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Godkiller: Walk Among Us Vol. 1
Motion comics are a strange coupling between two of my favorite things: animation and comics. Usually I can't stand motion comics based on my short experience with the Watchmen Motion Comic, so I more often than not, dismiss them.
However, though my love for cartoons usually makes short work of my interest in motion comics, I was somehow drawn to Godkiller's comic aspect. You see, I have so much love for the industry that I usually gobble up anything I can get my filthy hands on, but Godkiller I'd never heard of. Immediately it had something going for it. I was intrigued.
Then I read the case which proudly displayed Lance Henriksen, Bill Moseley, and Davey Havok as voice actors. When the dust in my head over the voice acting settled, I was pretty excited to watch it. Lance Henriksen and Bill Moseley were immediately interesting, but Davey Havok, singer of AFI, the most surprising. While watching the episode I found most of the voice acting to be spectacular and only some of it to be so/so. The worst, unfortunately turned out to be Davey's. While trying to come off as pompous and superior, I feel he just came off as dead air. Card board thin, if you will.
The premise itself was fun enough. In an apocalyptic future, a teenage orphan chases two organ stealing prostitutes in hopes to find a new heart for his dying kid sister. It becomes pretty clear pretty fast that the boy is performing a noble, albeit foolish, act out of love in a completely loveless world. Justin Pierre, of Motion City Soundtrack, voices Tommy, our main hero. Tommy's character, as gallant a defender he is, also provides for the comic relief. He constantly reminds himself everything he does is foolish, especially chasing two organ stealing whores. "Thisisabadideathisisabadidea." Lucky for us, our hero never listens to himself because hilarity and craziness ensues. Henricksen's character is, featured at the begining of our story, is an old man struggling to survive in the wasteland. He frequents brothels.
And yes, things get fucked up.
The only word I can use to describe Godkiller's tone is grimdark. The episode's grim-darkness is clear, but not over applied, with all kinds of crazy organ-stealing, brutality and cannibalism, murder, and prostitution. Apparently it's how people, and aliens, survive in the near future, as we've discovered in so many times. In one particular scene, a prostitute, while sewing herself up, ponders the marketing merits of body mutilation. It's that kind of stuff ironically, that I imagine Eli Roth, among others, wonder.
The great proverbial cherry top lay in the extras. Godkiller comes with some extra special media formats including a nearly hour-long audio book chapter called Godkiller: Silent War. The chapter is a prequel, and is pretty fun to listen to. Also included on the disc, a 68 page PDF document containing the first two issues of the comic book. Holy shit, that's a lot of awesome!
Godkiller is intended to be a series, and an epic one if the case is to be believed. I certainly hope so. The single half-hour episode wasn't nearly enough to satisfy my ever-evolving needs, so when it ended on a cliffhanger I was almost distressed. I cannot wait for more of this.
On a five scale, I give it a four. It entertained, it looked good, and I felt good watching it.
-Ryan Freaking Miller!/
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