I was dimly aware of Nomen Omen as a suggested replacement for people missing WicDiv, but beyond involving queer teens getting tangled up with the mythic, I'm not really seeing it. I tend to get riled by stories where people start doing 'As you know, Bob' dialogue to explain the set-up, but then there's the opposite extreme, where you really are just seeing events from outside, trying to piece together what's going on, and OK that's how the real world works, but even there you get occasional explanations, not to mention a longer immersion. Meaning that in a comic especially, even more than on film or TV where you can at least be sure of the people you're following (unless it's David Lynch, I suppose), it can just end up a bit confusing. Well, this is one of those, especially given the frequent shifts into monochrome to mirror one character's unusual eyesight. There are some powerful images, not least the road accident that kicks things off and its strange aftermath, but for the first couple of issues I was almost entirely lost. And then the explanations start coming, and I kinda wished they hadn't, because it's a bit knock-off American Gods, a little Fables, and enough familiar components from enough other places that it just ends up feeling like another in a long line of generic urban fantasies. It's not terrible, and I really enjoyed how the two girls we initially expect to be the protagonists instead end up her mums (but still cool). But nor is it anything special.
Also, he only makes a very brief appearance, but of all the old gods who will have difficulty feeling mystical to my generation, few have such a tough gig as Teutates.
(Edelweiss ARC)