Kieron Gillen – The Wicked and the Divine, Vol. 3: Commercial Suicide

19. Commercial Suicide by Kieron Gillen (2016)
The Wicked and the Divine, Volume 3

Read my review of volume:
1. The Faust Act
2. Fandemonium

Length: 200 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Graphic Novel

Started/Finished: 24 May 2016

Where did it come from? The library.
Why do I have it? One of the new series of graphic novels I’ve gotten into.

The lives of the gods
are somewhat less glamorous
than you’d imagine.

Summary: In the world of The Wicked and the Divine, every 90 years, twelve gods return into the bodies of young people. They live for two years, idolized and feared by the public, and then at the end of that time, they die.

Volume 3 collects six issues from six artists, each focusing (more or less) on the perspective of one of the Pantheon. After the death of Innara, Baal loses control and attacks the Morrigan, who he thinks is responsible. Tara hates god-hood and the expectations that come with it, and is looking for a release. We get a remix of events that happened in the previous volumes from Wodin’s perspective. Amaterasu and Cassandra throw down over cultural appropriation, we get the Morrigans’ and Baphomet’s backstory, and a glimpse into the life of Sakhmet.

Review: On a first read through, this volume was pretty disappointing, especially since it the series has hit the pause button, with minimal forward story movement, after the huge cliffhanger at the end of Volume 2. So hoping for any resolution or explanation of that storyline is an exercise in futility going into this volume. This volume is much more about character development for some of the members of the Pantheon, and once I realized that, revisiting this volume was more interesting. I found Tara’s story the most moving, and Sakhmet’s the most inscrutable (fitting, considering that cats are by nature inscrutable.) Wodin’s story is also hard to parse, especially since it’s been a while since I’d read the first volumes, to see the “regular” version of events that we now get from his perspective. The art is a mixed bag; it’s all quite unique, and different from the normal “look” of The Wicked and the Divine. I liked the art in Amaterasu’s and Tara’s stories the best, while the art in Baal’s and Sakhmet’s didn’t do much for me at all. 3 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: I might recommend skipping this one and just going straight to Vol. 4 after reading Vol. 2, and then revisiting this one later for the character development. The series as a whole is really interesting, and recommended to anyone who likes mythology mixed into their fiction.

This Review on LibraryThing | This Book on LibraryThing | This Book on Amazon

Other Reviews: Chachic’s Book Nook and more at the Book Blogs Search Engine.
Have you reviewed this book? Leave a comment with the link and I’ll add it in.

First Line: “High priestess of the gods”? I dunno. I guess that’s how people see me.

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