Tongues, Vol. 1 by Anders Nilsen
I have NO idea what was read. The stories all bounce all over the place. The images are busy, the text mixes and gets lost in the illustrations. The images are colorless but are not black and white. The characters are unlikable, even Astrid, who might be the one that will save the world. Or destroy it. It’s still up in the air. There is nothing good and positive. Even The Prisoner has faults and he seems to be a hero-like character.
But I assume that is the point. We are a race of beautiful minds with, at times, ugly souls and hearts. We are messy, we are mortal, we are flawed, we are wonderful, we are interesting, we will run our course. The Gods might play with our development, but they are just like us. Or are we like them? Questions are around every corner and few, if any, answers.
The story itself is easy: The Omega (also known by other names) wants to destroy humanity. There are others of his siblings or uncles (sometimes these relationships overlap and are one and the same) who wish to stop humanity from destroying the world. Of course, there are humans who want to help, assuming devotees will be saved. But then there are other others who wish to stop this and keep humanity safe. The Gods and Goddesses and their children are a mix of different mythologies. Leaning more on Greek and Roman influences, I am assuming there might be some African and Middle Eastern touches as well.
It is when everything comes together that things are out of balance. The images are odd, emotional and also flat. The actions are not smooth. The characters are not fleshed out. There are pieces that are grotesque and others sensual. The book occasionally keeps to a traditional graphic novel format, but usually is literally all of the page. And every so often an insert happens that is just there, ready to catch on something and give you a big ol’ papercut. I’m expecting some to be ripped out of the book purely by accident as it really throws off the flow of reading.
Triggers include, but are not limited to: death, violence, guns, kidnapping, confinement, nudity (mostly involving children but also somewhat abstractly), graphic imagery and themes, plus more. Even if things are not “graphic” they are emotional and this is not for sensitive readers. I would not let anyone under 15 read it (and that could be pushing it as the content is mature).
