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apoppyinthewind's review
2.0
Wavering between 2 and 3 stars, I went with 2 because one of the things I love most about The Wicked + The Divine is the art work so having less of that was disappointing to me. The story was interesting, the art that was there was great. Just wish there had been more personally.
samhain's review
5.0
This series' capacity to reinvent itself while still respecting its core, its essence, is truly admirable. It's always interesting to learn about other pantheons, but it also brings more questions than answers...
So... My theory is that Ananke's captured the creature Woden from 1831 made from Lucifer's experiment on Hades' body, the one she said should outlive them all. It could also explain why this occurence's Woden and the one from our times can't be actual Gods and have to betray/use Mimir's head to tap into whatever creates the deities' powers. Woden sacrificed herself in 1831 to give immortality to her creation, and Ananke's been hiding that from the others to use Humans as her paws, turn them into decoy Wodens. Maybe she needs Mimir's powers but he refuses to be manipulated by her, hence why she's making sure he's always around but incapable of warning the rest of the Pantheon? He's supposed to know everything, so perhaps he's seen what her true goals are, or just sensed something was wrong like Verðandi did in this issue, and now she has to restrain him or something. Although Ananke's plan is still incomprehensible, I feel Lucifer's death indicates how well she's been doing with a Pantheon. When s/he dies first, Ananke's messed up something and will have rebelling deities to deal with. When s/he dies last, like that Roman one, she's been successful in convincing the Gods they only had two years to live and in getting them killed in some fashion that didn't tied her up to their dismiss. I'm starting to wonder if the Great Darkness is the Gods themselves, outliving their Human bodies and/or descending into madness because of their powers, like Roman!Luci did. That one did seem ready to destroy the world, and that's also what the treacherous Gods in this issue were trying to do. I don't think Ananke is the big bad, to be honest. It's too obvious, far from the complexity Gillen's offered so far. But she's still shady as fuck, and I find it really weird that none of the deities seem to remember everything that's happened in their previous times on Earth. Why is none of them like "wait, this shit happened before and the only thing it's always had in common is Ananke"? They seem to forget bits and pieces of previous lives, of their links to the rest of Pantheon, why has none of them been able to remember what Ananke's scheming has done to them? And, of course, what's with the severed heads being kept around and used for weird rituals? Even though Lucifer's head didn't seem conscious this time around, it's interesting to note that it was used in Set's and Baal's ritual (as were the ones of the others deities they killed, I suppose). Unless Ananke's lost the creature and is trying to repeat this ritual with the four heads she's gathered so far? Which makes me realize that Tara's wasn't there in the last issue. Was she unusable because she wanted to die, contrary to the others? Does she have some other purposes? This story's giving me worse headaches than ASOIAF theories xD The more this goes on, the more I'm likely to write a thesis about the secret meaning behind the paintings TW+TD's artists feature in their panels :')
On a different note, I love the fact that the Morrigan looks a bit like Neil Gaiman this time round. I don't know if it was made so on purpose, but I feel like he'll adore the idea. And, of course, it was exquisite to read Baal's disgusting ideas about "inferior races" while knowing he'll be reincarnated into a Black bi/pan man whose little finger holds more intelligence and dignity than this 1920's Baal's entire being. Suck it, loser :D
So... My theory is that Ananke's captured the creature Woden from 1831 made from Lucifer's experiment on Hades' body, the one she said should outlive them all. It could also explain why this occurence's Woden and the one from our times can't be actual Gods and have to betray/use Mimir's head to tap into whatever creates the deities' powers. Woden sacrificed herself in 1831 to give immortality to her creation, and Ananke's been hiding that from the others to use Humans as her paws, turn them into decoy Wodens. Maybe she needs Mimir's powers but he refuses to be manipulated by her, hence why she's making sure he's always around but incapable of warning the rest of the Pantheon? He's supposed to know everything, so perhaps he's seen what her true goals are, or just sensed something was wrong like Verðandi did in this issue, and now she has to restrain him or something. Although Ananke's plan is still incomprehensible, I feel Lucifer's death indicates how well she's been doing with a Pantheon. When s/he dies first, Ananke's messed up something and will have rebelling deities to deal with. When s/he dies last, like that Roman one, she's been successful in convincing the Gods they only had two years to live and in getting them killed in some fashion that didn't tied her up to their dismiss. I'm starting to wonder if the Great Darkness is the Gods themselves, outliving their Human bodies and/or descending into madness because of their powers, like Roman!Luci did. That one did seem ready to destroy the world, and that's also what the treacherous Gods in this issue were trying to do. I don't think Ananke is the big bad, to be honest. It's too obvious, far from the complexity Gillen's offered so far. But she's still shady as fuck, and I find it really weird that none of the deities seem to remember everything that's happened in their previous times on Earth. Why is none of them like "wait, this shit happened before and the only thing it's always had in common is Ananke"? They seem to forget bits and pieces of previous lives, of their links to the rest of Pantheon, why has none of them been able to remember what Ananke's scheming has done to them? And, of course, what's with the severed heads being kept around and used for weird rituals? Even though Lucifer's head didn't seem conscious this time around, it's interesting to note that it was used in Set's and Baal's ritual (as were the ones of the others deities they killed, I suppose). Unless Ananke's lost the creature and is trying to repeat this ritual with the four heads she's gathered so far? Which makes me realize that Tara's wasn't there in the last issue. Was she unusable because she wanted to die, contrary to the others? Does she have some other purposes? This story's giving me worse headaches than ASOIAF theories xD The more this goes on, the more I'm likely to write a thesis about the secret meaning behind the paintings TW+TD's artists feature in their panels :')
On a different note, I love the fact that the Morrigan looks a bit like Neil Gaiman this time round. I don't know if it was made so on purpose, but I feel like he'll adore the idea. And, of course, it was exquisite to read Baal's disgusting ideas about "inferior races" while knowing he'll be reincarnated into a Black bi/pan man whose little finger holds more intelligence and dignity than this 1920's Baal's entire being. Suck it, loser :D
izabel's review
4.0
I was kind of meh about all the text at first, but the murder mystery party drew me in. Also, I'm kind of ashamed to say, this issue is where I finally had the, "OHHHH THAT'S WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THIS SERIES" moment that I probably missed ages ago. Oops.
stgts's review
2.0
I'll gladly admit that when I first picked up WicDiv, I skimmed the writing. I started this series a little bit for the concept and a lot for the way the art jumped out at me anywhere I saw it. The art is still good but I've adjusted to the writing, I think, as we've gone on. It's no Black Panther, but what is?
So of course they had to test me with a largely text-based special issue that forgoes the brilliant color of a normal chapter of WicDiv. The greatest benefit I could see coming into it was overcoming my own anxiety about listing individual comics issues on my Goodreads. Look at all those words! It counts as a short story at least.
The comic itself is. Fine. It's fine? It's no Agatha Christie, and I think it suffers from drawing the comparison so starkly. The characters suffer from the time period too, just familiar enough to us now that they feel compelled to hit all the era-appropriate references. Harlem Renaissance! Cubism! Vaudeville! Shirley Temple! One of them's a Nazi! Cool. (Also a Great Dictator reference, in 1922? Come on. That doesn't even need a professional researcher.)
An issue like this might have been more effective earlier in the run, but at this point, a regular reader of the comic already knows so much about The Way Things Play Out, to put it vaguely. Spoilers don't necessarily ruin a work, but mysteries live or die on the balance of tension, on hanging onto the confession until that final minute. Even a bad Christie novel doesn't use the halfway point to hand over what secrets it has left.
So of course they had to test me with a largely text-based special issue that forgoes the brilliant color of a normal chapter of WicDiv. The greatest benefit I could see coming into it was overcoming my own anxiety about listing individual comics issues on my Goodreads. Look at all those words! It counts as a short story at least.
The comic itself is. Fine. It's fine? It's no Agatha Christie, and I think it suffers from drawing the comparison so starkly. The characters suffer from the time period too, just familiar enough to us now that they feel compelled to hit all the era-appropriate references. Harlem Renaissance! Cubism! Vaudeville! Shirley Temple! One of them's a Nazi! Cool. (Also a Great Dictator reference, in 1922? Come on. That doesn't even need a professional researcher.)
An issue like this might have been more effective earlier in the run, but at this point, a regular reader of the comic already knows so much about The Way Things Play Out, to put it vaguely. Spoilers don't necessarily ruin a work, but mysteries live or die on the balance of tension, on hanging onto the confession until that final minute. Even a bad Christie novel doesn't use the halfway point to hand over what secrets it has left.
marksutherland's review
4.0
More words than I was expecting, but fitting for the murder mystery vibe it has going on. Some interesting takes on characters we've met in other ages and a few crumbs of detail that add to the wider story. Playing name that modernist is somewhat entertaining.
leahrosereads's review
5.0
Another 5 star issue filled with more answers, more badassery, and more mayhem.
The lines are more fully drawn and gods are still thoroughly duped by fucking Ananke.
The lines are more fully drawn and gods are still thoroughly duped by fucking Ananke.
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