Small Gods

(Image, 2004-2005)
™ and © 2004 Jason Rand and Juan E. Ferreyra

In 1991, science accepted the existence of psychic abilities in as much as 1 percent of the population. Several years later, society must deal with the somewhat scary reality, which it does by forcing “precogs” and “psis” into certain professions, including the military and law enforcement. Being able to read minds and see the future isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and in a world where some hide their powers and others can’t escape theirs, it’s far more of a burden than a blessing.

Different arcs of the series follow the lives of cops, criminals, and ordinary people just trying to get by in a world colored by psychic powers—both theirs and of those they encounter. The mostly grim stories are appropriately presented in black and white, written by creator Jason Rand.

— Andy Richardson

From the Comics Buyer’s Guide:

Small Gods features a telepath who was used by the CIA to commit murders. The result is that she has been driven mad and has become suicidal. The CIA operative who did this to her is hunting her and must defeat her despite her ability to control crowds of people.

None of the characters in Small Gods are particularly sympathetic. It’s hard to get behind a character that is classified a serial killer—and it’s especially hard to get behind the character that may have set her off to begin with.

I appreciate the creative team’s inserting a back–up story, but the art wasn’t up to snuff. Juan Ferreyra’s art was pretty good for the main story, but it appears that the series had been intended to be in color. Moreover, this issue would have benefited from a more concise explanation of the series as a whole. Although there was a synopsis of previous events, the print was small and the paragraph not as helpful as it could have been.

— Tony DiGerolamo

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