DIVINE

It’s a tricky thing, judging a comic that’s as far along as The Wicked + The Divine. Based on what creators Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie have said about its intended length, issue #29 lands around two-thirds of the way through the series. In a medium where a lot stories don’t end but rather change hands, renumber and continue onward for decades, there are two obvious comparisons at this point. The first is Image Comics stablemates like Sex Criminals and Saga, now similarly a few years deep into their run. These books tend to take a month or two off between arcs, and then essentially relaunch with a brand-new status quo — a time jump, or a major change to the cast. That’s not really the case for WicDiv #29. It does mark the beginning of a new arc, “Imperial Phase (Part II),” but, as that name implies, it’s the second part of a larger story, and the issue reads like a continuation. That means that this isn’t a particularly good jumping-on point for the series, so a quick recap migh

Since “The Wicked + The Divine” revealed that Laura had survived Ananke’s attack, fans have had one big question on their minds: how did she survive? After months of teasing, Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie give us all the details in “The Wicked + The Divine” #20, though they’re careful to advance the plot at the same time. It’s easy to stop a comic, jump back in time and give answers to a dangling mystery, but it requires much more effort to continue to move the overall storyline forward at the same time — yet that’s exactly what happens here. Gillen’s script uses Laura’s attempt to recruit Cassandra and the other two Norns to her side as an reason to finally show what really went down on the day of her death, all while revealing a bit more about Baphomet. The flashback to Laura’s ascension and prompt death wouldn’t have worked quite so well if the end result wasn’t so pleasing. Gillen plays loose and fast with the events of “The Wicked + The Divine” #11, and — in doing so — casts

MATURE READERS “MODERN ROMANCE” Critically-acclaimed THE WICKED + THE DIVINE goes back to the nineteenth century, to see what became of the Romantic poets one infamous night on Lake Geneva… Showcasing STEPHANIE HANS (Journey Into Mystery, Angela), this special is NOT included in the forthcoming THE WICKED + THE DIVINE, VOL. 4.

“RISING ACTION,” Part Four FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! But don’t worry, it’s probably a metaphor for the creative process or the Hegelian dialectic or something clever so we’ll still get taken seriously. FIGHT!

“RISING ACTION,” Part Three So… why is Laura still alive anyway?