Glory #1

Posted: Sunday, March 24
By: Craig Lemon

Writer: Alan Moore
Artists: Marat Mychaels, Melinda Gebbie

Publisher: Avatar Press


I don't feel it appropriate to discuss this book without covering an area of criticism which, whilst not wholly relevant to the contents, affect one's purchasing decision. This area is to do with the huge number of covers and previews and #0 editions that we have with this (and a number of other) series. It feels like the Glory project has been underway for some considerable length of time, yet issue one only came out relatively recently - I get excited at seeing a new Glory cover in my local shop, only to realise it's another version of issue one. Now, I don't begrudge Avatar doing this in the slightest, after all it's a great way to get some superb pieces of artwork (although I would prefer all of them to be reprinted in the back of each issue), and in theory you can choose your favourite image to adorn the cover of the copy you buy, but what concerns me most is that some of them are priced higher than others. So, if you want the story for the story, and you don't care what is on the cover, then if the shop has sold out of the cheapest copies you are forced into buying a more expensive edition just to own a copy of the comic. And that worries me slightly - oh, I know that people can ask for the othe editions to be ordered, but what if they don't know cheaper editions are available? They may be keen to pick up an Alan Moore book, rush to their shop, check out the price of $4.95 and stop dead in their tracks...whereas the standard $3.50 price would have had them cracking open their wallets immediately.

Having got that off my chest, it's time for another complaint. Nearly half of this issue is drawn by long-time Moore collaborator Melinda Gebbie, yet no mention is made of this on the credits page - the implication is that Marat Mychaels did the whole issue himself, then you hit the middle pages, the art changes, Gebbie is credited, and you wonder what happened. In a way it is not surprising - the script was almost certainly written around the time Moore was playing with Supreme, and his affectation on that book for diving away from the main plot at a crucial moment to present a Silver Age-style flashback (invariably drawn by Rick Veitch) is present here too.

Speaking of Mychaels, his art is excellent throughout this book (although can we have 24 pages of his art next time, please?), there are some nice background touches (the pictures hanging on the walls of Glory's apartment, for example) and he proves himself to be awell thought out choice of artist. Having said that, his talents at depicting action are yet to be tested, this issue is very much setting up the pieces into place, and getting ready for all hell to break loose.

Which is a good point to talk about the story. Notwithstanding it being a few years old, it's still a cracker with bags of potential. Glory, a demi-goddess in the mold of Wonder Woman, is living on earth, sharing a human shell with Gloria West, a ditzy schizophrenic waitress in a diner. Gloria has difficulty reconciling her memories as Glory with being a waitress, hence the schizophrenia - to complicate matters, Lilith, the Quenn of a Hell-equivalent, has a history with Glory, and decides to try and use Gloria's low self-esteem and human weaknesses to destroy Glory...with love.

How Glory is going to overcome a foe that can't be fought with fists or sword is what will drive this series, and how close to the edge Lilith can drive Gloria/Glory before the fightback starts is the key to this series. As for this issue, it reads extremely well and the flashback sequences by Gebbie to explain Glory's past are handled innovatively and easily.

An excellent opening issue, and one I'd advise you to pick up.