Graphic Novel Review – The Wicked + The Divine Vol. 1: The Faust Act by Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, Matt Wilson (2/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Graphic Novel/Fantasy
Length: 144 pages
Publisher: Image Comics
Release Date: November 25, 2014
ISBN-13: 978-1632150196
Stand Alone or Series: 1st volume in The Wicked + The Divine series
Source: Christmas Gift
Rating: 2/5 stars
“Every ninety years, twelve gods incarnate as humans. They are loved. They are hated. In two years, they are dead. The team behind critical tongue-attractors like Young Avengers and PHONOGRAM reunite to create a world where gods are the ultimate pop stars and pop stars are the ultimate gods. But remember: just because you’re immortal, doesn’t mean you’re going to live forever.”
Series Info/Source: This is the first volume in the Wicked + The Divine series. I got this as a gift for Christmas.
Thoughts: I wasn’t a huge fan of this one. There are a lot of characters thrown at you and it is confusing at first. The premise is fairly simple; every ninety years, twelve gods incarnate as humans and then in two years they die.
Twelve characters is a lot to keep track of in the first volume of a graphic novel like this; I am pretty sure we didn’t meet all twelve yet but it was confusing enough with the characters we did meet. I don’t understand the purpose behind the gods returning. In this volume their purpose seems to be to party, swear, create chaos and kill each other. I am hoping for the sake of this graphic novel that more of a story develops in future volumes because this was seriously lacking in the story department. It seemed more like it was trying to be super gritty and shocking.
The illustration here was fine. It’s easy to follow and well drawn. Not amazing or anything, but better than average. Too bad the story wasn’t as good as the drawing.
My Summary (2/5): Overall this is well drawn but I found the story and characters to be lacking. I don’t know what the point is and didn’t enjoy what I read. I think at this point I can just step away from this series and say it’s not for me.
