The Wicked + The Divine #7

by Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie and Matt Wilson

So this issue tackles one of the Pantheon known as Woden, you say? Well, son of a bitch you can count us in! But, seriously, even if it wasn’t for this mysterious, Tron-esque Woden as part of the group of Gods that come to Earth every ninety years, as young people who will die in two years time, The Wicked + The Divine would be a winner. Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie and Matt Wilson have something really unique and special here that’s more than worth the $9.99 for the first trade.

Gillen continues to tackle Life after Lucifer—copyright, don’t you steal that Gillen!—for Laura while trying to give us more information on the twelve, or eleven if you’re paying attention at home, Pantheon from around the world. It’s hard to imagine what you’d do with the powers of a god, any god really, but knew you only had two years to live. The more Gillen explores this, with different gods and different personalities, the more interesting The Wicked + The Divine becomes. Plus, add to that the potential of Prometheus, which won’t be spoiled here go read it, and there’s some crazy potential for the future.

Now, all of Gillen’s brilliance aside, THAT ART, MAN! The art from McKelvie and Wilson is unbelievable and has been from the first finger snap. The characters are fantastically designed and thoroughly though out, the colors of said designs are vibrant and stylish and everything just slides and meshes together like some sort of perfect comic book orgy. Even the way McKelvie chooses to fade out the background characters as Laura tries to figure out her situation, while tuning out the world around her is brilliant. It’s more than brilliant, really, and it probably saved a ton of time drawing wise (what? That’s a practical assessment). Nothing matters but Laura and what’s right in front of her, and it’s all highlighted in brilliant, colorful glory for your eyeballs to enjoy and absorb. Oh, one more stroke of brilliance, if that word hasn’t been over-used yet, and that’s the climbing down to hell, so to speak, with Baphomet. Just an excellent sequence that turns what would be a rather boring, or quick, scene chang into something interesting and different. Bravo.

Okay, yes, the art absolutely steals the show. The vibrancy of it all is just astonishing, and it more than sets itself apart from everything else you’re reading (from an IMAGE book? Imagine that.) month in and month out. Being slow to start this series, it’s really become a favorite in a very short amount of time. The Wicked + The Divine is another one of those must-read Image titles that you hear so much about but for whatever reason you haven’t read it yet. Do yourself a favor and rectify that mistake quickly.