3 out of 5

Keith Garing’s Gogor series had been intended for more than its five issues, but sales relegated it to what it was. At the time, I’d appreciated that Keith provided enough of a conclusion, and didn’t feel the need to stuff everything in at the end. Going self-publishing for a 64-page followup, ‘The Book of Gogor’ unfortunately has to manage that stuffing, but there’s the benefit of intentions: knowing this was going to wrap things up, Garing could make those 64 pages count. And he does, for sure, but you can tell there was a lot of story to get through, but our creator also wanted to deliver a solid comic book, so we take some detours for shenanigans and scuffles that take up a fair amount of plotting space, meaning that the dialogue / story pages remaining have to move incredibly quickly, sparing zero time for catchup. I’d say Keith did as best as he could to juggle that, but even coming off of rereading the first series, the narrative is a pretty steep hill, and the kind of surreal world-building just doesn’t have a chance to breathe, nor do our villains – the conquering Domus, or their agents – have the opportunity to provide a real sense of threat. (Or they do, but in an indirect way that ends up being pretty clever, actually, but that only lands once you get to the last few pages.)

To rewind: this is a passion project; there were specific limitations and goals involved; and I think Garing balanced most of it well, it’s just naturally going to be a bit underwhelming when compacting a larger tale into less space.

But: we pick right up with Armano and his servant / master Gogor, trying to convince the peoples of Altara to fight back against the all-conquering Domus, but their mixed reactions to that lead Armano to kind give up. The Book of Gogor tracks the outcome of that, and does some high level social critiquing that ended up being an interesting read from a post-US election 2024.

Garing’s art is bright, weighty, and comfortable, though the vast Altaran population leads to some character design simplifications, and there are some complex choreographies that miss on the pacing a bit. But if you’re a fan of Garing’s work – which I am – this sits side by side with the preceding book, and there’s just a sense of enjoyment emanating off the pages which embellishes the fun of the read.

So we got our Gogor conclusion. But if Keith wanted to do some spin-offs and self-publish them, I’d be there…