God Hates Astronauts #9 Review

By Edward on Tuesday, June 16th, 2015

God Hates Astronauts #9 does what the series has always been good at – provide random, quirky comedy around a central plot thats played fast and lose. There are a few problems that become apparant with each new issue, but the crux of the series is still very easy to enjoy.

First, the official description from Image:

Get ready for some hot king-on-king action! As the action intensifies, ‘dem burgers be flying like crazy, dawg!

Over all, this issues still quite easy to enjoy. There’s plenty of action, the humour is still very much there and, well, the issue looks great. Regular readers know exactly what to expect while new readers will often be left scratching their heads. That’s the double-edged sword that this title sometimes proves to be.

Take, for instance, the writing. Ryan Browne does an excellent job moving things quickly, but this comes at the price of not explaining the past. Occasional one-off jokes or backstories are reffered to randomly, with no help given for newer readers. Similarly, as with the start of this issue, random back story segments are introduced so they can be forcefully inserted into the current plot. Sometimes it feels like cheap writing, but then that’s the focus really; comedy over a long-formed, coherent narrative.

Visually, Browne is once again able to support his sense of humour with fluid and energised pencils that fit the tone. Combined with the vibrant colors, its always been hard to knock this title from a visual perspective. Browne likes to have fun and the art style ensures this at every opportunity. Browne has a knack for facial expressions and other simple gestures, helping to lend weight to the dialogue.

All in all, this is a very good issue, but very much more of the same. Again, I imagine this won’t bother the vast majority of readers, as thats what we’ve come to expect.