Most of the Metal Community knows that singer Rob Duke’s is the deadly vocal force behind the band Exodus, but did you also know that he is a writer and has his own comic book? Yep, he is the main creative force behind the Horror themed comic called “I Am Become God” which is available from the folks at Terminal Press. You might remember the company as the one who did a Dimmu Borgir comic about a year or so ago but that never was released beyond previews based on all of the band member changes shortly before it went to press. Talk about a bummer. Anyways, where was I? Oh yes, my overview of “I Am Become God”. It’s based on a story by Rob Dukes script and letters by Keith McCleary art by Garrett Adderley colors by Adam Street.
The book focuses on the daily activities of an unnamed serial killer who we meet on the first page where he defines himself as being a truly crazy and disturbed individual. I was convinced by the artwork on the cover which shows the protagonist pouring blood into a puddle on the ground out of a disembodied skull. If the reader is not believing this, the killer proudly shows off the skeleton of a kitten that he had killed as a small boy as he introduces himself to us. The rest is horrific history for lack of a better term as the killer gives us his “origin story”. The killer is not really breaking the “fourth wall” of comics and talking to the reader in as much as he seems to be talking to the next victim on his list, but one does not realize this until the final pages of the story. My guess is that he plans on returning to this scenario with other tales of his bloodstained 9 to 5.
The tale is disturbing but a steady read and it reminded me a little bit of a the kind of storyline one would find in a show like “Criminal Minds” or “Masters Of Horror” if I had to draw some kind of a comparison. During the course of the book the killer explains how easily he fell into the aspect of enjoying being such a person and how much pleasure he found in dispensing other animals, neighbors and unsuspecting strangers on a road. There is some adult language which some might find to be gruff but does not insult the intelligence and while the depiction of many of his murders are shown, they are not over the top in graphics so I do not expect that it will not make you ill at ease visually. Perhaps the whole thing will scar you emotionally by the time you finish the tale, but other than that you should be fine. I like how the images let your mind do the rest of the dirty work instead of showing you each individual cut of the blade. I would say to the reader that they should not worry because “it’s only a comic book” but this is not Batman or Spider-Man and we do sadly live in a world where serial killers walk and view us as the object of their attention. Be careful on those dark alleys and lonely rainy nights.
The art is pretty good and delivered by Garrett Adderley on the comics 28 pages. In some sense it reminded me of Anime artwork more than it had me thinking of John Byrne era Fantastic Four in terms of the artistic style but it worked for the flow of the comics story. As this is a Horror comic for the most part, I would say that if you are a fan of those True Crime stories or the programs that I mentioned earlier in the narrative then you might enjoy this tale. It’s a quick read and one that did manage to keep my interest. At this writing I am not sure if a second volume has been produced but if one is in the works I would like to see the character fleshed out a little bit more and see additional creativity offered up in his depravity. Hey, he is a serial killer and just slicing and dicing without a motif or ritual will get boring really quick. Having watched a number of the crime shows for years, we always learn there is a particular “signature” that the killer leaves and unless I missed something in this issue, I did not catch that. Dukes did a sound job as the man behind this tale but let’s see what else he can bring to the table.
If you want to order a copy of the comic/magazine you need to head over to the official Terminal Press website, since that appears to be the only place to get yourself one. You can wait around for the next Comic Convention or hit your neighborhood comic book store if you have one of those in your town, but if neither is an option, just let your mouse be your guide to online satisfaction.
Official Website: http://terminalpress.com
PS: If you want to read my item on the Dimmu Borgir “Dark Fortess” Comic click HERE. Those with interest in seeing some of the coverage we did for Rob Dukes as a member of Exodus, just click that tag in the blog and you should see it all.
Comic Book mavens might also enjoy our Comic Con 2010 Coverage which was given some extensive insight via the blogs listed HERE.