The Wicked + the Divine by Kieron Gillen

"Every ninety years, twelve gods return as young people. They are loved. They are hated. In two years, they are all dead. It's happening now. It's happening again"--Page 4 of cover.

The gods are free to do whatever they want. Inevitably, they do. Collects issues 23-28 of the series, including the critically lauded Kevin Wada magazine issue.

The art is stunning but this story is just such a hot mess. It is such a good idea though. This really needed a better editor.

This is essentially some breathing space after the climactic events of the previous volume/arc. The various gods try to figure out what to do with their newfound freedom and the result is an examination of their various personalities - be they good or ill. The main plot does continue in the background, but it's not key to this particular volume, just necessarily moving us on to the next one. It's a character-heavy piece, and very effective for it, although I'm no fan of the first issue in the collection, which is an entirely text-based recounting of interviews with some of the main characters. It supports the theme of the volume, to be sure, but it comes across as pretentious and unnecessary - but then I feel that way about the kind of journalism it's imitating, so that could just be me.

3.5 stars I didn't really like the format (magazine articles) of the issue 23. I read about a page and went straight to #24The artwork and colours get a solid 5 stars as usual <3

SO MUCH IS HAPPENING!!!

I realized in this volume, that I love Sakhmet, even though she's sort of terrible. She's amoral, she's feral, she's fabulous, and she gives no f*cks. I was super into this volume.