The Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 1: The Faust Act

I have to mention that this is probably my first ever graphic novel, so I'm actually a bit baffled as to how I'm supposed to rate this book or even if I love it or not. But I'm gonna try.

Firstly, the artwork is absolutely stunning. The images, colors and the clarity in each of the characters features are just beautiful. I loved the experience of reading such a visual treat of a book.

I usually love reading about mythology and Spirits is my favorite podcast. But it doesn't mean that I know a lot. So, even though I loved the idea of reading about mythological gods and goddesses born on earth, I really didn't know who they were because they are not the prominent Greek ones. But it was definitely fun googling about them after finishing the book.

The plot itself is not much and I was confused quite a bit. Some of the conversations also went above my head, probably because I'm not that verse in pop culture. But I understood the overall story and the ending definitely has me hooked. Now that I have a general idea of the whole setup, I'm excited to get into the next in this series.

I liked it by the end of the volume, but had a little trouble making sense of the writing and understanding what was going on. It didn't pull me in immediately, but it's pretty rare that that happens, so I stuck with it. By the end of the volume I really wanted to know what was going to happen next.

A superb start to this series about gods incarnating on Earth, giving twelve young people the chance of becoming the equivalent of rock stars for two years before they die. It's an interesting premise, reminiscent of some of the works of Neil Gaiman (American Gods, most obviously). The central character is an obsessive teenage fan of the ‘pantheon', who becomes embroiled in some of the rivalries between them, although there's also a strong focus on Lucifer, who has an unsurprisingly rebellious streak. It's an intelligent and well-written story, with high-quality artwork, although some potential readers might want to note that it includes strong language and sexual references. There's a feeling that there's much more to come, as we are just getting into the world that it introduces in this first volume. The ending is particularly strong, and pushes this up to the full five stars.

In Phonogram schreef Kieron Gillen over hoe mensen interageren met kunst (in casu muziek), hoe kunst ze inspireert, verandert en uiteindelijk vernietigt. Het ging niet echt over kunstenaars, behalve dan als concepten in het hoofd van de ‘consument'. The Wicked + The Divine kijkt naar de andere kant: het gaat voornamelijk over de mensen die kunst maken, en meer specifiek over het traject dat ze afleggen, de keuzes, compromissen en zooi die ze onderweg maken, de mensen die ze tegenkomen, en hoe ze elkaar helpen of net kapotmaken.

Als Phonogram Kieron Gillen was die probeerde te achterhalen waarom hij zo van kunst houdt, is The Wicked + The Divine een tien jaar oudere Gillen die wil weten waarom hij kunst maakt, en waar het hem gebracht heeft.

Oh, en voor het verhaaltje: elke 90 jaar worden twaalf goden in mensen geïncarneerd. Ze worden geliefd. Ze worden gehaat. Ze sterven twee jaar later. Ze hebben er niet zelf voor gekozen, ze hebben wel de herinneringen van hun vorige incarnaties, maar ze nemen ook de bagage mee van de mensen die ze nu zijn (of beter: waren).

Weinig of geen expositie, 't is zowat allemaal door de lezer in te vullen. Bijna klinisch getekend, maar wel zeer mooi (Kieron & McKelvie, dat zijn ook de mensen van Young Avengers!). Het is een ongoing, wat wil zeggen dat het niet gedaan is en gewoon verder gaat, maar het heeft wel degelijk een begin, een midden en een einde, verzekert Gillen ons. As we speak moet nummer 15 uitkomen; The Faust Act (spot de woordspeling, maat) is nummer 1-5, deel 2 (6-10) kwam ook net uit. Ik weet wat gelezen.

Me he llevado un poco de chasco...
Los dibujos están muy bien, igual que la elección de los colores, los escenarios... hasta aquí perfecto.

La historia queda un poco floja, en mi opinión.
Tenemos a la protagonista principal, una adolescente en la era digital que se rebela en casa contra las decisiones de sus padres (como la mayoría de los adolescentes). Y que es fiel seguidora de un grupo de dioses, algunos de ellos estrellas de pop (?) Entendemos que su fidelidad es la que la lleva a meterse de lleno en el lío de defender a uno de sus dioses ante una acusación.

Tenemos unos dioses de los que en este primer volumen (los 5 primeros tomos) nos cuentan muy poco. Los dibujos muy conseguidos, las personalidades en cada uno de ellos muy bien reflejadas pero...
Unos diálogos un poco pobres, y un argumento al que se le puede sacar mucho jugo pero que solo ha conseguido llamar mi atención en las últimas páginas del último tomo del volumen.

No estoy acostumbrada a leer cómics, igual soy yo que no le pillo el gusto a estos volúmenes tan cortos que no son autoconclusivos.

Igual en algún momento sigo con la historia, el final me ha dejado con ganas de saber más... Pero mientras leía no me daba la sensación de que fuera una historia que vaya a querer continuar leyendo.

This was all flash without much depth. In other words—the art was gorgeous, but the story was just MEH... They could have done so much with the basic premise but the characters all ended up being caricatures without much personality. Such a shame really, considering all the possibilities the writer could have explored with the awesome concept, like the various mythologies and back-stories of the gods introduced in the volume. I guess I just did not expect it to be a whodunnit mystery with an unsatisfying resolution. It did not help that we were following the story through the eyes of a vapid fangirl who wants her own slice of fame by playing mediator among the gods. This is the first disappointing Image title I've read, but I guess not everything lives up to the hype.

Let me get the parts I liked out of the way first: the art is great. The characters are drawn beautifully, a god's action certainly looks like a god did it, the use of panels and multi-page spreads are gorgeous. I liked the gods as characters, with Lucifer being the protagonist and the most interesting.



That being said, the book is about gods reincarnating as people who are in their teens to twenties. They are gods and have the powers that go along with it, but they only get to live for two more years. That part is pretty interesting, but the gods have reincarnated as incredibly narcissistic brats who want nothing more than attention for those remaining two years of existence. I get that gods are typically portrayed as selfish and quick-to-anger, but seeing it modernized as some of the worst traits of my generation just didn't appeal to me. We already have enough of this kind of behavior without mythical superpowers.

I think this book would appeal to someone younger than myself, probably someone more in tune with popular culture, someone who can enjoy the parallels of these gods to rock stars. However, for me, a nerdy programmer, the story just didn't appeal to me.

Another graphic novel, another one I've heard raves about, with good reason. Every 90 years, twelve gods become incarnate as humans. Some people love them, some people hate them, within 2 years they are all dead. This is the story of what happens when they come back. It's a freaking fascinating idea, and the story is strong. The illustrations in this book are gorgeous, and the characters are complex and interesting. I feel like I'm just scratching the surface of what graphic novels have to offer, but if they are consistently this good I think I've found a new genre. This series is definitely more adult, so reader beware, but I'm hooked.