Image Comics, along with Top Cow Productions, Inc., just recently came out with a new issue written by Matt Hawkins entitled "The Clay People: Colossus." This issue was inspired by a song called "Colossus" by the industrial metal band The Clay People. Released in 2018, "Colossus" appears on the album entitled "Demon Hero and Other Extraordinary Phantasmagoric Anomalies & Fables." The song was written by band members Dan Dinsmore, Brian McGarvey and Daniel Neet. The lyrics to the song are quoted throughout the book.
Christian Dibari contributes very expressive artwork, with the help of colorist Simon Gough and letterer Troy Peteri. Their technique is very interesting in how they fade out some faces by not showing the features of some characters that are in the background of the frames. Hawkins did describe in a letter that he censored the racial slurs with bars on purpose even though the book is rated mature. It was a conscious decision on his part to not use these words.
The story begins in Dachau, Germany, on April 29, 1945. We are witnessing the U.S. Military searching for Nazis. They are horrified by the amount of civilians that were killed, which probably led to their decision to execute the German soldiers that they did find instead of taking them as prisoners. David Czerniak is one of the prisoners that was found alive in this concentration camp. Czerniak tells the U.S. soldiers about the experiments that Doctor Rascher, who was also found dead, was performing on the prisoners. After identifying Rascher's body, Czerniak finds a mysterious book.
In present day, Michael, a half-Asian kid who also happens to be Jewish, is being bullied by two older kids, Arson and Yaeger. His grandfather also happens to be Czerniak, who is spending his last days at The Pain Center. Visiting his grandfather to find out more about Judaism, Michael is given possession of the book his zaide had found. With the bullies being related to the sheriff, the situation gets even worse.
Bringing clay to an abandoned building, Michael creates a presence that can be used with one of the rituals in the book. After one of his only friends is murdered, it came time to put the Golem into action. Michael then decides to donate the book to the Holocaust Museum, which was his grandfather's original intention. For his generosity, Michael is given a miniature version of what appears to be his Golem. As the last page of the story claims it to be "the end," it is followed by "for now."
