THE GOLEM OF VENICE BEACH BOOKS 1 & 2: Stands Strong With Only Minor Cracks

With the Kickstarter nearly finished, there is still time to get a copy of Chana Beizer’s The Golem Of Venice Beach.

Created in 16th-century Prague, the golem that would later be named Adam, protected a Jewish family from a mob. Deemed too dangerous and violent and the rabbi disabled it. It wouldn’t be awakened until World War 2, where it was able to secure the last descendants of the Jewish family and take them to America.

The main story follows the final descendant, Jake, his uncle Steph, and Adam (the golem). They live in Venice Beach, California, populated by aggressive cops, murderous drug gangs and all manner of the disenfranchised and destitute. Jake scraps by, running a beachside sunglass stand, but when a mysterious tattooed lady takes a liking to him, what little he has is turned on its head. Even with a golem dedicated to his protection, it won’t be enough to save Jake from the Mexican cartel, who have convinced their members that they have a mystical power of their own.

The artwork for the main story is fairly minimalist, with brief moments of higher detail which bring emphasis to the more extreme events, both in violence and emotion. The main artist, Vanessa Cardinali (Slumber) is accompanied by Eisner winner Jae Lee (Inhumans). Additionally, they are joined by David Mack (Kabuki), Das Pastoras (King Thor), Dean Haspiel (The Red Hook), Juan José Ryp (Wolverine), and Nick Dragotta (East of West), plus Hall-of-Famers Howard Chaykin (Star Wars) & Stan Sakai (Usagi Yojimbo) and Eisner winner Frank Quitely (All-Star Superman). This extensive guest list provides artwork for covers and the side stories, helping to keep them distinct from the primary narrative, emphasising not only a different time-period, but also the emotional context of the tales. These side stories bookend the various pivotal moments in the main story, allowing suspense and emotion to linger. It works well to keep the tension in the story without feeling padded out.

These additional stories, although usually only serving as backstory to the main plot, were interesting and made for a nice break. Overall, they do come off a little flat and often ancillary, and would have been better if they’d had their own self-contained arc along with the exposition they wanted for the main plot.

There is only one frustration which is a moment of inconsistency with the golem. When Jake demands Adam rescue his girlfriend from her enslavement with the cartel, he refuses stating that he can only act in protection of the family that created him. Though harsh, it made sense and was a sensible limitation to the golem’s power. However later, Adam chooses to rescue these two, homeless, teenage girls from being beaten and worse, which completely contradicts what he’d stated before. He never attempts to justify his actions and is never questioned on the contradiction, even by the Jake who should have been the most upset Adam broke his own rules. Additionally, the girls afterwards serve no purpose whatsoever, as they are briefly there to act as stereotypically annoying comic relief and then are written out to somewhere safe because they’re deemed too young to help when events reach their violent climax.

It is the sort of inconsistency that is hard to ignore, because the rest of the tale is really good and engaging, and then these two characters just don’t seem to fit in anywhere. Maybe it was intended to indicate that the golem, having been around for so long, might actually be able to break its rules and have independence and agency. However, since no one questions his divergent actions nothing is explored or gained from including these girls.

Chana Beizer’s tale is well realised and compelling and it flows nicely with Cardinali’s art. There is a good amount of intense, occasionally graphic, scenes that they have managed to get the right amount of gravitas and poignancy. The dialogue and characterisations are all generally easy to understand and often relatable, and the moments of humour and emotion land well.

You can pick up both books of The Golem of Venice Beach from the Kickstarter right now through this LINK

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