The Wicked + The Divine Deluxe Edition: Year Three

The Wicked + The Divine #5-6

by Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie (Artist), Matt Wilson (Artist)

Ananke is dead. What do the gods do? Whatever they want. What can go wrong? Everything. Literally, everything.

The bestselling, critically acclaimed comic by Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, and Matt Wilson reaches its Imperial Phase, with copious "making of" material and extensive director's commentary in this oversized hardcover edition.

Collects THE WICKED + THE DIVINE #23-33

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fantasy, Mythology, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, LGBT

400 pages, Hardcover

Published December 11, 2018

About the author

Kieron Gillen is a comic book writer and former media journalist.

Reviews

[Jayson · Rating 4 out of 5]

(A-) 81% | Very Good
Notes: Review pending re-read. Individual reviews for included volumes can be found here:
- The Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 5: Imperial Phase, Part 1
- The Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 6: Imperial Phase, Part 2

[MrGlassWontBreak · Rating 5 out of 5]

I keep blitzing through these 400 page oversized volumes like they’re nothing, as the phenomenal story and art continue to compel me to read onward like a single minded zombie.

I haven’t read anything this eagerly since I read Berserk, which is a bad thing because now I only have one more deluxe volume left. What am I supposed to do with my life when I’m done reading it?

[Ashley Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The opening issue of in-world interviews felt both wonderfully meta and quite unnecessary, but Kieron gonna do what Kieron gonna do. The plot still feels very over-my-head in places, but then I snag a thread again and can't stop. McKelvie's artwork mostly makes up for the extremely cryptic dialogue. I love the way they're able to bring it back down from phenomenal-cosmic-power gods to the real people who are embodying these archetypes. Laura is a great character.

[Lukasz · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5

It does some cool things, but overall, it once again loses the main plot from sight. One more collection to go, so I won't stop reading it, but this series is overhyped for me.

[The Artisan Geek]

29/3/20
Wow this definitely was my favourite compendium so far! A lot of the plot points are coming together and I was left with an eagerness to pick up the final and fourth piece. This comic covers a range of topics, and I have seen it get a bit lost in their multitude, especially in Year Two. Year three however, succeeded in covering many themes and at the same time moving the plot forward, (after the magazine issue) it definitely held my attention throughout and I finished it in one sitting :) I think it's also really interesting how I detest each and every one of the characters, but still love the story line lol.

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[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up.

It lost the plot for a bit there but really made up for it with the ending.

[Amanja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sigh, I'm reconsidering my 5 star review of the first book. I think I was razzle dazzled by the brilliant art and exciting characters but here we are 30+ issues in and none of them have actually done anything yet. There is a vague central conflict that has had at least 2 big twists but all of it adds up to being inconsequential since I've stopped caring pretty quickly. That being said, it's still a hard book to put down and I still do want to know how it ends.

I just also need to point out that the whole first issue of this book is solid text. It's written as a set of magazine interviews and if you're into that thing, fine, but it's a big pet peeve of mine when comics don't have pictures for pages at a time.

[Des Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is really rolling now. Such an emotional book, full of twists and an endless parade of the unexpected. I am so deeply curious about this title's conclusion, and am VERY upset I chose to read the big ass hardcovers, cause this is the last one for a while.

[Renee Wiedmeyer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I mean...they've lost me in the storyline. I don't care about any of the characters anymore.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fantastic entry in this series that unfortunately opens with the worst issue of the entire thing. Honestly, skip issue 23. For some reason (I'm assuming to give Jamie McKelvie time to catch up on the art), Gillen devotes an entire actual issue of the series to an in-world magazine featuring interviews with several of the Pantheon (the main characters). It is 100% a slog and tells you basically nothing you didn't already know, only it tells it to you in overlong prose. It brings the series to a grinding halt and honestly should've been bonus material in these collections at best.

But once, you get past that (and again, skip it), the series picks right back up again. We get more elaboration on exactly what the deal with the Pantheon is while also continuing the wonderful, well-drawn, allegorical story of young fame run amok and self-destructive grief and despair. The character stuff continues to be my favorite part of this series, with just enough added flair from the mysteries and superpowered gods to keep it surreal. This is going to be a series I think about a lot in the future, I can tell. Very much worth your time!

[Jakub Kvíz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Letosni rok uzaviram serii, ke ktery sem se po par letech vratil a jsem za to rad. Treti book shodou okolnosti zacina tam, kde sem puvodne prestal, takze to byl kompletne novej zazitek.

Pribeh se poradne zamotava, Laura se chova jako cim dal tim vetsi krava a dostaneme nekolik peknejch twistu s cliffhangerem na zaver.

Uz aby vysla posledni kniha, protoze sem zvedav, jak tohle dopadne :).

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

With their characters and world established, the creative team now gets to play in a big way. The destroyer destroys in the most subversive way, the seer goes blind, and the heart stops beating. Add in a daring "magazine editorial" with external known english writers and beautiful illustrations and you have fresh inventive take on the idea of godhood and playing the long con.

Bechdel: pass
Duverney: pass
Vito: pass
PM: pass

[Billy Jepma · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those series' that I spend an incredible amount of time thinking about but can't decide if my love for its ideas outweighs my frustrations with it. I was excited to start Year Three since the previous arc, where the plot and characters seemed to dramatically and bombastically coalesce into, worked so well for me. But Gillen's style still trips me up, and in these volumes, he seems to fly past the plot moments that I most wanted him to explore further.

Characters come across major revelations, new relationships are developed, major players are taken off the table, but few of these events have much time to breathe before we're whisked away to something else. I audibly gasped several times while reading this, and I wish Gillen had let me simmer in the shock and emotion he's so good at generating. It doesn't help that protagonists like Laura/Persephone are at their most unlikable in these volumes. It's hard to hold onto my investment in them when they repeatedly make the most self-destructive, almost self-pitying choices possible, with motivations that are murkier than they need to be to convince me of their validity. All of this is probably "The Point™️," and my conflicting feelings about it say more about me than they do about the quality of Gillen's writing. I so want to adore this series, but whenever it feels like it finally has its hooks firmly in me, it does something that jars me out of its grasp.

And yet, with all that said, there are still so many amazing moments in here. The first issue of the collection, the supposedly infamous magazine-style experiment, totally worked for me. It's clever, meta, and turns what could've been an expositional info-dump into a neat way of exploring a corner of this world (the fame of the Pantheon) we haven't gotten to see much of. Many of the major plot points are thrilling, too, and Gillen's aptitude for a killer twist remains unmatched. Yet, it still feels like he's enforcing a plot-driven narrative, instead of a character-driven one. The former works fine, but the series seems like it wants to be ruled by its characters, and it's not. Maybe all of my frustration will evaporate once the entire story comes into view and I can see how all the pieces work together, but right now, I remain as conflicted, and captivated, as ever.

The artwork is still stunning, of course, and if it wasn't for McKelvie and Wilson's artwork so effortlessly embodying the rich, dense world, I would be far less inclined to keep coming back. McKelvie's expressions are remarkable and convey emotions and tensions better than Gillen's script does (as it should be, honestly, since comics are a visual medium). Wilson's vibrant, sharp colors make everything feel like it's ready to jump off the page and attack/seduce you. The paneling is more compact here than I'm used to, and the heavy use of six or nine-panel grids spanning multiple scenes is...hard to follow. Again, I acknowledge that this is probably intentional, but it also inhibits my ability to invest in whatever scene is unfolding, which isn't ideal.

Anyway, I'm very excited to see how the series wraps up in the Year Four collection I have waiting for me. I imagine and hope that the story will work better for me in hindsight once I can digest it as a singular entity. It's just discouraging to feel like so much of the series' most impressive feats are just out of my reach.

[Raj · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a tendency to race through graphic novels at breakneck speed (well, that's true of most novels, but especially so of comics). Hence I really like the writer's commentary at the end that lets me re-read it, more slowly, a few pages at a time, paying attention to things that I never noticed first time round, and generally decompressing a bit. This was especially helpful here, in issue 27 where I had been reading so quickly that I didn't even notice that I was reading panels out of order (this is a neat section with multiple stories being told on the same page, in differing layouts, with panel borders linking stories). I got the gist of it, which was all I wanted at the time, but it was good to go back and read it the way it was intended.

But, my goodness, WicDiv repays a close reading and then some. This third year covers the whole of what Gillen calls the Imperial Phase, following Ananke's death, how the remaining gods turn things up to eleven and how that goes very, very wrong, culminating in two huge twists (or "reveals", as Gillen prefers) at the end of the book.

WicDiv has always been a story of excess, whether that's hedonism, sex or love, and all the gods give in to that excess in the Imperial Phase. There are tough themes covered in the story, from the co-dependence of the goth kids to Sekhmet's nihilism and Persephone's fatalism. some are shocking and some are just heartbreaking.

While there's a lot covered here, and we finally get a glimpse of the Great Darkness that Ananke had talked about before, we don't really get much idea of what it is or what the gods are doing about it (although I suspect that may be coming in the final year). I can't wait to find out - even if I'm sure it's going to be mostly heartbreak and misery for the cast.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Magazine issue (23). I usually hate this all-text pieces because comic writers are notably bad at figuring out what makes straight text interesting. Gillen cut through this Gordian knot by giving in-character interviews to real journalists, and then letting them write up those interviews. The result is interesting, but ultimately not very important for the series as a whole. (And to be honest, I've skipped it on rereads.)

Imperial Phase I (23-28). After something as climatic and horrific as the previous volume, you need a bit of a lacuna, and that's what this is. We see how life goes on for our cast. It might not be as much of a thrill-ride as the previous volume, but we've come to know and sort of love these characters, and so it's an interesting piece. It's particularly great seeing how Persephone has changed since his ascension and what's happened to Minerva since the last volume. That's all not to say that there aren't notable events: we get a hint at a Big Bad and we see one of the least stable gods let loose. But those are minor; it's the character work that's important.

Imperial Phase II (29-33). As the Imperial Phase comes to an end, we get what we probably expected: overweening pride, selfishness, and ennui causing things to go off the rails. After the quieter previous volume, this is where the action is, and it's exciting and shocking. However, the best of the volume is probably the origin of Woden in the last issue. After six full volumes, Gillen can still keep us guessing, demonstrating why this has been a superior comic the whole time through.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am reflecting on why The Wicked + the Divine has left such an impact on me as I am reading Heaven's Official Blessing, a Chinese novel that also dwells on the idea of humans ascending to godhood in a similarly epic, messy, beautiful, tragic way. There is a line in that story that I have been thinking about, "When humans ascend, they are still human; when they fall, they are still human." I think that line can also apply as a summary of what The Wicked + the Divine set out to do.

Year 3 covers the Pantheon post-Ananke, right before the final arc, and the first issue is the iconic magazine issue illustrated by Kevin Wada. I had the original single issue of that, but left it when I moved back from Melbourne to Singapore. WicDiv has been an important part of my coming of age, in that sense, the five years from when I was in university and still finding myself, to my first years of true adulthood this year, still finding myself. Year Three is a really messy, transitional phase in the entire story of WicDiv, and I see it as the phase in life where you have to burn down everything you know to rebuild and find yourself again.

I love all the extras in this edition, with all of Kieron's notes on every issue, and all of the collected artwork and even notes and correspondences between Kieron and the illustrators, as well as preliminary sketches and layouts.

[Hannah McManus · Rating 4 out of 5]

so. many. twists. dang.

[Reading_seas0n · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, so the format at times for this edition was bizarre and confusing for the story, but we got a consistent style which I love!
PLOT TWIST AT THE END!

[James De Leon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, I split this in two halves (like in the trades). Issues 23-28 show what happens about a year after the events of that big battle. This also means that time is running out, folks! A few characters are acting quite strange and we get introduced to what’s going on to the rest of the so-called gods. They’re trying to decide what to do with some darkness that’s surrounding the world as well as with a ‘miracle machine’ (that’s not really its name, but that's how I thought about it at first when it was super vague what it actually did) that might give us some answers. Here we get a glimpse at some of these darkness monsters, which is cool. The trade ends with one of the gods acting loco and going on an orgy-killing spree....yeah you read that right. Story 7/10 with art 9/10

The second half covers issues 29-33 and deals with the repercussions of the murders from the issue 28. Some characters are going through some MAJOR depression and a few gods meet their demise. It’s worth noting that we get more information about the backstory here! Some shocking revelations (that are kind of easy to predict, but still, PROGRESS!). Things are starting to make sense! Story 7/10 with art 9/10.

Overall, I'd say this is a 7/10 for story and a 9/10 for the art. The story might fluctuate, but the art is fairly consistent for the book.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

[Read as single issues]

The Wicked + The Divine enters its second half as the machinations of the Gods and Goddesses of the Pantheon continue to churn away. Secretly however, one person has been lying to everyone from the very beginning, and her betrayals will change the face of the series forever. But even with these secrets out in the open, the animosity between some of the Pantheon may be too insurmountable to unite them against the coming threat. Alliances (and relationships) are tested, broken, and reforged as the march towards the truth begins - it’s time for Imperial Phase.

But of course, before all that, it’s time for an experimental issue. Artist Kevin Wada joins the series for the first issue of the volume, which is set out like a glossy magazine featuring interviews with the characters that reveal almost as much in one issue as the past 22 have, with Wada’s beautifully painted, fashion forward portraits of each character acting as the magazine spread. It’s a clever idea, and it works really well – not every series could do something like this and do it well, but WicDiv is definitely one of the few.

The rest of Imperial Phase (split into parts 1 and 2 in the original run but collected in its entirety here) is where writer Kieron Gillen and regular artist Jamie McKelvie flip the board over entirely and really up the stakes. Reveals come thick and fast, and even when you think you know what’s going to happen next, you really have no idea. The themes that Gillen has been playing with since the beginning of the run really come into their own, and there’s some masterful storytelling going on here that only becomes apparent once more of the big picture comes into focus.

But despite the higher stakes, and despite the fact that we’re getting more of the overarching plot going on, Gillen never forgets that the driving force behind all of this is the character interactions. Even with the godly powers being flung around left, right, and centre, there are still personal revelations that hit just as hard if not moreso than the arguably more important ones. It’s a testament to Gillen’s skill that he manages to pull this off without skewing too far to one side, in addition to how well he has crafted these characters that we care about them so much even with everything else going on.

And throughout all of this, Jamie McKelvie takes to the task of bringing all of the insanity to life with ease. There are some experimental issues, like the one crafted almost entirely from panels from previous issues, and there are some that wouldn’t look out of place as part of a big Marvel or DC event comic, but no matter what Gillen’s script chucks his way, McKelvie catches it and turns it into gold. He’s one of the reasons why we care about these characters so much – they look and emote like real people, which makes it so easy to believe that they are.

With everyone in play and their personalities sufficiently established in the previous arcs, WicDiv is ready to kick it up a notch, and oh boy, does Imperial Phase do that and then some. If you were looking for answers, you’ll get those. If you were looking for more questions, you’ll get those too. And if you were looking for a series that manages to keep its characters and their relationships front and centre even when the world is falling down around them (sometimes literally) then this super-sized collection is exactly what you need.

[Sara I · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first part contains interviews with individual members of the Pantheon (The Morrigan, Baal, Woden etc) which was an interesting shift to take and gave a different sort of look at the characters as well as showcasing a different style of the comic. Moving on from there, the gods are running free without the restriction of Ananke which means some choose to their own thing, others to figure out the mess left behind and what really might be the truth to what they were told by Ananke, and the others to fight the Great Darkness. It was something they were warned about but were unsure if it actually existed, until it attacked them, of course. I appreciated Laura/Persephone's development through these issues and arcs as you see her retooling her idea of humanity now that she is a god and buying into her "destroyer" status which is completely explained in the last issue.

The plot and character development occur alongside a lot of growth but also a lot of messiness and drama; ranging from drugs, hookups, and violent outbursts to topics such as abusive relationships, cultural appropriation, and more. This is why greek mythology was so interesting to me when I was younger (nearly everyone was a mess) and what adds the conviction and reality to these characters; they may be gods but they make mistakes and question things all the same. Reading the notes added in the back, I really appreciated that there was conscious effort of how Cassandra's sexuality was handled and how it is juxtaposed by the dysfunctional relationships other characters have as the stable one. I also feel like I have not mentioned how beautiful the comic is, but it is very beautiful and reading the "making of" or "writer's notes" sections clues the reader in to how much work and thought goes into how the panels are used, characters drawn, and colors add to the story. It is one thing if a graphic novel has a good story, but it is another level entirely when it looks cool and visually pleasing as this one does.

The final issue ends with a big reveal (which makes past occurrences a lot clearer) that is shortly followed by an even bigger twist, which left me eager to pick up what comes next as soon as I can. WicDiv continues to raise the stakes as the story goes on and by the end of issue 33, there are a lot of questions and the sense that everything has changed. It definitely does not loose traction keeping personal development ongoing as well as the plot and action sequences.

[Ya Boi Be Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 rounded down. I stopped reading WicDiv after Imperial Phase in middle/high school and I can kinda see why as up til now it’s still my least favorite arc. The direction gets a lot more hectic mirroring the trajectory of certain pop stars and Gods without direction the WicDiv crew come with a new hedonistic and self-indulgent urges and crack more as they get closer to death and deal with nuclear devastation of Ananke. Everyone reacts differently but in general its more on-edge, hair-triggered, and fuck-it-we-ball. Its really cool to see Persphone as she struggles with this self-destructive “fuck it” new attitude while also fleetingly reminded of her softer side thanks to individuals like the Norn's/Cassandra who is still best God (i said it).
The writing has taken a turn from the end of book 2 (volume 4?) and fully into book 3. It is more action-y and much more intense making sense with the plot though I do sorta miss the earlier vibe of Volumes 1-3. Its still there but the new writing has gone more chaotic and disparate making sense with the fractioning Gods. Everyone's on fallout, acting out, and generally falling in some way. You can feel the different tipping points all the Gods are near.
This is also where we get Persephone's self-destructive moments, Morrigan and Baph's relationship turning abusive, and other memorable character shifts. But the shifts are good. The first half is done. We all know the second half ends with death. And it won't he pretty. So the characters similarly turn less pretty. But some really step up like Baal and somehow Woden.
I enjoyed the very last few issues much more than the rest. The first half feels like set-up for the second half where the empire-ness of the gods really starts to fall as the groups create friction to other groups and in each of their own. But the shit hits the fan fairly deep into making it feel plodding. It makes all of the drama and new interplay between the new groups the Gods fraction themselves into feel more like time-wasting than exploring them which is what it really is.
The art while still nice and definitely enjoyable at it’s experimental with paneling, but suffers a bit for most of the run. I can understand the art being less bright with the darker twist and dealing with the less interesting backgrounds compared to the neon-fun of Valhalla or a bit of working for years on the project but until those last few issues it feels weaker and less inspired. The paneling does go above and beyond and continue to innovate but I feel like that could have left less time for the pencils and inking for a lot of the issues here.

[Jimmy Hanson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first two books of this series were SO good. The great storytelling, world-building, and new lore that just provided that sense of wonder and awe. Unfortunately, this book goes from all that was and devolves into what reads like a comic version of an MTV fantasy drama circa 2004.
The book collects 11 issues (23-33), and only the final two had the same feel and style as the first 22 issues. The last two issues were engaging and "page-turners," but the first nine issues were extremely difficult to keep my interest. When I first started the series, it felt like a book in the same realm as American Gods, but this volume is more like a harlequin romance that parodies American Gods.
The art is still top-notch, and is probably the best thing about this series. I just hope that the fourth volume gets better story-wise.
The peculiar thing was that the previous volume's extras contained a poll from readers about a number of things, including their favorite characters, etc. After reading that volume, I found that I was in agreement with most readers at that point. At this point in reading, I can't really say I care for *any* of the characters. I just want to see how the story ends.

[MasterSal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I completely forgotten about this series until it made an re-appearance on Thoughts on Tomes channel.

Despite having read the Volume 4 back in Nov 2018 (see: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) I was surprised at how much I followed in this volume. This could be a negative in that the previous volumes didn’t have much of a plot but I liked that simplicity here. The art remains excellent and the main draw of the novel. The plot is still “mysterious” to nearly incomprehension but I enjoyed most of it. I still don’t love any of the characters which remain superficial and hedonistic. However, since I sort of think that is the point it didn’t annoy me. I am not sure the novel’s construct will every engender strong emotions from me but this is purely preference.

In the end, I am going with three starts for the art and the fact that the ending left me with enough interest to continue the series. (Given my TBR I am not sure that is a good thing!)

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wild ride filled with unexpected twists and a pacing that did an amazing job building up each reveal with a bang. (too soon?) Book 3 further explores the relationships that each of the gods have with one another and toxic aftermath of mistakes made in the previous book. Baal was the true star in this book as the main pillar of stability of the group while trying to defeat a new threat: The Great Darkness. This continuation was filled to the brim with action, intrigue and chaos as the gods try to find answers left for them by Ananke and pick up the pieces left because of her. Trigger warning for domestic violence.

[Lauge · Rating 2 out of 5]

Its okay, but not much more.
The ideas are cool, but the story moves along at glacial speeds, and the drawings are minimalistic and too much so.
I initially thought it a case of less is more, but must conclude that it is just less, the artist really needs to tap into a deeper vein and bring more life, personality and emotion into the characters and not least, the environments.
The magazine-style first issue could have been much more engaging and accessible with shorter pieces, more images, commercials, blurbs... you name it. Instead they are walls of text that are all written in the exact same style and tone-of-voice.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet another strong hardcover from writer Kieron Gillen and artist Jamie McKelvie. This series continues to move in unexpected ways while retaining an overall narrative focus that continues to keep me invested. McKelvie provides incredible art throughout the volume and seamlessly integrates the modern world with the fantasy aspects of the world. Gillen gives each of the deities significant character moments and a surprising reveal changes the very foundations of the reincarnated pantheon. With one more volume left in the series I have no idea what will happen but can't wait to find out.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I had to hunt down each volume of this series individually, or was reading it an issue at a time I probably would have just stopped by now. But since I can blow through the whole thing on hoopla (thank you public library!) easily, I'm going to finish it out. The art continues to be gorgeous, the plot continues to be convoluted, and there are certain characters I've never really understood. But it's intriguing enough, if kind of uneven.

[Jeni · Rating 3 out of 5]

The artwork is still stunning and the story is moving along with its twists and turns. Though I may need to reread as the volume seemed to spin its wheels a bit. But some of that was just the constant jumping around in the timeline. The best part of this volume was the Wolden finally got some backstory/characterization beyond asshole. It was also nice to see some of the other gods get some focus.

I still want to know how it all ends.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

The aftermath of the events of year 2! Lots of twists and turns that were excellent reveals. As much I find the personal relationships between all of them interesting, I am also over all of them sleeping with each other and causing drama. Keep it in your pants. You have other stuff to deal with. But also you are probably dying soon so I guess get it while you can?
Anyway, so much intrigue that I am having a hard time waiting to jump into the next one. 4/5