God Country #1 starts off with dialogue starting to tell a folk tale. Something that has been passed down from generation to generation. Being centered around what looks to be 4 main characters Roy, Janey, Deena, and Emmet in Texas. With Roy’s father Emmet suffering Alzheimer’s his family has moved out to his childhood home to take care of him.
Emmet had recently had an episode with the cops, one that almost went too far. While Roy and the sheriff are discussing this situation and how he really should put him in a home, they awake Emmet. Not knowing who they were he begins to threaten them, threating to kill them. At this time Roy’s daughter Deena is coming into the house and witnesses this episode from Emmet. Causing a fight between Roy and his wife Janey about Emmet’s condition. Leading to Janey taking Deena and leaving Roy with his father, saying he just needs to let it go.
This leads up to the real story, giving us just enough background to make what happens next have some force. There is a massive tornado heading for that small village in Texas and while the alarms do go off it’s too late. Emmet’s house is destroyed by this massive force of nature. Yet it was not just a tornado that was there that day, it also brought a demon and something else along with it. How Emmet and Roy survived the tornado, we may never know. However that something else it brought was Valofax an enchanted sword, one that causes Emmet to return to normal when holding it.
Donny Cates has crafted a masterful story to start this series off. With just enough 
character development to get us drawn in, yet not too much as to bore. Along with perfect pacing, making the end payoff that much better. Thrown in the dialogue with the genius delivery system of a folk tale to explain away all of the needed details. All of this makes what really was a slow first issue feel so damn good to read.
Let us not forget Geoff Shaw and Jason Wordie doing an amazing job on the visuals here. Depicting Emmet as almost demon-like in the front of the story and transitioning to god-like at the end really moves this along. The transition from dark to light in this first issue is another slight nod to push this story along.
What else can I say, God Country was really good. Being that I am behind on this one I still have #2 and #3 to go and I couldn’t be happier about that. Today has been cleared, it’s time to read some more God Country, I suggest you do the same.
More Info
Reviewed by Tim Montoya
God Country #1
Written by Donny Cates
Art by: Geoff Shaw, Jason Wordie, John J. Hill
Published by Image
Release Date: January 11th, 2017
Comic Book Corps 