroundings except for a few panels. The expression level here is a bit below average as the main cast rarely moves beyond their resting face. We do get smiles and grins with a bit of irritation. The faces’ strongest feature are the eyes and they are well drawn enough to showcase the different expressions clearly. There isn’t any violence or action here.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes, if this is up your alley.

“Would I like this?”

If you like comic about trying to make money both the legal and illegal way with a sizable cast, a bit of drama, and drugs then this is for you.

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

PG-13. Drug use.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“…this business will change you.”

 

Apple Books Link: https://books.apple.com/au/book/gods-among-men-1/id6504766480

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cynation/gods-among-men-1/description

 

***** 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): 20

Violent Pages: 0, for 0% 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 – 1

“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 – 1

“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 – 1

“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.”