Written by Zoë Quinn
Illustrated by Robbi Rodriguez
Published by Vertigo Comics
A solid second issue by Zoë Quinn and Robbi Rodriguez.
Picking up literally the the first issue left off we are given more of the meat of the characters as backstories are filled in while Casandra Price is rescued by the “Tall Poppies”, oracles who can traverse the Azoth, the Matrix-like internet of this world, and the analog “real” world. Like Cassandra, in the Azoth, they take on new identities and have specific powers in this realm that continue into the analog world, they are just more limited in their extent.
Goddess Mode continues to intrigue and entertain me as a reader.
That is saying a lot as I am not a huge gamer, per say, and so I only know of some of the things they refer to peripherally at times. It also means though, that if there are any inside jokes or information being said it totally flies over my head.
The being said, I am still enjoying it on its storytelling and artistic qualities and I am constantly learning and fascinated with the worlds presented here. This book is for gamers and non-gamers alike and that is really cool.
I feel, in a way, I am like Cassandra and trying to absorb everything going on here, and that isn’t a bad thing because at no point does Quinn lose me or talk down to me. Cassandra has a hard time taking in all the information and becomes overwhelmed with all this new knowledge. So do I as a reader at times. So Quinn slows it down and explains it to us. Not as an idiot but as an intelligent person trying to understand, and I appreciate that.
As fast as all the initial mayhem started, it ends and Cassandra and the others are spit back out of of the Azoth and back to reality. Here the other ladies all meet Cassandra for the first time. We continue to introductions of the real people behind the Azoth avatars that saved her. Mary Levy, the leader and first of the Oracles to discover their powers is the Oracle of Interpretation; Farrah St. Germaine is the Oracle of Overflow; Tatyanna Cole the Oracle of Noise; and Cassandra Price is the oracle of Garbage. Her powers have yet to reveal themselves.
Just as Cassandra is beginning to get a handle on some of the information she has been given she receives a call from her boss, Clive Benson. As she does, the Ladies are sucked, once again back into the Azoth. They now stand face to face with a Daemon of the Azoth as it tries to devour another user.
The book is non stop and fast paced. The art is gorgeous and as colorful as it is dynamic. Which his amazing.
I can’t wait for the next issue to see what happens next, and that, to me, is the sign of a great comic book.
I highly recommend picking up Goddess Mode. I haven’t been disappointed yet.
