Divinity #2

by Matt Kindt, Trevor Hairsine, Ryan Winn and David Baron

Divinity #2 answers a lot of questions while, in typical Matt Kindt fashion, it opens up the floor to a whole lot more. We’re learning about Divinity, the Soviet code name given to Abram Adams, and what his power-set is–or at least the tip of the proverbial iceberg as far as his powers are concerned. Starting the second quarter of this series, Kindt, Trevor Hairsine, Ryan Winn and David Baron seemingly have a lot of ground to cover to fully integrate this mega-being into a universe that has never seen anything like this before.

Without a doubt, Matt Kindt is an architect of the current Valiant Universe (VEI) and without him, it’s hard to say where we’d be right now. His vision is crystal clear here and Divinity, almost certainly a new character created to fill the void left by Gold Key property and original Valiant (VH1) mega-being Solar, outshines everything else on the page. The character has so many layers to him; so much has happened in his time off-world that we’ve only just started to scratch the surface of and it’s hard to be satisfied with just this issue. Kindt has created a desire, or need even, to find out more about this character and what happened to him on his long, solo journey in only two issues and it’s hard to think of a character that has had that kind of immediate effect. Without a doubt, Matt Kindt is swinging for the fences here and between Divinity and his other VEI work, he is undoubtedly doing some of the best work of his career.

The fantastic art team of Hairsine on pencils, Winn on inks and Baron on colors actually takes what they started in the first issue and takes it to the next level. With Winn on inks, Hairsine’s work is quite possibly the best that it’s ever looked. Hairsine gets the opportunity to spend more time working on the base layer, his pencils, while Winn gets to focus on the finishing details. The two of them together meld so well; Winn will add his own flair and style to Hairsine’s pencil work and the completed page turns out amazingly crisp and beautiful. But that’s not the end of it, David Baron’s color work is superb. Another artist in this line that is simply producing the best work of their career. Everything is just so visually striking in Divinity that there really isn’t any other art team that could top these three right now or work so well for a book like this. It really, truly feels like each artist is pushing the other to be the best artist they can be and that’s an absolute win for the fans.

Divinity is a book you need to read; forget your Marvels and your DCs and your Secret Wars and Convergences. This is better than any of those could ever hope to be–which is no slight to the creators because, of course, there are tons of fantastic creators working in those systems–and this is something that literally anybody can pick up and read. There is no VH1 history to this character; there is no prior knowledge required. Do that thing where you all flock to an issue with a “#1” on the cover like it’s going out of style and buy it. Read it. Then go out and buy the second issue because it’s even better. This creative team, and this company as a whole, is doing things that you’ve been wanting, but might have been too scared to admit. Taking all of the fantastic issues and stories told through the current Valiant incarnation into consideration, Divinity #2 just might be the best single issue yet. Yeah, just sit on that one for a minute.