G.O.D.S. #5: Everything Has a Cost

Across worlds, systems, and universes, the maxim of “magic has a cost” has become a norm. The idea of exchange lying at the center of magical spells is a powerful running motif, established in one part as an evolution of the cultural beliefs of magic and another as narratively rich ground. To truly understand and grapple with the transactional nature of magic is a foundational part of telling the modern supernatural story. Lesser stories will either ignore that natural law of magic or twist it into something overly complex. That relationship sits at the heart of Marvel’s magic vs. science showdown series, G.O.D.S. 

G.O.D.S. #5 – written by Jonathan Hickman with art by Valerio Schiti, colors by Marte Gracia, and letters by VC’s Travis Lanham – explores Mia’s further descent into the world built around the dichotomy of The-Powers-That-Be and The-Natural-Order-Of-Things. Set in a twisted hospital that functions as a research center for some eldritch puzzle, Mia is sent to bargain with the head nurse as a magic user who does not violate the tenements of the group. This leads to a budding back and forth between Mia and Wyn, who uses the team-up to also check in on the young magic user’s developing spellcasting skills. 

It’s revealed that the element Mia needs to rescue is none other than Dmitri, and the group running the hospital is some offshoot or group related to the Black Swans. The group, which was established in Hickman and Steve Epting’s New Avengers, worshiped a deity known as Rabum Alal which turned out to be Doctor Doom as he tried to save reality in the lead-up to Secret Wars. Having survived the incursions and Battleworld, the sect is now searching for a new purpose and this mysterious puzzle lies at the heart of their pursuits. 

For a large part of the issue, Hickman’s scripting sheds some of the more emotional beats that have served as the bedrock for the series. The decision to do so makes this story feel more in line with a typical Hickman tale as it grapples with complex philosophical concepts and a puzzle sitting at the center of the narrative. It’s an excellent reframing of the typical structure now that the series has reached just past the halfway point, and makes the end reveal even more tragic. 

Mia shines as the breakout character of this issue, and her dynamic with Wyn is electric to watch unfold. It’s another way that Hickman twists the knife in with the last page reveal, teasing a possible what could have been if not for the stark line between factions. Hickman described the series, and by extension, the larger Marvel universe as sitting on an axis of The-Powers-That-Be and The-Natural-Order-of-Things and has reinforced the pain and difficulties that division brings to those in service to the aspects. 

With another artist, it would be entirely possible for that painful resignation from Wyn and Aiko, or the crushing of spirit in Mia and Dmitri, to be glossed over. Instead, Schiti never shies away from centering the human expressions and complex emotions on the page. In both the medium shot panels in which Schiti delivers images of characters talking, or the wider, open panels of magic energy surging, the imaginary camera never loses focus of the faces. That decision in framing and composition grounds the book in a series of emotions even as the scripting scales back for the bulk of the issue. 

That isn’t to say that Schiti neglects the other elements of the visuals, lingering in the creepy obsessions of the Swans and complex magical imagery. While there is nothing like the cosmic appearances of Oblivion, Babylon Events, or the other abstracts from previous issues, Schiti still gets to bring magic and mystery alive. There’s the dense, angled assault of tentacles as the Swan nurse tricks an old man into solving the mystery. The harsh blacks and diagonal gutters lend to the otherworldliness of the being dragging humanity into its clutches. Contrasting that is the beauty of Mia’s magic under Wyn’s instruction, as she learns to summon an artifact (the manifestation of a mage’s personality in the form of a weapon).    

Moments like these are rendered with a skilled pencil and then refined through Gracia’s coloring. The creepier moments come to be thanks to the heavy use of darker tones like blacks, purples, and blues. The primordial darkness seeps into the page when the Swans and their monstrous being are involved, with the deep purples indicating the dangerous forms of magic in the series. Meanwhile, Gracia refutes that darkness and ushers in warmth during Wyn and Mia’s impromptu lesson, as the artifacts are rendered in a basking golden hue. These summonings are the reflection of magic’s dangerous beauty, while the Swan sequence is the captivating horror depicted through coloring. 

The inclusion of the Black Swans also makes for an interesting connection to the cosmology Hickman has built out since his early days at the House of Ideas. Mainly through the infrequent appearances of Yabbat Ummon Turru, aka the Black Swan that served on the Cabal and then later the Black Order, there was the indication that the Swans existed once the reconfigured multiverse emerged from Secret Wars. However, Hickman gets to firmly establish their place in the current continuity and explore what comes after Doom for this order. Giving them a sense of searching and the baggage of transgression is an instant way of adding appeal to the characters, which is heightened thanks to their format-breaking use in the issue. 

Schiti is given the opportunity to switch up styles for the issue as he depicts a story told to young Swans in between plot beats. The comic shifts into a picture book-esque aesthetic that simplifies the linework while adding a new texture to crinkled pages. Sparsely used, these moments add to the mythic, deeper nature of the series while establishing how this installment stands apart from the previous issues. Gracia’s coloring adds a dimension of flatter colors that are just as expressive as the other portions of the issue but establish that picture-esque aesthetic quality.