Series in Review #3: The Wicked and the Divine

I’m not usually one to read a lot of graphic novels or comics. I think part of it’s just that I like creating my own images for characters and world. And part of it is probably that I just wouldn’t know where to begin. But then, of course, there’s my sister. Who does love those genres, and has had opinions on me reading some of her collection. With The Wicked and the Divine as her main pushing point for years, at this point. So I caved, I read, and, naturally… I loved it.

The series

So first of, this series is not finished yet. It’s being published in short fragments, which are then re-published in collections. Right now, there’s 6 collections out, and some of the “fragments” for the next collection are already out.

In this series, every ninety years, twelve gods incarnate as humans. “They are loved. They are hated. In two years, they are dead.” The tagline is “Just because you’re immortal, doesn’t mean you’re going to live forever.” and if that doesn’t sum up the concept, I don’t know what does.

What would you do if suddenly an old lady came to you and told you that you were actually a god? That you had crazy powers that could basically “control people”
Would you use them? Let people know about you?

What if you knew that there could be 12 such gods, and not all of them had been found yet? Would you want to be near them? Be one of them? Even if you knew that meant a certain death in two years’ time?

Oh, and what ifevery single person in your group – from the gods, to the lady telling them they were gods, to the people researching those gods, to the people who claim to be fans of those gods, to…. What if none of them could be trusted?

That’s The Wicked and the Divine for you.

The opinion

First of all, the artwork for this series is spectacular. It’s not enough that there is an incredible amount of detail going into adapting the style to the character that is followed in each piece. No, the creators also added pieces of additional art in so many styles. So yes, the artwork is absolutely a reason to read this series.

The main reason though? You will be shook. Maybe you will laugh out loud. You will gasp in disbelief. And most important: you will be left utterly confused by some of the cliff hangers. There’s one in the fourth to fifth collection that had me incredibly happy. And although it’s been a couple of weeks now since I read it, I am still not okay with the cliff hanger at the end of collection 6. Like, if you’ve read it? You’ll understand. If you haven’t? That cliff hanger on its own is worth reading the entire thing.

The rating: 4.5/5

If you’re not one to usually read graphic novels or comics, The Wicked and the Divine is absolutely a series that could get you hooked. It’s intelligent, it’s well-written, it’s well-drawn and it’s incredibly well put-together and thought-out. You’ll get through the volumes relatively quickly (I read all 6 in just a couple of hours) but the story will not just let you go. Recommendation? Absolutely! Interested? You can find the series on Goodreads, and get it on Amazon*!

-Saar