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

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.