Review - The Wicked + The Divine #1Review by Paul Fiander
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I’m not sure that I have ever read a story that has the ability to jump from a safe place to the realms of craziness in quite the manner of The W+D. The problem is the safe place is a place called Brockley which is where I spent the majority of my formative years helping run my parents Florist. To say it’s somewhere I never expected to see in a comic is putting it mildly. On top of that I can probably name the street that appears in this issue; sorry for the inside look at my boring life but now on with the actual review. However in some ways I wonder if this is how those kids who bought Marvel comics felt in seeing Spiderman swinging through the streets of New York.
Many will not feel Brockley is that safe a place but straight away this comic has a true grounding in the world and that makes the rest of the issue feel even more strangely powerful. The story begins with a mostly black page containing a circle created by 12 circles with various images in them with the words; Once Again, and a date of 31 December 1923 set in the middle. The look of the page feels foreboding but the issue opens with what seems like a harmless Séance. I say Harmless as those things are hoaxes, or maybe not (at least in the W+D anyway). The goings on around this table is sure to shock and that transports us to the present day. The main section of the story is set on 2014 and deals with more than one concept as we look at the idea of fame, the occult and even the British Judicial system. All these ideas are woven into the story that feels like it designed to keep you guessing at what is going. This is a spoon feeding free zone as Kieron Gillen gently seeps out the plot through the combination of his script and the art created by Jamie McKelvie and Matthew Wilson. This is a great opening to a new series that feels like it will explore more than a few themes in its run, I can easily recommend to readers (those who are residents of South London and those who are not). However this looks like a convoluted story that will take time to grow into the full narrative. If you are looking for a head scratcher then never has a snap been as important to a plot as it is in The Wicked + The Divine. Issue Rating; 4.5/5 |
The Comic is available in both print and digital from Image comics. Follow this link for more details.
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Images courtesy of Image Comics
Comic - Provided by Publisher
Comic - Provided by Publisher
