Written by: Ryan Browne
Art by: Ryan Browne
Publisher: Image
Are you looking for a book that is absolutely absurd? A book that revels in a unique, off the wall, out of this world sense of humor? Then God Hates Astronauts may very well be the book that you’re looking for. I know that a lot of comics get the “absurd” label these days, but seriously, God Hates Astronauts takes the cake, even over the time stopping orgasmers of Sex Criminals. There isn’t a page in this book that isn’t absolutely ridiculous, and that includes the cover, the credits page, and the back cover. Had I not read God Hates Astronauts in a library, I would have been in hysterics the whole time. As it was, I had a giddy smile on my face the whole time. Like the book, the smile I had was absurd, and I definitely got more than one odd glance from others in the library.
For those unfamiliar with this mind bending, trippy book, God Hates Astronauts is a science fiction book about NASA’s attempts to keep people (specifically cosmic farmers) on Earth. That may not sound absurd yet, however, the team keeping these people on Earth is led by a guy with the head of a cosmic rhino who leads an army of sentient bears. And that’s not even the craziest part of this book. That may be the Royal Cheeseburger, but honestly, I can’t decide. Anyways, this issue essentially just sets up the conflict that will be explored throughout the rest of this story.
As a result, it’s fairly exposition heavy, with probably about a third of the book taken up by exposition. The constant explanation of everything that’s going on, and everything that has happened, is a little bit of an issue. But here’s the thing: the exposition is legitimately entertaining. This universe is just so weird that learning more about it is pretty great, and Ryan Browne’s writing is so off the wall that it’s hard to be bored by the exposition. Still, it would have been nice to just be thrown into the world, and have this information given to us over the course of four or five issues, rather than the massive info dump that we get in this issue, which spans quite a few pages.
Anyways, once the exposition is over, the book really kicks into full gear. It’s really in the second half of this book that the plot really begins to unfold. Sure, there’s a little bit of it at the start. That said, most of the plot progression happens after the exposition, and after the showdown with the Space Farmers. The issue ends with a solid cliffhanger, one that left me craving more of this book. Really, everything about this issue just left me wanting more of the story, more of the characters, more of the humor. This first issue is little more than a tease for what is to come, with the bulk of the story likely to unfold in future issues. But even this tiny little tease has me enticed enough to continue coming back.
