Status Updates From The Wicked + The Divine, Vo...

Notes:
(1) This volume ends with four one-page bonus scenes by Jamie McKelvie, titled "Videogames," clearly done so he could be credited in every issue despite his hiatus.
- The theme: characters caught on video (in various forms).
- The standout scene features Amaterasu and Brunhilde having girl talk about Woden, which reveals why Brunhilde was kicked out of the Valkyries.

Notes:
(1) The last two issues are origin stories for the Morrigan, Baphomet, and Sakhmet.
- It's interesting how both are essentially vampire stories, and in different ways: one deals with sharing fate/existence by turning a lover, and the other with bloodlust and feeding on humans.
- This ends on a big plot twist, though I've already been spoiled by forthcoming cover art.

Notes:
(1) I wasn't totally correct when I said McKelvie is off this arc.
- He does issue #14, albeit mostly "remixed" art from past issues.
(2) Issue #15 focuses on Amaterasu and explores ideas of cultural appropriation.
- Specifically, it contrasts Cassandra, who's Japanese but with no cultural connection, with Hazel, who's white but genuinely devoted to Japan and Shinto.

Notes:
(1) The first two issues are both very good, but #13 is a standout and pretty brilliant.
- It's about the elusive goddess Tara, who suffers from a lifelong identity crisis.
- Her backstory, about no one wanting to know the real her beneath her beauty, is only underscored by her newfound divinity and her uncertainty about which of the many gods named Tara she even is.

Notes:
(1) The first thing you notice about this is how each issue is drawn by a different guest artist.
- I figure this is meant to give McKelvie a head start on the following volume.
- After 11 issues of an established art style, it'll be interesting to see different artistic iterations of the characters.
- I wonder whether or not these guest issues will all be one-shots.

They changed the art! It feels unique! It feels like it has personality! Now just do the same to the characters!