Exclusive: The New Gods team reunites for international graphic novel series Deicidium

Writer Ram V’s passion for mythology has resulted in some of the most exciting comics of the past decade, from modernizing Hindu gods and monsters in The Many Deaths Of Laila Starr and Rare Flavours to revitalizing superhero concepts in The New Gods and Resurrection Man: Quantum Karma. He has a skill for finding intriguing angles to explore legendary figures, and for his new graphic series, Deicidium, V pits the gods of yore against contemporary organized religion and corporate tech.  

“I’ve been a mythology enthusiast since a very young age,” says V. “I’ve always had a fascination for humans and their relationships with their gods and how that has evolved over human history. I like the stories where these ideas began. But I look at organized religion, at best, with a healthy dose of skepticism. It is in this conflict that Deicidium was born.”

The ambitious new project reunites V with frequent collaborators Evan Cagle (The New Gods, Dawnrunner) and Anand Radhakrishnan (Resurrection Man: Quantum Karma, Blue In Green) for three new black-and-white graphic novels a year, simultaneously published by Image Comics in the U.S. and Morgen in France. The first volume, Deicidium: Omens, goes on sale October 2026, and readers can find a 14-page preview in Image Comics’ offering for Free Comic Book Day on May 2.

Inspired by the Heroes TV show, Shōnen manga, and “a healthy dose of urban fantasy and sci-fi,” Deicidium imagines a world where the old gods are reborn in ordinary men and women around the world, making them targets for the global corporate church infrastructure that is threatened by their return. Evan Cagle draws the first year of Deicidium, and The A.V. Club has an exclusive first look at Cagle’s cover and interior pages, which showcase his impeccable linework, meticulous designs, and dynamic layouts.

For V, Deicidium is a thrilling opportunity to push himself and his collaborators thanks to the massive scope of the story and the freedom afforded by the graphic novel format. “I’d like to say collaboration is seamless and second nature but that’s not how good collaborations work,” says V. “They’re built on pushing and pulling each other into new creative places. As I’ve collaborated with [Evan and Anand] over the years, I continue to imagine my stories as places where their art and visual storytelling evolve and push into new directions. I’ve also invited both of them to contribute to world-building and story beyond what they choose to put on the page. Deicidium is the sort of project where that is possible and I’m excited to be challenged and sent in new directions by their ideas and contributions as well.”

Deicidium is a high-profile release for Morgen, a new publisher making a six-figure investment in this creative team. “I’ve been itching to work in a format different from the monthly cadence I’ve been working with so far,” says V. “Publishing with Morgen in French and Image in English opens up that possibility, and it is a healthy, happy, and more involved/immersive experience to make books this way. Without undue time constraints. It also lets us try new interesting things with how the book reaches readers.”

“The global release is reflected in the story as well,” says V. “The characters and gods and devils involved are from cultures all over the world and I imagine people will recognize their own myths and stories in this one. I cannot wait to see readers engaging in conversations and contentions across geographies and languages!”

Deicidium official description

In a future rebuilt from the ashes of war, belief is no longer sacred—it’s monetized.

Humanity has entered a hard-won age of stability, governed by an unholy alliance between global corporations and newly engineered religions. Worship fuels the economy. Faith is power. Salvation is a product. Welcome to the industry of belief. That fragile balance shatters when the old gods return. Ancient deities of fire, wind, jaguars, love, war, and mischief awaken inside ordinary people, transforming neighbors and strangers into living gods. To the powers that be, they aren’t miracles—they’re threats.

The great faiths of the new world knew the old gods could one day return. And they planned for such an eventuality. 12 orphans were chosen, bestowed with gifts and taught to be faithless, loveless instruments without reward or remorse. The old gods have returned—and the 12 will be unleashed.

As old myths collide with a world built on manufactured faith, a brutal conflict ignites—one that will decide who controls humanity’s future, and whether salvation comes from those placed above us…or from within us. DEICIDIUM is a global epic from the multi-award-winning collaborations of Ram V, Evan Cagle, Anand Radhakrishnan with Tom Muller, Aditya Bidikar and more.

Deicidium (Image: Evan Cagle/Morgen)

 

 

Deicidium (Image: Evan Cagle/Morgen)

Deicidium (Image: Evan Cagle/Morgen)

Deicidium (Image: Evan Cagle/Morgen)

Deicidium (Image: Evan Cagle/Morgen)

 

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