Top of the Pile - 7/16/2014

The Wicked + the Divine
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Jamie McKelvie
Cover Artist: Matthew Wilson
Image Comics

Image manages to produce the most interesting comics. I know, that’s not a controversial statement. With their books being the must have, sold out, crossover potential works, I usually try and pick up at least the first issue of whatever they put out. And with The Wicked + the Divine, I was impressed enough to get the second issue.

After reading the first issue, I noticed the writer is Kieron Gillen. I’ve been keeping my eye out for his name ever since I realized that he wrote the recent run of Journey into Mystery from Marvel. The basic story of The Wicked + the Divine is from the point of view of a young girl who gets mixed up with “the Pantheon”. A dozen divine characters, who are pop stars, and have godlike powers. In the second issue, we learn more about the members of the Pantheon and how they became what they are. And Kieron is slowly revealing the cast of characters, reminding me of how the Endless were revealed in the Sandman books. It builds of an element of interest as new, strange elements are added into this so far amorphous story.

The art by Jamie McKelvie is very clean and detailed. Traditionally drawn without excessive exaggeration or embellishments. There aren’t any whacky angles or bizarre framing. It’s just good narrative illustration. Where the art excels is in how he depicts faces. With strong emotions, the reader can see that the characters know more that what the plot is telling us.

As I mentioned, I’ll continue picking this book up. And I would consider buying it for our library collection when it comes out in trade. It could potentially go into an older teen collection, but instead I would err on the side of safety and ask to have it shelved in the non-fiction area.