Comic Review: The Wicked + The Divine #41

The Wicked + The Divine #41

Image Comics

Writer: Kieron Gillen

Artist: Jamie McKelvie & Matthew Wilson

The Wicked + The Divine (TW + TD) follows the 21st-century iteration of a mystical happening which consists of reincarnating elder gods every ninety years to fight what’s called The Great Darkness. Twelve random gods are reborn into the bodies of regular people and are supposed to perform as pop stars for the public, in order to inspire them for two years, after which the gods will perish.

I’ve been reading The Wicked + The Divine ever since the beginning. Right off the bat, it amazed me. The story, the artwork, the concept of the whole thing was, at least for me, groundbreaking. But after 30 or something issues (right after the release of the first one-shot book), the story felt as if it was being stalled. Sure, there was a twist and the twist on itself was thrilling, I loved it. Still, pretty much nothing has progressed since then. I’m not stating things didn’t happen, of course not. We got character development, a lot of it. We learned about Ananke’s past, how the ritual came to be, why it came to be and a lot of drama between the gods as they found out more and more about each other and themselves.

The problem is that after three or four issues of drama, it felt as if it was just about that. There was barely any mentioning of the godhood of the characters and the magic of it, except, maybe, for clues on Ananke’s plans. After 20 or so issues of stalling, #41 made me feel like the story is finally going to move forward. The truth is out, everyone is getting together and planning to finally put an end to all the scheming that has been going on. The sides of the battle have been set and it seems TW + TD moves toward its conclusion.

Gillen’s writing reflects this development of the story. Before, it felt confusing (I needed to read every issue’s recap just to make sure I understood what was happening) as if he was trying to mislead the reader into the wrong answer for his mystery. I’m not saying that it can’t be done, just that it shouldn’t be done by having all of your characters have identity crisis all at the same time. However, it became clearer in these last two issues, the dialogues being explicit about what’s happening (without feeling forced) and character’s feelings and thoughts being beautifully represented with the narration boxes associated with the artwork, retaining the young and modern tone that made us all fall in love and relate to the characters when they were first introduced to us.

The artwork does not deserve such reprimand. McKelvie’s characters and their constantly evolving designs are always instigating, and have been my major reason to stick with the series. The scenario also remains breathtaking as we get to see more and more of Woden’s magical technology and the Underground of London. Though McKelvie’s designs deserve credits for those as well, Wilson’s coloring is what delivers. The lighting is perfect for all the scenarios, always being objective (a lit room is a lit room despite the dialogue happening in it) but never losing its charm.

I loved this issue. It made me want to read The Wicked + The Divine again and see where the story finally goes. I can only hope that Gillen has a great ending for those who have been keeping up issue after issue.