On occasion I’ll find a story that I can’t put down. There have been times when I find a new novel and end up reading it until four in the morning, flipping through pages and rushing to reach the end of the book. The next day I’ll often be dragging and barely able to think, but I’ll still be thinking of that story and wanting to head home and start reading it again. In some ways it’s easier to put aside a webcomic that’s caught my attention as most haven’t ended, but there’s been more than one late night caused by a new comic.

God of Destruction is one of those page-turners, though fortunately I caught up with the current storyline before it was too late at night. But unlike many of the stories that have absolutely captivated me, I didn’t fall in love with GD at first sight. The start of the comic was ordinary enough, and it looked much like a number of other manga-influenced comics, focusing on a young man’s life. It was with the unexpected death of one of the characters that cartoonist Elanor Pam grabbed hold of my lapels and forced me to continue reading.

It’s this surprise death and how it affects Raphael, the comic’s 15-year-old protagonist, that caught my attention. Raphael appears to be the latest incarnation of a cult’s god of destruction, and whom they try to “awaken” by paying an attractive classmate of his to go on a date with him and get him into bed; he manages to say no even before he finds out from the cultists that this is a bad idea. (Amusingly enough, Raphael’s mother offers him a condom before the date, partly in jest; he’s quite shocked and embarrassed by this, which may also be part of the reason why he turned the girl down.)

Despite his avoiding the carnal trap of the cultists, it appears that the cultists’ God has partly awakened, as Raphael blacks out several times in the comic and when he awakens, either finds that cultists who’d cornered him were… eliminated, or finds himself somewhere new without knowing how he got there. Rather than focus on the body horror of having a “dark side” personality that forces Raphael to do horrible things, it appears that the “god” is trying to protect Raphael from the cultists, and even warns off the cultists once by telling them he could easily kill all of them if they didn’t back off.

Another thing that drew me into the comic is the comic’s coloring. The vast majority of colored comics tend to use Photoshop-style programs to paint colors into the lines, and then work with various effects to create highlights, shading, and the like. With GD, the artwork looks like it was colored using markers (though undoubtedly the effect could be replicated with Photoshop), giving it a much more personal touch. This helps the comic stand out among its peers. It is the combination of story, character growth and interactions, and artwork that made GD such an enjoyable read.