We didn't seem to have a thread for this, which I thought was a shame, so! A fanthread for Kieron Gillian's 'The Wicked + The Divine,' a comic that I have just caught up on! So, thoughts, speculation, favorite characters? I'm unnecessarily fond of the Trash Goth Duo of Game of Thrones and Terrible Puns (aka Morrigan and Baphomet), myself.
yes yes yessss I read up to... the second to last one in volume three? Maybe? I read all the guest-artist ones, those were rad. I miss Spoiler lucifer so much. ):
YES YES YES Spoiler: spoilers!!! i totally called baphomet not being a proper god. also i read a huge chunk of the white goddess last year and goddamn is it a compelling read. I'm pretty sure it's all bullshit but it's such fascinating bullshit Spoiler: recent recent spoilers!!! holy SHIT PERSEPHONE HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT
Wait, @Bel Capricorn Spoiler: only read if you don't mind spoilers for chapter 20 Technically he IS a proper god, Nergal did exist! He just didn't want to be called Nergal because he is a GIANT DORK who thought Baphomet would be taken more seriously. Because GIANT DORK Also I think it's hilarious that the Threadless store's items almost all have major plot spoilers on them...
@KarrinBlue i meant Spoiler that he's only there because of the morrigan. That was confirmed a few issues ago.
Also you know what I want to see Sakhmet vs Badb, no holds barred, two war goddesses enter one leaves FIGHT SCENE EXTRAVAGANZA.
New issue! Spoilers! Spoiler One, I fucking love Nergal. This is from last time, but. Cameron you motherfucking nerd. "NOOO I CAN'T BE NAMED AFTER A CONAN AND/OR HELLBLAZER VILLAINNNNNN". Two, also from last time. Inanna. Ananke. Cameron didn't actually kill someone. I am of such mixed feelings, because it's such a good unreliable narrator thing, I wasn't expecting that twist at all! But I also kind of liked that Cameron is a sympathetic person who had done something unambiguously awful, and now he's... kind of done nothing wrong except be an idiot teenager? Such mixed feelings. /chinhands. Three, weaponizing the kiss party. WEAPONIZING THE KISS PARTY OH MY GOD THIS IS HILARIOUS. This battle is awesome. This really feels like a transitional issue, but man, I am so hyped for the next one.
AAAAGH The comic site I usually use is down... I should probably just by the ebook version, I mean I want to support the creators.
Yeah, that's what I'm doing. XP It means I'm double-buying, since I'm also buying the trades, but... I have a mighty need.
I bought the first collected book at the bookstore... God I wish there was a comic store anywhere near me but they're all a pretty good drive away. I'd want the trades just to see all the alt covers and notes and such. And the writer notes definitely make it seem like the preferred format is book style.
The trades are gorgeous and I love them. The individual issues do have some added stuff in them too, though, I think. I feel you. XP I don't normally have the spoons to go to the physical comic store, and individual issues give me sensory issues. Something about the paper upsets me.
Spoiler: chapter 21 live reactions Oh, Ammy... So she got a power boost from Woden. That's a mite suspicous Also Sakhmet looks good wow. Gotta say Ananke had a good thought, telling Baal Wow Morri is small, I thought of her as taller than Baph Also WOW that's an escalation. Things are going Maenads apparently Oh god Baph RIGHT to the heart. ...are these Valkyrie in robot mode? crepy FUCK WELL I GUESS AMMY KNOWS NOW OK YOU GUYS POST THAT ONLINE RIGHT THIS SECOND god dammit Morrigan is a WAR GODDESS SAKHMET SHOULD NOT BE ALE TO ONEHITKO HER well I knew that the owl confession was faked but still MEGAVALKYRIE that is WAY over the top for a sacrifice machine and... well that dagger looks old
I'm up to Chapter 6 now. It's really interesting! It's nicely mythic but also... ties into celebrity culture and the nature of inspiration and sacrifice, I think? When I heard of the premise, it reminded me of something I'd heard about Aztec religion, which was that the perception that human sacrifices were always unwilling prisoners was inaccurate. Like, uh... there'd be religious festivals where a volunteer would act in the role of a deity for the length of the festival, getting luxury, fame, and honor in exchange for being sacrificed as an avatar at the end, ensuring the safety of the world. Of course, I'm no expert in Aztec religion, and a lot of it is clouded by conquistador destruction of information and deliberate propaganda depicting the Aztec peoples as monsters, but the basic concept there seems fairly similar to what's going on with the Pantheon. I'm also curious about how their only role seems to be inspiration, where they don't even try to make big societal changes because it's 'not their place', and when Luci uses her divine power for legitimate self-defense, it's her downfall. Spoiler: I guess this is a mix of spoilers and stuff I've been spoiled on It's not like the bullets could hurt Luci, and probably by extension Amaterasu and Sakhmet were probably perfectly safe. But there were a lot of people in that room that aren't immune to bullets, and while Luci was bombastic about it, her killing the shooters likely saved lives. Did the thing with the judge just happen before she got around to making that defense? She's not a moron. It's also really interesting that Ananke killing the judge was designed to make Luci seem like a loose cannon and spiteful murderer, as opposed to the kills Luci actually did, which were, again, reasonable self-defense of other people if a bit overkill. Also really interested that the thing Tara did to make everyone hate her was something to do with trying to get attention as herself and not as a divine entity. Like, it's okay for Woden to be Woden and Baal to make giant portraits of himself but as soon as one of them tries to do something connected with her pre-divine self, she's a horrible attention whore worthy of horrific bullying? There's something very broken with the Pantheon system, and Laura isn't objective enough to see it.
