layawaydragon
Written on Aug 7, 2020
“solid storytelling and clean, gorgeous
artwork will keep readers engrossed and eager for more.” - Publishers
Weekly (Starred)
"Gillen's penchant
for fast, sharp dialogue and McKelvie and Wilson's razor-lined, intensely
colored visuals keep things popping up to the cliffhanger ending." -
Booklist
“the story is
beautifully drawn and populated with characters of color, diverse gender,
and sexual identities, and you have my full undivided attention.” --
Kirkus
Every ninety years, twelve
gods incarnate as humans. They are loved. They are hated. In two years, they are
dead. The team behind critically thermonuclear floor-fillers Young
Avengers and Phonogram reunite to start a new, ongoing, superhero
fantasy with a beautiful, oversized issue. Welcome to The Wicked + The
Divine, where gods are the ultimate pop stars and pop stars are the ultimate
gods. But remember: just because you're immortal, doesn't mean you're going to
live forever.
Collects The Wicked + The
Divine #1-5.
- ISBN10 1632150190
- ISBN13 9781632150196
- Publish Date 25 November 2014
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Image Comics
- Format Paperback
- Pages 144
- Language English
Reviews
moraa
Written on Nov 16, 2019
Can't wait to blow through this.
bookperson
Written on Dec 3, 2018
Jennifer | Pushing Pages
Written on May 28, 2018
Graphic Illustration
The artistic style of this particular graphic novel is what I typically gravitate towards: sharp but not too-bold lines; engaging use of palette to emphasize action, shadowing and emotion; and characters with an awesome sense of style. Which leads me directly into my next point.
Characters
I don't think there is a character in this I don't love, for now. Even if I'm mildly indifferent to them, I don't find myself wishing they weren't in the scene. My two favorites, after finishing "The Faust Act", are Luci and Sakhmet. I do believe this to be for selfish reasons, as I'm very heavily drawn to Luci in particular. She is the focus of the story's momentum, whereas Sakhmet I'm still understanding. But they both have such presence in each panel, it's hard to ignore them.
Next to them, I do actually quite love and enjoy Laura. She's an impulsive young adult (and a little reckless) who takes fandom to a completely new level that turns itself into activism. But she was written in a way that didn't make her a token or trope in the story. She wasn't a brainless worshiper of the gods, she did what she did because she herself seemed to truly believe in what she was trying to accomplish. And she did it with or without support from others. I also found her quite funny; at no point did the writer overdo the "fandom" humor she had about meeting all of the gods for the first time.
I felt warmth from the other characters, and intrigue from the stoicism of others. It makes me hope that in future volumes I'll see more of their motivations outside of Luci's case.
Allusions, Parallels and Plot
I'm not totally in a humor right now to do a complete breakdown of how each god truly mirrors - in plot and development - the allusions drawn on from mythology and religion. Here is what I can say, though...
I enjoyed how this act was truly about the fall of Lucifer, but instead of Lucifer's rebranding, Luci lost her life at the end of the first volume. Having said that, I'm interested to see what that means for the next volume - I'm not counting on Luci's return, but it would be interesting if this "Fallen Angel" story carried over in some capacity.
I appreciated this bastardization of traditional gods in lieu of divine celebrity. It would make sense that with a lens to our world, gods and goddesses would appear to us in a way that resonates with us onstage and in front of bright lights. It's an easy plot device to gravitate towards as a writer - which isn't to belittle the efforts of Gillen. I enjoyed it very much. It also makes for the experience of being a "believer" more about falling for the experience of their stage presence, and less so completely falling for their miracles. If there is a commentary there Gillen intended to lace into the plot, it's certainly clever and fun to find on my own.
The world was very much split, experiencing the gods' performances on different levels I've seen in real-world church experiences - as someone raised in both Southern Baptist and non-denominational Christian church environments:
There are the "charismatic" church experiences that focus on high-impact, high-energy praise and worship - sweating, speaking in tongues, fainting, dancing like no one's watching, and otherwise being filled by the Holy Spirit. The just-as-devout-but-more-introverted spectators of the onstage experience of worship - awestruck at the performers, participating in song, experiencing a quiet religion of their own. The fans crawling for the lights and experience but still fumbling with the religion - not quite "believers" but fans of the empowerment of the experience. And the skeptics - not here for the worship, hardly interested in the fanaticism or fantastical claims of those preaching and singing onstage, scoffing and either quietly or loudly bitter about the entire thing.
Laura fell into what I would consider the introverted worshiper. Based on her narrative alone in the beginning, she could tell there was something that was being tapped into by Amaterasu's performance, but it seemed that hers was a slow burning religion that she felt as the music played and heightened because Amaterasu was there. It didn't just exist when Amaterasu was there. Meanwhile, there were men beside themselves, fainting and experience physical orgasms from the sheer power of Amaterasu's siren-esque abilities. Each god has a Messiah complex. The world loved them, feared them and hated them for their propaganda. It makes me wonder what will be their Last Supper.
The Faustian theme of this volume had an appreciated double-meaning. It did embody Laura's deal with Luci in order to get her out of trouble - which I never believed for a moment power was Laura's only motivation. But "The Faust Act" was just as much a blunt mark on each gods' lives. Each one would live in divinity and success, but with the knowledge that death crept around the corner. The "Mephistopheles" in this story is less Luci(fer) to Laura than it is Ananke to everyone else, who curses these young adults with this life set to end before they can live it.
My only "complaint" with this story, and really it's not a complaint because I'm not sure if it's just a personal preference that could be easily rectified, is that I'm not totally told why the Recurrence happens or anything about it other than the base definition. In fact, the first few pages had me utterly confused when we never flipped back to those characters again. It wasn't until the Recurrence came up that I understood what was happening.
This is actually something I've struggled with lately in a lot of content I've been reading. Authors have dropped me into a world where I'm just supposed to accept the faults and qualities of it without any real explanation. On the one hand, I don't like being spoon-fed something as if I can't figure it out for myself. But as a curious person, I do enjoy getting a better understanding of how malleable the world - or rules of the land - are.
I had the same issue with This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab (of which I also enjoyed). I felt as if some of the world building and explanation was lacking - I don't know if this is a "bury the lede" type of tactic, and I'll learn more as the story progresses, but hopefully I do. My favorite thing about stories like these - especially if they play off of mythology - is falling headfirst into its lore (parodied or otherwise).
But I do truly believe if you're a fan of re-appropriations of mythology/religion, and you enjoy graphic novels, you'll love The Wicked + the Divine.
ross91
Written on Aug 13, 2017
Quirky Cat
Written on Apr 10, 2017
The premise behind The Wicked + The Divine is pretty interesting. Essentially there are twelve deities in this world that are capable of a form of reincarnation. They can come back to earth, but they must do so in a new host. My understanding is the two personalities merge together, giving the human host supernatural abilities and of course a ton of fame. It sounds ideal, so of course there’s a catch. The human’s lifespan is significantly shortened.
The gods included in this series are from a whole slew of different mythologies, which is actually pretty interesting. Included are: Ananke (Greek; mother of fates, she also appears to be the informer, caretaker, and enforcer among the gods on earth); Lucifer (Yes, that Lucifer; the series focuses more on the angelic origins than many others do; they’re a rebel and seem to enjoy stirring the pot); Baal (Means ‘lord’ could be one of many gods in the Middle East; not completely sure where his tendencies are, other than being able to get a woman to do whatever he wants; also main character totally crushes on him); Woden (Norse god, god of fury; seen so far only in motorcycle gear); Amaterasu (Shinto, represents the sun, which explains the bright and fiery motif); Susanoo (Shinto, god of storms; seems bored most of the time); Sakhmet (Probably Bast? Warrior goddess, clearly has some fertility basis as well; likes to chase laser lights); The Morrigan (Irish, appears to be different goddesses? Her appearance changes based on what she is doing; I would argue the most powerful/terrifying of the lot); Baphomet (Not sure which religion; looks like a rockstar and seems to like pretending he’s on a stage); Minerva (Roman goddess of wisdom and arts; not sure how her powers work yet, but she’s currently in a child’s body); Innana (Sumerian goddess of love/fertility/war, looks like a female Prince, not sure what her powers will entail yet); Tara (no idea, I’ve only seen a couple images of her and had to look her up to figure out who she was). Wow, that ended up being A LOT longer than I meant it to be. Sorry about that!
I’ve got to be honest with you here, the first thing that drew me into this series was the absolutely stunning covers I kept seeing all over the place. I probably would have read and loved this series for the artwork alone. That being said, I really like the story included, as well as the characters I’ve met so far.
I know I know, the idea of reincarnation through new host’s sounds kind of lame, but trust me; it’s absolutely worth giving it a shot. The creative team does a fantastic job with the characters, and it never ends up feeling hokey or lame. I promise.
What I loved the most about this series was the choice to have the main character NOT be one of the reincarnated gods. This was actually a brilliant move, it allows us to have a window into the world, and they can even have the main character, Laura, be a total fangirl to the gods and goddesses (which is actually pretty amusing at times).
The sense of humor for this series is spot on as well, there was more than one time I literally burst out laughing. It balances out the heavier moments quite nicely. Despite the humor in the series they managed to make the gods be threatening as needed (some more than others).
I was a bit intimidated by the huge cast of characters at first; especially once I realized that the gods/goddesses would be changing bodies with a decent amount of frequency, but I’m happy to say that they’ve actually done a wonderful job of keeping every one of them clear and distinct. It’s actually pretty impressive. I’m also pleased they capped the gods at twelve, instead of constantly adding a new one or two each volume (well, I’m assuming they’ll still to twelve, but not having read further I actually can’t say that with any certainty).
I’m anxious to start reading the second volume. As always when I’m behind in a series, I’m actually thankful that I can binge read the series. I have a feeling I’m going to be upset once I’m up to date and have to wait between each issue/volume.
For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks
Hillary
Written on Sep 9, 2016
I have heard rave reviews of this comic, so I downloaded the first volume on Comixology. I far as I can tell it is about some Gods that come back and they are rock stars and only live for two years. A crime happens nd they try and figure out who did it. So yeah.... The artwork was phenomenal but for some reason, I did not have that OMG I LOVE THIS COMIC that so many people have had. I am not sure why. I have thought about it. I mean it has all the elements that I usually go for but the story line? It left me wanting. I mean I am going to read the second volume just to make sure that I dont like it. I liked it enough to request the second volume from the library, so I did not HATE it was more of a meh type of response. I felt kinda let down after all the hype that surrounded it. Again I am not sure why it feel a little flat to me. Maybe the second volume will be better.
This review was originally posted on Adventures in Never Never Land
Nessa Luna
Written on Feb 21, 2016
The Wicked + The Divine is about a group of people who become Gods. They are destined to be loved and hated, and to be dead within two years. This happens every ninety years; the last time being in the 1920's. Laura unwillingly gets pulled into their world after Luci kills a couple of people. Together, Laura, Luci and Cassandra must find out the truth behind the last murder (the one that Luci admits was not her doing).
I didn't really know what to expect when I started this, because the only thing I knew about the story was the short description from Goodreads, and that was it. I'd leafed through it already and saw the amazing artwork. That was really the part that I loved so much about this novel. There is a great diverse cast in this novel; a black main character, a bisexual god, a transgender and much more. And no one makes a big deal out of this, which is - in my opinion - the way it's supposed to be.
I was very intrigued by the whole 'Gods among us' part of the story, because that is honestly just one of my favourite thing ever - it's why I love Rick Riordan's books so much, and shows such as The Almighty Johnsons. To see Gods from certain mythologies (in the case of TW+TD it was all kinds of mythologies, not just the 'popular' ones) walk around on earth pretending to be humans, yes give me all of these stories!
As for the storyline in this comic, well, honestly I didn't think that was the strongest part in this novel. I felt like I had missed something while I was reading, and that we were just thrown into the story right in the middle, instead of at the beginning. I mean who were those two guys that Luci killed, why were they there on that roof, and why did they shoot at the people in the room? I guess that maybe they're christians or catholics who think that there is only one God, but you know - we don't find out in this volume. Maybe we'll get more background information in any of the upcoming novels, but I don't know I just didn't really connect to any of it with this one.
I did like the whole mystery of 'who killed that judge', but that was about it. The Gods fighting each other and Laura meeting all of them didn't do much to me. The only part that I really liked was the ending, even though it was quite sad, and cliffhanger-y.
So yeah, I did really like this graphic novel, but it was mostly due to the artwork and the characters. The story wasn't that great in my opinion, but I am planning on picking up the next two volumes very soon! If you're looking for a graphic novel with diverse characters, great artwork and a relatively good story (that hopefully will be even better in the next two volumes), you should definitely pick up The Wicked + The Divine.
My opinion on this book in one gif:
leahrosereads
Written on Jan 16, 2016
wyvernfriend
Written on Jan 6, 2016