4 out of 5

I’ll kick this off with the only reason it’s not a perfect comic: because it ends.  It’s a cheap shot, and I’m going to deliver a back-handed compliment on top of it, but Garing’s next new world after that featured in the madly impressive Planetoid series is so, so much fun and riddled with so much possibility that it’s just a damned shame that sales didn’t merit the (at least) 10 issues, 2 arcs Keith had planned.  So while issue five thankfully doesn’t end on exactly a cliffhanger, it really is just a starting point for something much more massive.  The compliment I’d add to that is that I’m so happy that Garing didn’t try to squeeze things in to the last issue (or at least that’s how it seemed), allowing it to come to a closing point that felt in line with the pacing up until then.

So, Gogor – which is Gog-gor, made clear first by Keith’s mention in the backmatter but then also as voiced by the titular character himself – is a golem type protector, though made of the finest, unspeaking Man-Thing / Swamp Thing muck and mire, summoned into existence by Armano, who’s out to find a way to protect his home from the sudden appearance of militant, masked Domus soldiers.  Alas, Gogor isn’t exactly a ‘do as I say’ type, with their bond arranged such that Armano gets the boon of protection, but has to follow Gogor’s whims, leading them on a journey to the different lands of Altara, imagined (and imaged) by Garing as a ring of floating islands.  This is a wonderful shorthand way to justify population and other such differences on land to land, and we only get to see a small handful of that, as we learn bits and pieces about how Altara works, and how it’s being affected by the Domus.

There’s a small, but wonderful thing that Garing does here, apparent from the very first interaction Armano has with a creature from another island: he makes the characters trustworthy.  While one could consider this shallow, making the good guys good and the bad guys bad, it allowed the actual story to grow much more fluidly and dynamically, not distracted with “is this guy gonna turn on us?” soap opera.  Stereotypical plotting would have had any of the various folk we encounter give Armano a hard time, but they’re all rather welcoming, and they treat each other equally.  Indeed, this turns out to become intertwined with the story, as we see more of the strange effects – direct or indirect – the Domus have had.  It also means you very quickly bond with these characters, though – you’ll be saying Armano’s ‘Thunderball!’ expression soon enough – making it more of a shame when issue #5 is through.

Garing’s art was already noteworthy on Planetoid, and it’s amazing how he didn’t simply swap out that series’ brown / grey color schemes for Gogor’s bright greens and earthy colors and call it a day; rather, his linework and character models have appropriately adapted, bringing in some Henson roundedness to match the fantasy setting (vs. Planetoid’s sci-fi) and thickening up his inks a tad, giving the pages a wonderful sense of fluidity and life.  I also begin to see notes of so many artists here, usurped into Keith’s own style; it’s the satisfying experience of seeing talent and skill laid out for you, growing and evolving off of what’s come before, as opposed to just mimicking it.

The last issue has some appreciative backmatter insight from Garing on the state of the comic industry, backed up by a thankfulness for being able to bring out these five issues.  I, too, am thankful, and I’ll be watching out for any opportunity to encourage Image (or Garing, through maybe crowdfunding or whatnot) to continue to give us more Gogor, or more anything from this creator.