Graphic Novel Review: Glory – The Complete Saga

Glory: The Complete Saga Hc by Joe Keatinge and Ross Campbell

Genre: Apocalyptic Superheroing

Series: Collects Glory volumes #1 and 2

Publisher: Image Comics (July 2014)

Wendy’s Rating – 2.5 of 5 stars

Glory, through art, plot and character development, has become far more than the sum of her breasts.

A lot of not-so-wonderful things can be said about Rob Liefield and/or his art, but the characters he’s created, such as Deadpool, have definitely been memorable, including ones he created for Image Comics.

Recently, Image has been rebooting some of the titles that made them famous in the shiny ’90s. Among the reboots have been a few of Liefield’s characters, including Gloriana Demeter, who’s gone from Image’s buxom ’90s bad girl answer to Wonder Woman:

to this, an image that more readily reflects the character and her alien origins.

I didn’t really read Glory back in my Image days since I cared nothing for Liefeld’s work, but now that others have taken over the helm on his characters, I’m intrigued. Unfortunately, despite a lot of interesting ideas, this story didn’t really work for me.

Glory is the child of a woman from a race we consider gods, and father we would consider to be a demon. Her birth was meant to be a symbol of either peace or destruction for one side or the other, but after 500 years of training for her destiny, Glory has grown impatient. Moreover, she’s become obsessed with earth and heads over to our little planet to be a hero. While she certainly helps out here and there with wars and such, the book focuses more on her interpersonal relationships, particularly with a young girl named Riley Barnes, who shares some sort of psychic connection with Glory and is able to see her in her dreams.

Beyond this, the story is somewhat muddled. Glory is not entirely loved by the other superheroes of earth due to her unpredictability. She also has rage issues that put everyone, including her friends at risk, especially when the intergalactic war makes its way to earth and Glory’s little posse has to battle her father’s minions.

The highlight of the book were the Riley/Glory moments, and a very unusual family reunion. I also like that Glory, through art, plot and character development, has become far more than the sum of her breasts. But otherwise, the story was poorly paced, unfocused, and not particularly memorable.

With thanks to NetGalley and Image Comics for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.