NEW STORY ARC! "IMPERIAL PHASE I": Part One-Welcome to the November 2014 issue of Pantheon Monthly. Exclusive interviews with all your favorite gods. Plus! The first photographs of the Morrigan ever!
What makes The Wicked and the Divine one of the best and most exciting comics on the market is that it constantly pushes the idea of what the medium can do. However, that's not everyone's cup of tea. This issue looks nothing like a traditional comic and Gillen's typically coy storytelling can be frustrating. Me? I'm buying two copies. One I'll strip for parts like a stolen car so I can hang Wada's gorgeous art around my apartment. The other will be kept in pristine condition until I can get the creative team to sign it at the next NYCC and then will likely be buried with me when I die decades hence. All joking aside, The Wicked and the Divine #23 is one of the most remarkable issues of a comic you can read this or any week. So buy it. Bask in its glory. Cower in the face of its brilliance. Read Full Review
I guess the best way to describe WicDiv #23 is that it's the most WicDiv issue of WicDiv that ever WicDiv-ed with something for the inner fan, critic, and artist in you. WicDiv is better than anything on TV or playing in cinemas currently. Read Full Review
Early reviews of this issue harkened it to Watchmen in terms of how deep it lets the story run. While I dont know if I can make the same comparison just yet, the way that The Wicked + The Divine #23 builds the universe of the comic while letting others play in the sandbox is kind of mindblowing. Wadas art alone justifies the existence of this issue, but the articles by real journalists writing about their interactions with these fictional characters is what makes the issue shine in those spaces between the art. If Pantheon Monthly was to return for another arc, this The Wicked + The Divine faithful would certainly not argue. Read Full Review
If you ever wished to see Wada's graceful, captivating art gracing the interiors of a comic book (and if you say you haven't, I don't believe you), this is probably the closest we're going to get, and it will most likely satisfy that particular yearning. (Although there was a baffling and disturbing lack of Baphomet, in my humble opinion.) His art constantly trends towards elegance and beauty, and combined with some really excellent journalism, this is one of the most interesting and stunning comics released this year. Miss it at your own peril. Read Full Review
The Wicked + The Divine is nothing if not unconventional, but even the most familiar fans will admit that issue #23 is a step out of the box. Rather than use the ongoing narrative to explore the aftermath of Ananke's death, Kieron Gillen instead opts for a different and altogether unique format -- the magazine profile. Read Full Review
The Wicked + The Divine #23 is a really daring issue and the WicDiv team almost effortlessly pull off a format which could've gone wrong in any number of ways. Read Full Review
Though the interviews don't propel things forward too much in terms of plotting, we're given a strong sense of how the Pantheon is faring after the game-changing events of last issue. New hierarchies and relationships have formed and past friendships are revealed in an issue that's more interested in the interior lives of these all-powerful young gods who are, after all, just as human as the rest of us. And since they've already faced and defeated their biggest challenge yet, what could possibly go wrong? Read Full Review
Inventive and stupidly stylish. Slay. Read Full Review
“The Wicked + The Divine” #23 is an experiment but it isn't one that fails. If anything, a couple more full page ads would have made it feel even more authentic. It's the kind of things that really, only this series could do. The inclusion of actual journalists and an artist who excels at this kind of thing like Kevin Wada elevates this into something more serious than justa gimmick to gain attention. This is artful and very much in line with all themes this series has examined. Read Full Review
On its own, this issue was a solid read, and if nothing else, experimentation in comics is a good thing. I just wish that with the major twist of last issue out of the way, we finally would dig deeper into some of these people. Maybe we'll get that next time. Read Full Review
WicDiv #23 was done in magazine style and presented as an issue of Patheon Monthy. This was a narrative experiment that quickly turned into a pretentious example of self-indulgence. He couldn't have catered to his philosophical echo chamber of any harder if he tried, picking writers like Leigh Alexander and Laurie Penny to write the issues' 'articles.' If you are buying single issues, then skip this one and save yourself a few bucks, you will miss absolutely nothing in regards to the main narrative.
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