Zeb Larson reviews The Wicked + The Divine #7…
Last year, before The Recurrence, fans gathered from their lonely worlds at RAGNAROCK to wonder whether the gods were really about to return or not. Now, as the next RAGNAROCK approaches, everyone knows things are different. What’s more, there are two gods still to emerge. Will anyone there get “lucky?” Look at us whistle, shuffle feet, and avoid eye contact.
The Wicked + The Divine #7 is sort of a middling issue. We learn some interesting things about the pantheon and a deity we haven’t seen yet, but we don’t really get a lot of advancement in the narrative. We’ll call this sort of a popcorn issue on the way to something more substantive. I will be discussing spoilers ahead, so read on at your own discretion.
Laura and Innana head to “Fantheon,” which is about a 100,000 person gathering celebrating the Pantheon. They’re hoping to find some evidence about the fans that attacked Lucifer. Where it’s not schlocky and commercial, it’s vicious, with former consorts of gods telling ugly secrets about the deities they’ve been acquainted with. Listening to one former consort, Laura gets to meet Woden, who is as burned out a star as you can possibly imagine. As Laura turns up nothing at the festival, she ends up going along with Baphomet and Morrighan for a few hours to party.
Woden is the first character I’ve seen in this series where I thought the art design was simply too goofy looking. Of course, it’s not as though the other gods are all dressed in stately, dignified outfits, but Woden looks like he stepped out of Tron. It’s a shame that I can’t get past the character design, because his outlook on his situation seems to be the most realistic. It’s bleak, cynical, jaded, and with just a touch of cruelty. Mick Jagger never looked this bad in the ‘80s, yet given the situation that Woden is in, who could blame him?
Nothing about this issue makes me want to like or even respect these entities, which I can only hope is the point. Indeed, I think it is. Fantheon manages to be everything that is bad about fandom and fame: backbiting gossip, aggrieved fans, self-important celebrities, and people desperately trying to profit off of the fans. I felt so world-weary after reading through I wanted a cigarette, and I don’t smoke. In terms of atmosphere, this is a solid issue, and one that sheds a bit more light on the weird culture that’s grown up around the Pantheon.
The same thing can’t exactly be said for the plot, because very little happens in this issue that grants any insight into the central mystery. We don’t even really see Laura trying to figure out anything about the fans. It’s almost as though the reason for her being at Fantheon is forgotten in the first few pages, and it’s not brought up again in this issue. It doesn’t completely drag down the issue, but the narrative here is disjointed at best.
Overall, this is an ok issue, but it’s an issue on the way to something more important. Here’s hoping #8 picks up the pace a little bit.
Zeb Larson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qqtW2LRPtQY&list=PL18yMRIfoszFJHnpNzqHh6gswQ0Srpi5E
