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Graphic Novel Review: The God List by Steve Niles and Scott Hampton, art by Scott Lange, letters by Janice Chiang, edited by Sandy King

The God List by Steve Niles and Scott Hampton, art by Scott Lange, letters by Janice Chiang, edited by Sandy King

Storm King Comics, 2024

ISBN-13: 9798988728528

Available: paperback

Buy: Bookshop.org | Amazon.com

 

William Clark owns a used bookstore called Olden Daze Books in Greenwich Village that pays more out than it takes in. He doesn’t mind, though, as he enjoys being surrounded by the dusty old tomes. One night after he has closed shop and is settling in for the night, a woman disturbs him when she pounds on the door of the store begging for help. She pushes a parcel into his hands, cries for him to protect it, and turns into ash when she hits the ground. Following her is a group of robed cultists, and a mysterious blonde woman named Lydia who saves him from them. As they make their getaway, she tells him he must discover the secrets of the book in his hands. As he unlocks the secrets of the God List, a legendary inventory of unknown creative works, he finds that his dreams show him the way. Lydia and William’s search takes them from Greenwich Village in New York, to the Vatican archives, and finally to an old cathedral in Cologne, Germany. Unfortunately, the cult leader has summoned the giant of a man named Ravyn to do whatever it takes to retrieve the God List.

 

Niles delivers a great story with The God List. The plot moves quickly and delivers a good bit of religious and artistic history. The characters feel real, despite the reader knowing them for a short time. I especially love the formidable librarian, Lucinda, who they have to make their way past in the Vatican archives. Hampton’s artwork is phenomenal, from character designs to intricate backgrounds.

 

This would be a solid addition to libraries looking to expand their horror graphic novels collection, as well as support an independent publisher specializing in such resources. Highly recommended.

 

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on October 2, 2026 by , Reply

Book Review: Pierce the Veil by David Simms

Pierce the Veil  by David Simms

Macabre Ink, 2024

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1637890516

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition (pre-order)

Buy: Amazon.com

 

Derek Boone and his friend and fellow bandmate Shane are navigating a snowstorm on their way home from a show when the car they’re in skids off the road and off the side of a bridge into freezing water, killing them both. Almost a day later, Boone is revived using an experimental cryogenic technology, All he wants is for life to go back to normal, fix things with his religious fiancée, Megan, and grieve Shane (I found his grief experience to be very convincing). However, his unique experience has made him news, and everyone has an opinion about what he should do and whether he should share his NDE (near-death experience) although he doesn’t remember it. He is suspended from his job as a teacher due to parent concerns that he will bring it up, asked to do a television interview, targeted by a priest-assassin, and kidnapped, with Megan, by a cult. The cult wants to use his NDE to prove to the world that there is no heaven, only a place of energy absorbing “clouds” that drain souls like batteries, and the brotherhood of the priest believes that due to the length of his NDE he can push through that “hell” to find light on the other side, to bolster the world’s belief that there is a heaven. It’s interesting that both sides make the exact same arguments. The brotherhood, as an underground branch of the Catholic Church, has a lot more institutional power behind it. Despite everything, Boone manages to hang on to the core of who he is.

 

Simms drops you right into the middle of the action, and it is a wild ride up to the end, with some horrific scenes, as well as some dread-inducing moments at the end. Yet there is space for Boone to participate in and process philosophical discussions on NDEs and the afterlife that are necessary to move the plot forward without feeling like the plot has lost its thread.

 

In terms of character development. Boone’s close friends Charlie and Heather, who are briefly mentioned near the beginning of the book, are memorable and help move the plot forward, Megan, whose function at first seems to be irritatingly pushy and misguided about religion, absolutely rocks in a team-up with Boone as the priest-assassin chases them through a shopping mall, She shows strength of character and puts herself on the line for Boone. Even the priest-assassin is revealed to have more to him than we initially see.

 

Boone is just an ordinary guy wanting to live an ordinary life, whose singular experience leaves him, and the people he loves, in precarious situations while he attempts to unravel his experiences during his NDE. As much as he wants to believe things in his life can stay the same, he’s’ left in a haze of uncertainty, grief, love, and fear that he needs to work through himself to find answers.

 

Pierce the Veil  is not just a thrill ride. It will make you think.

 

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

 

Posted on July 11, 2024 by , Reply

Book Review: Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White

Cover art for Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White

Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White.

Peachtree Teen, 2022

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1682633243

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition ( Bookshop.org | Amazon.com )

 

Hell Followed with Us is an incredible and original book, but it is not an easy read. It is a scream of rage. Make sure to read the author’s content warnings at the beginning of the book.

 

Benji is a trans boy injected with a virus that will turn him into a genocidal monster, a Seraph, for a doomsday cult, the Angels. He tries running away but is captured by the cult’s death squad. A group called the Watch, queer teens inhabiting their destroyed teen center for LGBTQ+ youth, attacks and kills everyone in the death squad except Benji, who is offered refuge by the leader, Nick, an autistic gay boy. Nick knows Benji is the Seraph, but hides it to protect him, believing that his powers will allow him to control the Graces, monstrous creatures made from infected bodies trained by the Angels to attack nonbelievers.

 

The Watch successfully attacks a church with Benji’s help. Benji discovers his fiance, Theo, is hiding in the church, and visits him there, only to find that the visit was used by the Angels as an opportunity to burn down the home of the Watch. As Benji continues to physically disintegrate into the Seraph, he makes a plan with Nick to pretend to return and cooperate with the Angels, despite their murder of his father, transphobia, and religious extremism. While the first plan is botched and Benji turns fully into a Seraph, a second plan unleashes a bloodbath on the Angels and frees the Watch from fear and persecution..

 

Andrew Joseph White wrote this for trans kids facing a hostile world, to give them a mirror of a trans boy who fights back. But it’s not necessary to be trans or queer to be wowed by it.  So many of the major characters were queer that I got to see many different aspects of how they characters experienced their queerness, and it also didn’t become the only factor defining their identities. I loved the found family feeling of the members of the Watch, looking out for each other in a hostile world.

 

It’s difficult to imagine how hard-right evangelical Christianity in this country could get more repressive and violent than it currently is, but somehow White takes it to an even more terrifying extreme. Highly recommended.

 

 

Contains: transphobia, deadnaming, misgendering, graphic violence, domestic, child, and religious abuse, body horror

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

 

Posted on December 18, 2022 by , Reply
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