Comic Review: The Life Eaters

If you've been following this blog for a while you know that I love alternate history, and I love mythology.  So what happens when I find a comic that combines them both?  I'll save you the trouble.  Today we'll be taking a look at The Life Eaters by David Brin with art by Scott Hampton.  Also available from Comixology. 

The Life Eaters is an expansion of Brin's novella "Thor Meets Captain America."  No, not the ones you're probably thinking of.  The comic takes place in a world where Nazi Germany used the Holocaust as a form of mass necromancy to summon the Norse gods.  As a result, the Nazi are able to push themselves back from the brink of defeat.  They push the Allies out of Europe and succeed in conquering the British Isles and Russia.  World War II has dragged on into the 1960s.  The Nazis have their sights set on America, but the Allies continue to fight on thanks to the help of the trickster god Loki. 

The comic is divided into three parts, and part one is pretty much a straight-up retelling of "Thor Meets Captain America."  Personally, I found this to be the best part of the comic.  The artwork is done in a way that invokes the photorealistic watercolor style of Alex Ross.  The gods are all drawn reasonably mythologically accurate.  Thor has red hair and a beard.  Well, everyone except for Loki.  He's just as muscular as the other gods, even though the myths would suggest he has a more slender appearance.  He also has a long white beard, causing him to look a bit like Odin.  This leg of the story follows a man named Chris as he leads an expedition of Allie forces on a mission to Sweden.  Besides the issues with Loki's appearance, there's also the issue of how the expedition arrives in Sweden.  They take a submarine under the thinking that the Norse gods don't function well underwater.  This is simply untrue, as there are several aquatic Norse deities such as Aegir and his daughters the seven waves. 

Despite these criticisms, I did overall enjoy this part of the comic.  I liked how the gods are portrayed.  They view the Nazis as a source of sacrifices, but don't support Nazi ideology.  For example, when a black solider tries to attack Odin, and is killed by a priest, Odin immediately orders him to be given full funeral rights.  He says, essentially, "I want that brave man fighting at my side when Ragnarok comes."  It is also mentioned that the Nazi elites are losing their grip on power, and the priest of the Aesir are the ones who really run the reich these days.  The Aesir honor valor and courage even when their enemies are the ones expressing it.  Thor expresses a certain admiration for Chris's resilience. 

There's also a nice reference to the poem Old Norse poem "Grimnismal" when Odin mentions that his raven Muninn was killed when the Allies nuked Berlin.  In the poem Odin talks of his ravens Huginn and Muninn, thought and memory.  He fears the day Huginn does not return, but more does he fear that Muninn won't come back.  In other words, he's getting older, and he fears the day he will be nothing more than a senile old man who can't even form coherent thoughts. 

Brin mentioned that the whole reason The Life Eaters came to be was that he was trying to write a Nazi Victory alternate history, but couldn't think of a plausible way for it to happen.  He was also trying to rationalize the Holocaust, at least to himself.  Of course that the thing about the Holocaust.  As methodical as it was, it was also utterly irrational.  The Nazis had to ignore science to justify their slaughter.  Not to mention that the whole thing was actively detrimental to their war effort because of all the resources and manpower that were diverted. 

So the first third ends with Chris snapping Odin's spear Gungnir, and fatally wounding himself.  Still, it does give hope that one day mortal men will be able to rise up and defeat the gods.  Okay, so despite some minor flaws, it was a good start to the comic. 

The second part of the comic pick up the action in the 1970s.  The Nazis have conquered America and Canada, but they aren't unopposed.  The Japanese have used necromancy to summon the Shinto gods, the Indians have summoned the Hindu gods, and the various nations of Africa have summoned their gods.  The part of the story follows a young solider named Joseph Kasting has he finds himself drawn into the world of the underground Allied resistance.

I'd assumed that the Nazi's rituals worked because the Norse gods were dead.  Early Christian missionaries would claim that Ragnarok had already occurred, and that Norse Mythology was a prequel to the Bible.  However, it appears that you can create gods out of thin air by believing hard enough, and performing enough human sacrifice.  Still, it was an interesting idea to have other nations create their own gods.  We do get a taste of this as Joseph and his comrades engage Hindu gods in Cambodia.  The Norse gods don't do so well in tropical climates.  The Allies are operating for under the sea, but I've already explained why this doesn't work.  Again, flawed, but I liked how it expanded upon the initial world of the novella.  Although I did stop a horned helmet.  The Vikings did not wear horned helmets.  It is a misconception that comes from early archaeologist finding drinking horns next to helmets in burial mounds, and wrongly assume thing they went together. 

Part three is where things really start to come apart.  Joseph is tasked by the Resistance to stop Loki, who wasn't as trustworthy as he seemed, from bringing about Ragnarok.  The first flaw happens Joseph meets a coalition of Christians, Jews and Muslims.  They spend several scenes blabbering about how they've put aside their differences and love each other now.  Oh, bullshit. I highly doubt the Abrahamic Faith's would start loving each other, and stop trying to killed each other, just because pagan gods starred reappearing.  Also, the Christians use the ichthus because the Muslims find crosses offensive, which is even more bullshit.  To explain why we'd need to discuss the Crusades, and that's a conversation for another time.  The Abrahamic Coalition makes a big deal about how their faiths require no sacrifices, which is nonsense.  Judaism doesn't currently perform sacrifices, but only because of a lack of a temple in Jerusalem.  Christianity places a lot of significance on the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.  Muslims sacrifice plenty of sheep of Eid. 

Anyway, moving on.  The biggest problem I have with The Life Eaters is that it bit off more than it could chew.  It came up with interesting ideas, but didn't have nearly enough space to properly develop them.  As a result, the ending comes across as rushed and anti-climactic.  Moreover, the moral of "stop waiting for all-powerful beings to save you, and instead save yourself" came across as way more heavy-handed than in the first part.  Again, this comic was way too short.  It needed more time to properly develop its plot and world.

So, what are my final thoughts on The Life Eaters?  It certainly wasn't the worst alternate history comic I've ever read.  There was a lot to love about the first 2/3.  However, there was significant room for improvement.  Despite having a very interesting premise, the comic failed to make the most of it, and needed more room to properly develop its world. 

Well, I think that should do it for now.  I will see you all next time.