Kickstarting Comics: ‘The Forgotten Divine’ Review

Ahoy Comics has launched its first Kickstarter campaign. And who better to trust in this endeavour than writer and satirist Mark Russell in a story that explores “how we build our identity around beliefs and causes, which not only gives a real sense of meaning to our lives, but also makes it harder to back away from them”, as Russell explained to me in my recent interview with him. And in The Forgotten Divine he does so economically, entertainingly and without punching down.

It’s this final point I would like to linger on for just a moment as one of the reasons Russell is one of the definitive comic book voices of his generation. In many a comic book, Russell has built something of a reputation. Not only a great writer, but in stopping short of cheap shots at easy targets like zealous cults, he shows a humane side that many would not.

And so, in following the trials and tribulations of Rodney Coleman as he stumbles into establishing such a cult, based on his visions of alien landscapes light-years away, Russell shows an empathy to his leading man that the readers cannot help but share. It would be easy to create a stereotypical cult leader, but not our Rodney. A veteran of the US Military Complex, like so many of his kind, he is chewed up and spat out and at his lowest ebb. How can you not feel for a guy like that? And as this one-shot unfolds, we learn a lot more about this hapless sap. We connect with him through his experiences and the humour of his situation. He isn’t to be laughed at, but rather understood. He is an everyman of sorts, a figure which Russell can use to explore why so many of us get drawn into rabbit holes — cultish or otherwise — and how these experiences can lead one to dark places. Or into the arms of seemingly friendly groups and cults. It’s a common problem for our contemporary society, and done with the right balance of satire and pathos.

Adding the right amount of gravitas to this project is artist Russ Braun, whose realistic leanings offer the reader an experience that is grounded in the familiar while offering up strange and exotic alien vistas evocative of classic Star Trek and Sixties sci-fi aesthetics. It’s a very cool look.

But it’s not just the backdrops that help breathe life into this 64-page one-shot. His mastery of anatomy, especially so in his expressive faces, helps illuminate the story while creating a cast of interesting and individual characters who only have the best of intentions. Obviously, it doesn’t work out that way, as is the way of cults and conspiracists.

It’s a thoughtful, funny story, very much in the vein and style of The Outer Limits, but with a heart and sympathetic shoulder for the leading man, Rodney Coleman.

The Forgotten Divine Kickstarter campaign is live now. And catch my interview with Mark Russell here.