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A review by spookynymph
The Wicked + The Divine #44 by Jamie McKelvie, Matt Wilson, Kieron Gillen
2.0
Not with a Bang but with a Whimper
I knew it. There's a reason the person I identify most with in this comic is Cassandra.
HEY GUESS WHAT HAPPENS.
The frustrating thing is... I want to be happy for them? I guess? Because yay, choose life, and killing your gays is a gross trope, and I'm actually really deeply sympathetic to people needing to be pulled out of hell because I've been there myself. But. I don't care about either of the two girls in hell. I can cope with not knowing a lot about Eleanor, because she was only in about five issues overall. (Besides, part of the point of Eleanor's story is that she doesn't know who she is, either.) But even this close to the end, Laura remains as frustratingly inconsistent and opaque as she's always been.
Why does Laura care so much about Lucifer? When did these feelings happen? What was with banging Sekhmet and Nergal and Ba'al if she was secretly pining for Lucifer the whole time? I mean, I get the part about her wanting to save Lucifer because she's tired of watching people die. I felt that. But then, immediately after Eleanor renounces Lucifer, Laura's all, "Okay, I can handle one more person dying SUP ANANKE." And I was like, "Woman, will you make up your goddamn mind? Are you tired of death or not?" It would be different if the others had to talk her into it because she's the only one who can perform miracles reliably, but no. On one page, "[I don't] want to hurt anyone any more." Four pages later, "I bet I can burn a hole in her head."
Except then she doesn't have to because Valentine (Ba'al) grabs Min and jumps off the goddamn building. I'm not too upset with it because hey, I've been griping for ages that we're not seeing the torment he's going through. But it's because we haven't seen it that I'm dissatisfied with this. If we'd known he was falling apart inside, this wouldn't be so out of the blue. And I'm really annoyed with his summation of, "I spent my whole life trying to be a big man. And if this is what being a man means? It's not worth it." Because it's not what being a man means. It's what happens when you do evil, even when you think it's in the service of the greater good. Ananke knew Valentine wanted to be a protector and used it against him to break him. And it worked.
One more issue, but it's really just loose ends at this point. The only lingering question I have at the moment is, Are they going to get Tara a new body? And if so, how?
I knew it. There's a reason the person I identify most with in this comic is Cassandra.
Spoiler
So in my review of WicDiv #43, I said that I thought Lucifer was going to die, because renouncing Lucifer meant accepting being Eleanor, and I was pretty sure Lucifer hated being Eleanor even more than she loved being Lucifer. And then I said:That said, I won't be entirely surprised if Killen gives into the modern mania for subverting expectations and lets Eleanor live, probably because Laura loves her. I'll be disappointed, but not surprised.
HEY GUESS WHAT HAPPENS.
The frustrating thing is... I want to be happy for them? I guess? Because yay, choose life, and killing your gays is a gross trope, and I'm actually really deeply sympathetic to people needing to be pulled out of hell because I've been there myself. But. I don't care about either of the two girls in hell. I can cope with not knowing a lot about Eleanor, because she was only in about five issues overall. (Besides, part of the point of Eleanor's story is that she doesn't know who she is, either.) But even this close to the end, Laura remains as frustratingly inconsistent and opaque as she's always been.
Why does Laura care so much about Lucifer? When did these feelings happen? What was with banging Sekhmet and Nergal and Ba'al if she was secretly pining for Lucifer the whole time? I mean, I get the part about her wanting to save Lucifer because she's tired of watching people die. I felt that. But then, immediately after Eleanor renounces Lucifer, Laura's all, "Okay, I can handle one more person dying SUP ANANKE." And I was like, "Woman, will you make up your goddamn mind? Are you tired of death or not?" It would be different if the others had to talk her into it because she's the only one who can perform miracles reliably, but no. On one page, "[I don't] want to hurt anyone any more." Four pages later, "I bet I can burn a hole in her head."
Except then she doesn't have to because Valentine (Ba'al) grabs Min and jumps off the goddamn building. I'm not too upset with it because hey, I've been griping for ages that we're not seeing the torment he's going through. But it's because we haven't seen it that I'm dissatisfied with this. If we'd known he was falling apart inside, this wouldn't be so out of the blue. And I'm really annoyed with his summation of, "I spent my whole life trying to be a big man. And if this is what being a man means? It's not worth it." Because it's not what being a man means. It's what happens when you do evil, even when you think it's in the service of the greater good. Ananke knew Valentine wanted to be a protector and used it against him to break him. And it worked.
One more issue, but it's really just loose ends at this point. The only lingering question I have at the moment is, Are they going to get Tara a new body? And if so, how?