This book came out last month and I wanted to check it out. But Avatar Press, the company that published it, didn’t make their comics available digitally, which is the way I prefer to read my comic-books these days. Then I read 3 days ago on Bleeding Cool that Avatar Press Goes Digitally Exclusive With ComiXology, so I immediately went to Comixology and bought this.

Created by Jonathan Hickman, who co-wrote it with Mike Costa, the book opens in the year 2015, with tales of destruction across the world. A volcano erupts in Greece, killing 10,000 people. Freezing temperatures in Norway killed 8,000 people. A sandstorm in Egypt kills 17,000 people. Flooding rain in the Yucatan kills 14,000 people. And 7 million are killed by an earthquake in India. Then a couple of weeks later a being claiming to be the mythological ZEUS appears at the Vatican, walks in sits down on the Pope’s golden throne, and declares that he will be worshiped and obeyed by humanity again.

Two months later, the world has changed. We learn that Zeus is not alone. Along with the rest of the Greek Gods, the pantheons of the Norse, Egyptian, Aztec, and Hindu Gods have all appeared and made their presence known to the world, gathering followers in the millions, in what is called “The Great Summer Awakening”.

Mexico has been renamed Tenochititlan, and ritual human sacrifices, in the name of the Aztecs, have been reinstated. We don’t get an exact picture of how the rest of the world has been changed, but a TV newscast informs us that many world governments have fallen. In addition to Latin America, Europe, Africa, and India, have all been gripped with hysteria over the return of the Gods, as have parts of the American South. We see that the secret HQ of the head of what is called the “remaining U.S. Armed Forces and Federal Government” are planning to strike against the Gods. And we see scientist Dr. Sebastian Shaw being saved from a group of Aztec fanatics by a badass woman named Gaby, and taken to an underground meeting of what is called The Collective, whom I guess are civilian resistance, also plotting against the Gods and their followers. The final scene is in Valhalla, where Odin has arranged a celebration with the other Gods, so they can plot to divide the Earth amongst themselves.

A good first issue, it’s mostly set-up, there’s still much to be revealed, but that’s how Hickman’s creator-owned books tend to roll, with slow starts that reveal more and more as the series’ continue. So I’m intrigued enough here to come back for the next issue. I would have liked it if they’d included the Orisha, some African Gods, in the mix. And Amorim does a decent job with the artwork, although I noticed that he draws Odin, Thor, and Loki resembling their Marvel Comics’ portrayals, as opposed to their traditional mythological depictions, which I found a tad distracting. But, overall, I like what I see.