Shekhar Kapur's "Devi: Rebirth" #1 Review

Shekhar Kapur's "Devi: Rebirth" #1 from Graphic India -


      Two-hundred years after mankind appeared on the face of the Earth, the war began. The fallen god, Bala, broke from the ways of the gods and decided that he alone would rule and guide humanity to its destiny...And his growing might, fueled by the worship he demanded of mankind, nearly guaranteed his victory. Then she emerged. The Devi. A warrior woman selected as a vessel to house part of the life-forces of the gods of light. She defeated Bala, leaving it to his father, Lord Bodha, king of the gods, to imprison him forever in the bowels of the Earth...Or so it was believed. Now, in the present day, Bala has returned to exact his vengeance upon mankind and the vessel of the Devi - and he is not alone. Can Devi possible hope to stop a mad, calculating, and vengeful deity who has learned from his past errors, and is irreversibly bent of imposing his will on her, the gods, and humankind?

    Out of the creative mind of Shekhar Kapur springs a world of new mythology, the mythology of the Devi! Siddarth Kotian scripts a wonderful story that reads like something translated from ancient scrolls straight to the comic book format. The mythology that Kotian weaves is absolutely vivid, surreal and enthralling. Page after page, I felt myself investing more in the somewhat familiar world and the very unfamiliar characters of Devi. Sure, the dialogue is a bit hokey at times, a little Silver-Age-y, if you will, but that does not take away from the coolness of the story and characters at all; if anything, for me, it only adds to it. I was so  entranced by this story, I even did a bit of research and found that Devi is loosely based on Durga, the warrior manifestation of the goddess Adishakti, who in Hindu belief is the Divine Mother of the Universe. Sweet. Mukesh Singh is on the pencils here, and his art is absolutely great. Singh does it all in this book, ancient backdrops, beautiful women, mighty warriors and dark, evil things - again, he does it all and makes it look easy. I really did not expect to like this comic as much as I did. I love mythologies, but rarely does a comic get them just right to make them attractive to me."Devi: Rebirth" #1 gets the job done, and done right. I can't wait for the next issue.

RATING: 8.5 out of 10.

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