Apparently, Ann Nocenti wrote a graphic novel about Colossus, and then Marvel made her chop it up into 11 chapters and crowbarred it into an anthology book whose contents varied dramatically in quality. And although the original artist was Rick Leonardi, with P. Craig Russell on inks, they then had Al Milgrom ink a few issues. It’s almost as if they didn’t want anyone to read this. Eventually it was collected and reprinted as “God’s Country.”
It starts with Peter Rasputin stopping at a newsstand and finding pornography, then getting all metal-ly and destroying said newsstand.
Then, it’s a journey into the American heartland where Colossus hooks up with some right-wing survivalists to take on a secret government program called the “Cold Warriors.”
There’s lots of extremist political discussion in these issues, with Colossus representing Russia (a country he left—and brought his sister with him—to enjoy U.S. freedom), the survivalists representing pro-gun America first types, and the Cold Warriors representing everything conspiracy theorists believe is true about the U.S. Government.
Ann Nocenti is known for using comics as vehicles for broader discussions, and this is certainly reflective of that. I like her style—I find it quite different from most Marvel writers (and it’s fascinating that she gets away with doing this kind of heavy handed politicizing).
An average comic. Might have been better if it wasn’t chopped into 8-10 page chunks.