CREDIT: Image Comics
Rating: 5/5 – Gods Don’t Live Forever…
by ComicSpectrum EiC Bob Bretall.
In the latest series from Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie (Phonogram, Young Avengers) we get the concept that gods are archetypes that are on the Earth for a short period of time, 2 years in the case of this series, but those archetypes will recur in the next century. The cool thing about the series is the questions it raises, not just in the context of the story being told, but how that can apply to “real life”. If you’re on this Earth for a finite time (and we all are, after all) what are you going to do with the time you have to make that time really matter?
This first issue introduces us briefly to the previous iteration of the gods in 1923, but they’re gone in a snap. We jump forward to 2014 and it’s time for the current iteration to manifest, and so far that seems to be the meat of this story. Gillen provides unique voices and personalities to the characters and McKelvie is similarly inspired with the character designs. Fashion plays such a strong role here; from what the characters are wearing, to their makeup, hairstyles. The world of the Wicked + The Divine is NOT populated with cookie cutter people. Looking at the characters in this book and any other book in my stack of comics “to be read” and there’s really no comparison. The look and feel of this book blew me away.
This is a world of celebrity, music, and fashion. With the setup and cliffhanger we got here, we could go in any number of different directions. Sometimes when I read a comic I feel the story can go in a bunch of directions and think to myself that I’ll be happy if it goes certain ways and really disappointed if it goes some other ways in the second issue. The difference with The Wicked + The Divine is that I think I’ll be happy to be along for the ride regardless of the next turn the story takes. I just want to see more of this world and these characters. This was 31 pages of fabulous comic-bookery that stood out to me as unique from top to bottom.
Reviewed by: Bob Bretall
(bob@comicspectrum.com)
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