The Wicked + The Divine #11

by Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, Matthew Wilson and Clayton Cowles

Everything up to this point in The Wicked + The Divine has seemingly been leading up to this moment and although some of it you might have seen coming, that ending, man… that ending was something completely out of left field. Writer Kieron Gillen gets off on messing with his readers, and this might be the height of his games yet. Everything has been turned on its head, and who knows what the issue twelve is going to have in store? WHY ISN’T ISSUE TWELVE OUT RIGHT NOW?!

Ahem… anyway. Gillen has been brilliant from the first snap of the figures and he really shows no signs of slowing down. A series like this, with a time limit on the lives of the gods involved obviously can’t last forever–thought if anybody can do it, it’s certainly going to be Gillen–so while we have the series Gillen is most definitely making the most of it. At every turn he manages to surprise and find new ways to take The Wicked + The Divine to the next level and issue eleven is no exception. The characters and ideas in this story are not only unique, but intricate, well planned and of course well executed. It’s one of those books, even from a publisher like Image that seems to have a handful of titles weekly that are just amazing, that just stick with you when you’re done. It’s a prime example of what creators can do with the freedom to do anything and it’s absolutely one of the best to come out of Image month in and month out.

Speaking of the best out of Image, have you seen the work from Jamie McKelvie and Matthew Wilson? HAVE YOU REALLY SEEN WHAT THEY CAN DO?! It’s beyond stellar, beyond bar-raising and beyond the majority of the work out there. Sure, that might be said more frequently than you might think but, fuck, there are a lot of books that are unique and doing it extremely well. WicDiv, of course, is one of those. McKelvie has an uncanny knack for facial expressions and character design, while colourist Matthew Wilson has an uncanny knack for being amazing. That is to say, have you seen his colors? McKelvie is a superstar, that’s a given, but the levels that Wilson can take his ink work to are levels that are previously unheard of. The scene with Inanna might be one of those perfect examples; the way everything sparkles and jumps off the page is like no other book out there. Wilson, once again, takes whatever praise he might have earned on the last issue, tosses it aside and proves that he can do even better. This guy is a major player in the comic industry and it’s an absolute pleasure every time we get to witness his utter greatness.

Okay, yeah, The Wicked + The Divine is amazing. This issue leaves us with a strong WTF feeling, but that’s okay. Gillen will make it all better, right? Everything is going to be okay and we’ll all be one, big, happy Godly family… that will die in approximately two years time. Okay, forget that last part. The second trade for WicDiv is out next month, so it’s high time you caught up. Being late to the party and being able to read WicDiv in a large chunk was a delight, so for those who have yet to experience it, you’re in for a treat. Until then, the wait for issue twelve will be excruciating. Damn you, Gillen.