The Wicked + The Divine: The Faust Act by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie - Review

I was at a conference in April (I like saying that because it makes me sound so academic!) about fan studies and someone mentioned this graphic novel. I liked the sound of it so ordered it. I don't often read graphic novels. I find that the illustrations go over my head at times - I read the words and don't understand what the picture is trying to add to that. But I thought I would give this one a go!

So the premise is that Laura, a mixed race teenager from London, who meets some of the Pantheon, a group of twelve gods who come back to earth every ninety years, then die within two years. She meets Luci, aka Lucifer, who comes up against Cassandra, who is trying to discover the truth about the Pantheon. All kinds of stuff starts to happen that Laura has to make sense of.

I spent a lot of time looking at the art trying to really take it in. I liked the nods to pop music - Luci clearly looks a bit like David Bowie and one of the gods has a definite Rihanna vibe to her - and I also really liked the pages where the artwork wasn't just in cells but took over the whole page. Paying more attention really did add to my enjoyment of the book as a whole.

I'm still not sure graphic novels are for me but I did enjoy reading this and have passed it to Lee to read. I've giving it four out of five.