20 cool psychedelic comics to read after seeing Thor: Ragnarok

Cover of Forming (Image via NoBrow Press)

17. Forming

At first, Jesse Moynihan’s Forming may not seem like the consciousness-warping book that should be included on this list. However, as you delve deeper and deeper into this Gnostic-style exploration of religion and the beginning of humanity, you’ll likely feel your mind starting to curl up at the edges (in a good way, we hope).

Moynihan brings together a bevy of creation myths and conspiracy theories to his tale. These include Zoroastrianism, Christian tales, Greek mythology, and of aliens hailing from the legends of Mali’s Dogon people. Like many myths of creation, there’s also a lot of inexplicable violence and plenty of modern-style cursing. Also, the archangel Metatron walks around with a mystical crystal for a head and calls Noah a “bro”. For all of the strangeness and mysticism of Forming, it makes plenty of room for humor and takes delight in its oddness.

The artwork, meanwhile, is wild and colorful in the best psychedelic tradition. There are very few subdued or desaturated colors here. Nor does it seem like any kind of movement is completely out of the question, be it for human or alien or god.

Forming walks a fine, fine line between the transcendent and the stupid and the crude. Far more often than not, it falls on the side of being intriguing and fascinating. As a reader, it’s perhaps better for you to go with the flow of Moynihan’s story rather than try to figure it out. It’s a wild, disorienting ride, but beautifully strange at that.