Nothing More Human Than Grief

The Wicked + The Divine has changed format, and so have we, because we are nothing if not suckers for formalist experimentation. For this arc, we’ll be posting a single blog here on Tumblr after each issue, nominally focusing on that issue, although whether we stick to that remains to be seen. Once we have three done (ie after issue 14) we’ll collect them and stick them on Alex’s blog for a more encyclopedic reading experience. Below is Tim’s piece on Issue 12, which contains spoilers up to this point. You’ve been warned!

TIM:

Alex and I have both seen Taylor Swift live within the last month or so. She is a fantastic pop star, a true entertainer who manages to fill enormous spaces with a dazzling performance, and yet retain an intimate atmosphere with every single person in the crowd. She’s extraordinary.

One of my many observations post-gig was what can only be described as Taylor’s absolute grace. We’ve all seen those photos of her strolling out of her New York apartment or the gym, captured unaware by a paparazzo and yet looking more composed and photogenic than a regular human could with three days of preparation. In real life, she’s exactly the same. She moves from iconic pose to iconic pose, never awkward or uncomfortable in her own skin. It’s mesmerising and almost supernatural, like she belongs in the uncanny valley with all those CGI creations that are almost but not quite human.

Why am I talking about Taylor Swift? Well, a) because she’s awesome, and b) because Jamie McKelvie’s art often shares some of these properties. I love McKelvie as an artist – he’s an amazing designer, a fantastic conveyor of emotion and an underrated action choreographer – but his linework is so controlled and flawless that there’s something distancing about it. When his characters are in anguish, they are in perfect anguish. Even when they’re being goofy, they are flawlessly goofy. Every moment he captures is exactly the right moment, which might sound like an insane criticism, but bear with me.

Issue 12 saw the beginning of The Wicked + The Divine’s “Commercial Suicide” arc (I’m not being mean – that’s what this chapter is called) and the first guest artist taking up the reins while McKelvie goes to work on Phonogram vol 3, Kate Brown.

Brown has worked on a Gillen/McKelvie joint before, delivering a wonderful issue of Young Avengers  about Tommy “Speed” Shepherd and David “Progidy” Alleyne. She shares McKelvie’s talent for facial expressions and fashion, but her work has a looser line, and her characters are little more crookedly human.

It makes for a fascinating contrast, and sees incredibly apt given what has occurred in the series. Issue 12 is about coping with death, both from an emotional and storytelling point of view, as Baal and Beth pursue Inanna’s murderer (albeit from different angles and for different reasons). Grief is hard and ugly and human, and we see it played out on Baal’s face on numerous occasions. His normal shield of arrogance and detachment is broken, and we see a heartbroken young man clinging onto hope and revenge peering out from behind it.

Similarly, we can see the conflict within The Morrigan, who has seemingly thrown her lot in with Baphomet but doubts his actions and intentions. When she is confronted by Baal, we see panic, doubt and split loyalties in Brown’s expressions. The Three-Fold Queen knows both battle and death, and when Baal comes seeking answers and the confrontation devolves into violence, the terror on her face and the rage on his is there in all-too-human ugliness.

Don’t get me wrong – I have no doubt that if McKelvie had been drawing this issue, I’d be here praising his depiction of these same moments, but Brown’s more chaotic layouts and relaxed linework really sells the fraying tempers and raw emotions of this issue. If Team WicDiv had any worries remaining about their guest artist plan, this issue should see them thoroughly dispelled.