The Wicked + The Divine #3

By Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie and Matthew Wilson

The Wicked + The Divine is a very odd book that can be a tough read at times. Image is most definitely a comic company that allows creators to let their imagination run wild and this is a title that delves into the deep depths of fantasy. Love it or hate it, it’s always an interesting book.

The first half of this issue almost reads like gibberish. Kieron Gillen turns in a confusing script that spouts out the names of gods and strings clusters of words together that just don’t seem to fit. While the first several pages will leave the reader wondering what they read, it does pick up and becomes easier when Laura gets her internal monologue going again. Her words make sense and the book becomes somewhat sane again. Gillen goes from one extreme to the other as the first half is very chaotic and the back end of the book is readable. Laura comes off knowing what is going on, which is one thing she may have on the reader. This issue is confusing and may not make a ton of sense, which may have been the intention.

The art by Jamie McKelvie is amazing and it’s enhanced greatly by the wonderful job on colors by Matthew Wilson. From the first page in this issue of a decapitated head being held, we are drawn in by McKelvie’s awesome pencils. Jamie takes chances in his art and it shows in panels where he uses several crows that seem to form a frame for a splash page, or when Laura is in glowing in an the right corner of an all black page. His effort and love for his work is very apparent in every panel. There are panels near the end of the book where Luci is thinking of the gods that would set her up. As she goes through them, she also displays many different, and well drawn facial expressions. The cool thing is that McKelvie could get even better than he already is.

This issue could be very hit or miss for many readers, but hopefully it won’t be a turn off. While this particular book was confusing, Gillen deserves another chance at your attention. Jamie McKelvie is awesome in every way imaginable. His outstanding work on this issue was hampered by a weird and confusing story. Hopefully next month will be a better issue on the writing side.