#ComicsWednesday: The Wicked + The Divine by Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, and Matthew Wilson

Gear up, folks, for a #TagTeamComicsWednesday review!

This week Libby and Sarah team up to gush about one of their favorite comic series: The Wicked + The Divine by writer Kieron Gillen, artist Jamie Mckelvie, and colorist Matthew Wilson (plus some notable guest artists along the way).

PLOT SUMMARY

Twelve gods are incarnated as humans every ninety years. They become famous for what they are, treated like the ultimate celebrities. Within two years, all twelve of them are dead. We follow teen and ultimate fangirl Laura as she is given the chance to meet her heroes. Upfront warning: there is violence, death, sex, drug use, and all sorts of things that make this comic very much for adults.

If you’re waiting for the American Gods television series to premiere at the end of this month, The Wicked + The Divine might help tide you over. Likewise, if you’re waiting for The Wicked + The Divine Vol. 5 to hit the library shelves in June, check out American Gods by Neil Gaiman (if you haven't already).

OUR THOUGHTS

Okay, I'm just going to state right up front that avoiding spoilers is going to be SO HARD. But for any readers who have managed to exist on the internet without encountering major spoilers for this series, I do not want to ruin the experience for you. Even though I'm pretty sure Libby and I could fill this entire post with our favorite fan theories and unanswered questions.

SO MANY QUESTIONS. SO FEW ANSWERS. It's one of the best and most frustrating things about this series. If you're a fan of cliffhangers, TW+TD has you covered.

But oh boy, do tiny, cryptic references pay off BIG later on down the line.

Yeah, like “I hope you were paying attention to that random one-liner in the first issue because THAT MEANS EVERYTHING NOW AND NOTHING WILL EVER BE OKAY AGAIN.” I mean, that might be an exaggeration, but that’s how it makes me feel.

Haha. No. You were right: nothing WILL ever be okay again. Don’t get too attached to anyone. This is some Game of Thrones level of say goodbye to your favorites...

Best idea: don’t pick favorites. Easier said than done, but it’s the only way to escape emotional trauma. But before the reader gets the wrong idea, this series is 100% worth the emotional trauma. I think one of my favorite things about this series is the worldbuilding

The worldbuilding starts subtle. This feels like a very contemporary England, with fairly regular people, but they gradually add in the history and depth through bits and pieces and cryptic hints until before you know it you’re signed up for a fictional character’s mailing list.

I knew I wasn’t the only one who signed up for that list. I also learned more about gods and goddesses than I ever thought I would, and I went through a mythology phase as a child, so...

That mythology phase must be a librarian thing ;) But this is some Advanced Level mythology. Some of these gods and goddesses were totally new to me.

The array of gods and goddesses from different cultures, as well as how they interact, is fascinating. UGH, there is so much I want to type in all caps here, but there is only so much flailing we can put on the official library blog.

Okay, sure, but. The characters. How can I not flail when there are such dimensional, human, fallible yet lovable characters? EVEN MIRROR FACE THE AWFUL. Even him. A little.

Daft Punk Is Playing At My Pantheon? I KNOW. I can’t even pick a favorite character to talk about. They are all so realistic while somehow still being otherworldly. I think we have to at least talk about Laura, our POV character.

Laura is right up there in my genuine favs. Not just because she’s the regular human fangirl view to this whole supernatural circus that we’re MEANT to identify with as readers completely new to this universe, but because she has a self-awareness and is just so totally herself.

We identify with Laura right away, but her growth through the series is why I love her so much. She starts out as a fangirl, blogging and tweeting about this Pantheon, but when she meets them, they’re much more human than she expected.

And she handles that, both the excitement of meeting her heroes and the disappointment of their not being quite the people she imagined, so very well. So much better than I would’ve at 18.

This comic is, in a word, intense.

Staff Review: The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo, book 1) by Rick Riordan

Are you a Rick Riordan fan?  Do you impatiently wait for him to publish his next book?  I am, and I do!  I LOVED the Percy Jackson and the Olympians and the Heroes of Olympus series.  Riordan does an amazing job of bringing the Greek (and Roman) gods to life, giving them personality and making them relevant in the modern world.  These books are informative and incredibly fun.  I had a hold on The Hidden Oracle, I think I was number 3 on the list.  The book came out, I decided I couldn’t wait and I bought it.  I’ve read it twice already, and then I went back and re-read the two previous series about the Greek gods.  Yes, I’m obsessive.  Anyway, on to The Hidden Oracle.  Please be warned that this post will contain spoilers from previous books. 

At the end of The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus, book 5), Zeus expressed his displeasure with Apollo by sending him…somewhere.  Apollo just disappeared and nobody knew what happened to him.  To be fair, he is immortal so I’m pretty sure Percy and crew didn’t really give him a second thought.  Well, 6 months after the events of The Blood of Olympus, Apollo has fallen to Earth.  He is mortal, a 16- year-old boy, he no longer has 8-pack abs and he has ACNE!  The horror!  Oh, and in his pocket is a wallet that says his name is Lester.  When it comes to punishing Apollo, this time Zeus isn’t messing around. 

Apollo appears in a back alley somewhere in New York City.  He is promptly attacked by some hooligans and is saved by a young girl named Meg. She appears to be about 12.  Apollo decides that he is in her debt and must do her bidding since she saved his life.  He also realizes he needs help and the best place to get said help is Camp Half-Blood.  He makes his way to Percy’s apartment and from there to Camp Half-Blood.  When he arrives at camp, all is not well. All of the oracles have gone silent.  There hasn’t been a prophecy since the battle with Gaea.  The oracles are Apollo’s thing so he now knows it is up to him to figure out what is going on.  To make matters worse, half-bloods are disappearing from camp.

Apollo isn’t really a likeable guy.  He is full of himself, spouts haikus all the time and truly believes the world should revolve around him.  But, he isn’t quite as cold and heartless as many of the Greek gods and as the book progresses he makes great strides towards becoming more “human”.  Two of the campers who disappear are children of Apollo and he is truly concerned about their well-being.  He genuinely likes them and they in turn treat him kindly even though he is no longer an immortal god.  He also expresses great concern for Meg and takes his self-induced servitude towards her very seriously.  I can’t wait to see how this series progresses.  There is, of course, the mystery of what happened to the oracles and the big bad is revealed. 

Rick Riordan tweeted that we will catch up with all the main characters from the previous Greek books.  What role will they play in the story?  Well, you will just have to read the book to find out. 

A few notes: 

• Early on Percy mentions that Annabeth is in Boston dealing with some family issues – have you read The Sword of Summer (Magnus Chase and the gods of Asgard, book 1)?  Those family issues are kind of a big deal. 

• Did everything that happened to Nico in all the previous books just break your heart?  Well, this book made my heart swell to 3 times its size, just like the Grinch.  Nico is happy y’all…and it is about dang time! 

•  A co-worker of mine is listening to The Hidden Oracle on audio. She highly recommends it because the reader (Robbie Daymond) does an excellent job of portraying Apollo's lack of understanding of the mortal world and his ever growing humanity.  

I'm giving this on 4.5 out of 5 stars.  I'm deducting half a star due to not loving Apollo as a lead character, yet.   

~Amy, Adult Services