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"We are big fans of Jonathan Hickman, for his seminal runs on Fantastic Four and Secret Warriors to his many Image Comics projects like Pax Romana, East of West and Manhattan Projects. So we were keen to get a look through God Is Dead Volume One, which collects the first arc of the Avatar Press series he launched with co-writer Mike Costa and artist Di Amorim. The old gods are back. Descending from the heavens, the deities of the Norse, Greek, Mesoamerican, Hindu and Egyptian pantheons have returned to Earth to reclaim what they consider to belong to them.  As the world falls quickly under the sway of these beings of legend, a desperate group of scientists goes underground. The series focuses on their attempts to combat the divine scourge, while across the world the gods begin to turn on each other. Hickman has displayed an easily recognisable style in both his Marvel and Image projects, but here the look and feel of the series seem more beholden to Avatar than the writer. The publisher is well known for having its own distinctive style, which has its detractors as well - as its continued success clearly indicates - as its fans. The writer&amp;#039;s hand can mainly be seen in the occasional lyricism of the storytelling, particularly in the interplay between the gods, as well as the early transformation of a newsman from a coolly impartial figure to the mouthpiece of the religious revolution. A couple of scenes do stand out as classic Hickman, including one in issue #6 that is too spoilerific to mention. But far too often, the things that we love about Hickman&amp;#039;s writing are sadly absent here. We don&amp;#039;t know how the writing workload was shared between Hickman and Costa, but the former does not feel as involved as we would have liked. Nor does the concept feel particularly fresh, and has many similarities to another Avatar comic - Warren Ellis&amp;#039;s Supergod - among other stories in comics and beyond.  The ideas in God Is Dead feel underbaked. What is the truth about the gods and where they came from? Why do they turn so readily on each other? And why does each pantheon only get three representatives? There is little attempt to address the answers or even the questions behind them. The book also makes the not-uncommon mistake in fiction of lumping the Hindu gods in with the members of extinct religions. Unlike the religions of Ancient Egypt and South America, Hinduism is very much alive and kicking with hundreds of millions of followers, so the inclusion and subsequent maltreatment of those gods in particular smacks of ignorance and disrespect. It is not only the gods that feel poorly fleshed out - the human scientist group never seem to be satisfactorily established and are largely interchangeable. The group includes the only significant female character in the book, whose scanty outfit is both laughable and vaguely appalling. Outside of that one unfortunate example, Amorim&amp;#039;s work is serviceable, and fits comfortably into the Avatar house style, but fails to take advantage of the characters and settings possibilities that the story offers. It is put too often into the service of nudity and violence rather than the fantastical events rocking the world.  Our favourite things about this series are Hickman&amp;#039;s covers, which see the creator return to the art and design side of his talent, which was most strongly showcased in his earlier Image series. These are by far the place where he feels most present. The covers, while simple, are elegant and striking - it is a shame that can&amp;#039;t be said for the rest of God Is Dead. God Is Dead Volume One is available from Avatar Press and Titan Comics now. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/comics/review/a584360/god-is-dead-review-a-tired-concept-from-jonathan-hickman/>