aki69aki
Member
I also wouldn't have a problem with Nyarlathotep being super powerful if he was actually anything like the Outer God that the character in FS shares its name with, but he's not. The real Nyarlathotep is, above all else, a propagandist, a deceiver and a manipulator. He takes advantage of the limitations of human understanding and their hubris in thinking that they can be rational in a universe they perceive so little of. The villain in Forsaken Souls pretty much just rapes people and turns them into monsters because they can't physically resist his horny aura, which doesn't feel earned. I think that's my biggest issue with the series - no matter who wins, it doesn't feel earned. Nyarlathotep just appears and people succumb to his presence without him doing anything. When the heroes don't get stomped, it's never because they're clever and they find ways to work together to overcome their limitations, it's always some silly MacGuffin that buys them more time until the next silly MacGuffin.
I also don't understand what's going on with Diana's storyline. So he corrupted her, then he turned her into Shub-Niggurath? Okay, so she must be evil and irredeemable, right? But then she catches feelings for Batman again and suddenly she snaps out of it? Then Nyarlathotep says, "ah ha ha, just as planned, I needed her to have a piece of her soul for the final ritual." What final ritual? It seems like she's either going to go through the whole thing again and then she'll finally be truly evil, which is fine with me even though it's kind of repetitive, or she's going to be redeemed/discarded, which would be a huge waste of one of the only interesting characters. I don't know anything about the big vision he supposedly has for the story so maybe there's context I'm missing, but it almost feels like he keeps extending the story because none of his other comics have achieved the same degree of success and he wants to milk this as long as he can. But then people talk about plans for sequels and I'm lost again, haha.
As for The Acolyte Chronicles, I can see why you'd feel that way. The logic of the world seems more internally consistent and the character development is better. On the other hand, my biggest problem with T.A.C. is that so much time is spent on the main character's internal monologue and relationships with a few characters that the corruption feels like an afterthought. Some months are better than others, but quite a few of them don't even describe the details of the transformations and that's really important when there are so few images.
I was also really disappointed with the Warhammer 40k month. He clearly doesn't understand the universe at all. The Emperor is more powerful entombed on the Golden Throne that he ever was when he was up and moving around. He could have literally erased The Acolyte from existence with a thought. It was also ridiculous for Celestine to just give up in despair. She'd never do that, unshakeable faith is her quintessential defining characteristic. I don't know if you're into 40k at all, but the way Celestine works is that when she dies, she basically wakes up in "hell" without knowing who she is and has to overcome a series of trials surrounding her virtues - faith, hope and duty. She needs to basically heal the splintered parts of her psyche while remaining pure, then the light of the Emperor guides her back to reality when she's needed most. That would have been a perfect set-up for the Acolyte to corrupt the process so that she's reborn as one of his Nightgaunts rather than the Emperor's servant.
I really enjoy this kind of content and I'd love for both stories to be firing on all cylinders, but they both have their own issues.