By Alex Batts — We’re back with another installment in The Wicked + The Divine Re-read Project! This week we reach Wicked + Divine #16, another entry focused on The Morrigan (yes!) and another issue I absolutely love. This issue also features another guest artist, Leila Del Duca, and guest colorist, Mat Lopes. With that, let’s get into the issue…

Wicked + Divine #16

Here’s the official solicitation text for Wicked + Divine #16 from November 11th, 2015:

The Morrigan is receiving visitors, including LEILA DEL DUCA (SHUTTER). Plus a back-up by JAMIE and MATT. Suffice to say, this one is NONE MORE GOTH.

So that solicit doesn’t give away much in the way of narrative, but it does mention that The Morrigan, who is now imprisoned in Valhalla, is receiving visitors, which kick starts this whole issue. It also very smoothly namedrops the artist who guest stars for the issue.

The Cover: This cover marks another entry in our body-portrait covers and shines the light (or dark?) on my favorite character in the series, The Morrigan. She’s covered in cool/dark tones, from blacks to blues and hints of green. We see her tattoos as a prominent visual along with her dark stylish dress and feathered neckpiece. As with the rest of the Pantheon, she’s got a sense of style, hers just leans more into the affinity for dark and goth, and personally, I love it. We also just barely get the bottom half of her face, with her chiseled jawline and cheek piercing visible. Overall it’s another stunning body-portrait cover by McKelvie and Wilson.

The First Page: This is a pretty comedic first page, as far as WicDiv first pages go. We see Baal bringing The Morrigan her lunch as Minerva begs to join him and talk with her. Minerva never got to talk to The Morrigan before her imprisonment and now the Pantheon won’t let her around the captured. Baal explains that The Morrigan isn’t like the others, Minerva is twelve and The Morrigan is certainly not PG-rated. Though after consistent begging, and a sad eyes thing, Minerva convinces Baal to allow her to tag along. Enter… The Morrigan.

On-Page Action: This issue is fairly easy to break down. We get two pages of The Morrigan talking with Baal and Minerva to start things off. Though I haven’t commented on it in some time, every single time any of these characters have simple conversations with each other, it does miles in character work for each of them. Gillen imbues every line and every reaction with such personality, it’s impossible to not get a feel for what these characters are like and who they are as they talk.

The two pages in the present quickly segue into a flashback where we see what led The Morrigan to where she is. We’re taken back to 2012-2014 and see The Morrigan (then Marian) taking part in some gold old fashioned role-playing in some caves with two friends. One of whom, Cameron, we can assume will eventually become Baphomet. We can see from this scene that Marian has always skewed towards the dark and theatrical. We also get a quick establishment of the kind of relationship that she and Cameron have and evolve into. They get up to some uh, shall we say, extracurricular activities in the cave system.

After the cave scene, we cut to the two in an apartment painting little figures, which look to be like those used in any role-playing board game. During some witty banter, Cameron gets a call, confirms his identity, and then promptly drops his phone, shock on his face. We can also see the concern on Marian’s as she asks what’s wrong. The following page-turn is one of the most effective in the series.

We jump to a church interior, two caskets in the foreground, Marian and Cameron in the front row. The following panels show Cameron going through the motions of a funeral, Marian at his side. Finally, exhaling cigarette smoke, Cameron copes with some grade-A dark humor, “Well, look on the bright side… at least our outfits are appropriate for once.”

This cuts to a scene in the interior of a bedroom with Marian asking Cameron when he started chain-smoking. “Since I decided to up the ante on my nihilism. Don’t judge the little orphan boy. What do you know about death, anyway?” This line, while revealing so much about Cameron also opens us up to Marian sharing a story of how she got terribly sick when she was thirteen and almost died.

Marian notes that they’re all the walking dead, they’re all at the edge of that pit, but we get to choose what to do while we’re here and she’s dancing. She refuses to let Cameron fall in, not yet. As the two embrace, we feel just how much Marian cares about him and have a sense of how much each has been through.

The following page shatters things, though, as Cameron nonchalantly reveals he cheated on Marian. “The pit, Marian. I fell in.” Cameron simply does not care. He’s broken, empty, and lacks remorse. Marian is rightfully infuriated by what she’s just learned, and after stomping out a garbage fire caused by Cameron throwing away a cigarette (some symbolism there, for sure) she storms away into the cemetery behind them.

It’s here that she encounters Ananke and is promptly turned into The Morrigan. After discovering her tri-fold personalities we cut to her performing in the Underground. Cameron attends multiple shows, and after he’s staying in the Underground post-show The Morrigan eventually comes to talk with him. He says that she was always special, and the best at the game. After this bittersweet moment, we see The Morrigan go to Ananke and say that there is a boy she would make her king for two years. Following this, The Morrigan visits Cameron and invites him to fall with her.

This ends the flashbacks and back in the present The Morrigan says she’ll help take Baphomet out by bringing him to the Pantheon, so he can take her place in the cage. Minerva comments that this is just weird (she also says Ms. The Morrigan, which is just amazing). And when Morrigan says she’s imprisoned in a gilded cage, it’s a little more than weird, Minerva responds, “No, not that. If Woden could make a cage to trap a god… why didn’t he make one for Lucifer?” And it’s here we get a key moment of doubt regarding the actions of Ananke and Woden from another Pantheon member.

Deeper Meaning: This issue touches on themes of loss and darkness. Having lost my father when I was younger (18), anything to do with the death of a parent(s) automatically resonates with me. It’s an extremely traumatic experience and something that you’ll spend the rest of your life coping with. Seeing reactions to this event, even in the extreme, it’s not difficult for me to understand why characters and people behave in certain ways.

Grief is a hell of a thing for anyone, and everyone reacts differently. Cameron spiraled further and further into despair, and though he had someone who wanted to be there for him it still wasn’t enough. We also see the lengths people will go to for those they love. Even after everything, The Morrigan deeply loved Cameron. And, somewhat selfishly, she condemned him to godhood and imminent death by having him join her side on the Pantheon. She loved him and couldn’t let go, even after ascending to be more than human.

The Art: I love the art on this issue. I’m not sure exactly how to describe it, cartoony sounds reductive, it’s less picture accurate than what we get with McKelvie and Wilson, but that doesn’t make it worse by any means. It’s extremely expressive and embedded with charm and character. The flashback sequence is especially well-rendered. With engaging layouts and beautifully drab color palettes that accent the mood of the story perfectly.

The attention to detail that’s present throughout the issue is amazing, and the art style, like every guest artist so far, just fits the issue they were given. The “Let’s fall” splash page is one of my favorites in the series, and the way The Morrigan is drawn throughout the issue is superb, with great details and incredible expressions. Leila Del Duca and Mat Lopes knock it out of the park.

The Wicked + The Divine #16

The Wicked + The Divine #16
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Leila del Duca
Colorist: Mat Lopes
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: Image Comics
The Morrigan is receiving visitors, including LEILA DEL DUCA (SHUTTER). Plus a back-up by JAMIE and MATT. Suffice to say, this one is NONE MORE GOTH.
Buy It Online: Wicked + Divine #16

Click here to read past installments of the Wic + Div Re-Read.

Alex Batts is from Texas. A lifelong comic book enthusiast and movie lover, if he’s not talking about comics, he’s probably not talking. You can find him on Twitter by following @BatmanFiles