By Alex Batts — This week’s issue of The Wicked + The Divine Re-Read Project is putting the spotlight on issue #8, a personal favorite of the series for me (admittedly, they are all personal favorites but this one seriously stands out). This issue takes the audience on a trip, and the art shines more than ever. No need to tarry in the introduction, on to the issue!

The Wicked + The Divine #8

Here’s the official solicitation text for the eighth issue from February 25, 2015:

Now the eleventh god is here, it's time to party. You're invited. Everyone's invited. We can sleep when we're dead—but when you'll be dead within two years, you may as well turn up in your pyjamas. After seven issues of egomaniacs, it's time for an issue where the crowd is the star.

The solicit gets the gist of the issue covered, we’re going to be seeing a party put on by another new god, and what a wild ride it’s going to be. The trademark humor is there again, which I know I comment on every time but I just can’t help but love it. Seeing personality in solicits is a small thing that I genuinely love in comics.

The Cover: This portrait gives us a fantastic, though not our first, look at Dionysus. The previous issue and this one reversed roles a bit, as the previous pattern was having the cover portrait also be shown off on the first page of that issue, while here we saw this same portrait on the final page of the last issue. It’s an interesting creative decision and I think it works in spades for a few reasons.

As is the case with the rest of the portraits that we see on both interiors and covers, the two images aren’t exactly the same, and both serve to flesh out the character they’re portraying. The interior page from the last issue was a flyer for the party we’ll be attending in this issue, with Dionysus’ face being rendered in bright and extravagant hues. For this cover, we again get a portrait of the god, and he’s perhaps the most “plain” looking of any of the portraits we’ve seen, but that again builds his personality. He’s a simple person, his black eyes with red-rimmed pupils pull you in, but again he’s flanked by incredible colors on every side, every shade of the rainbow is present and it’s leaping off the page.

The First Page: This first page is a great establishing one. We’re introduced to where this issue will be taking place (without an exact location), which is at the Dionysus Kiss Story Party XI (what a mouthful). Inanna is waiting at the front door to greet Laura. He makes a quick joke before convincing her to come join the party. Their exchange is short but again Gillen does a fantastic job at building and showing off their personalities in such a short exchange. As Laura approaches the entrance a giant bouncer is there to greet her and begins to question her, before his body is taken over and Dionysus speaks through him. This is shown off with the use of speech bubbles, which I’m sort of kicking myself for not mentioning sooner in this series (at least I don’t think I’ve mentioned it yet). Each god has a very specific aesthetic for their speech bubble which helps build character and also establish who’s speaking even if they’re off-panel.

On-Page Action: This might be the shortest on-page action section I’ve done yet, simply because the art is the real star of the show here. Most of this issue is a giant, acid trip-like party, and it’s glorious to see. We get some interactions between Laura and Cassandra, and Laura and most of the gods throughout the issue. The biggest knowledge bomb/plot twist that happens comes in a brief conversation she has with Baphomet.

He’s chiding her for still searching for the truth about what happened to Lucifer (it’s now May 17th, about four months after her death), and asks why she trusts him. Laura responds that she knows he didn’t kill Lucifer because Morrigan gave him an alibi, to which Baphomet replies, “I wonder why she’d lie for me.” YEAH, HE JUST CASUALLY THROWS THAT OUT THERE. Then the party kicks back into high gear before Laura (or us) fully have time to process all the implications that has.

We get some bonding with Laura and Sakhmet, a moment focusing on Minerva, more creepiness from Woden, and a fantastic moment from Cassandra where she notes that there is no music playing and is yelling about everyone dancing despite the lack of sound. It’s a great line for her but also to establish what Dionysus’ powers do for those experiencing the party because up to this point the reader just assumes there is music playing.

The final two scenes show Laura leaving the party, which we learn her experience in there lasted roughly a day and a half. She notes that Woden thinks he got the worst hand as far as powers are concerned and that Dionysus got the best. Dionysus is happy and makes people happy. He responds with a smile and bloodshot eyes and says that he hasn’t been alone in his own head for two months and that he doesn’t sleep. The very last scene shows Laura tweeting from a bus before the bus is cut off by Baal, who promptly picks up Laura and offers her a ride home. Whose home? Well, that is entirely up to Laura.

Deeper Meaning: This one drives home the idea that all the gods can do for mortals (in the context of this narrative) is make their lives better through their performances and give them something to remember. Dionysus is the epitome of this idea. He sacrifices the solace of his own mind to invite people in and give them an experience unlike any other. He gives them pure bliss for nights on end, never sleeping and never stopping. He does this because even if they forget the details, they will remember being happy for a night and that’s what matters most, making their lives better.

The Art: Oh, here we go, this issue is maybe the most visually striking of the entire series. As already mentioned, most of the issue is a giant party, but it’s not just any party, it’s essentially a psychedelic acid trip and the art reflects this brilliantly. Characters are rendered in an almost negative effect, but with vibrant colors ever persistent.

The bright and otherworldly hues bounce off the page and keep you staring at every panel. The characters have Tron-esque light trails following their movements. The page layouts also take full advantage of the 1-2-3-4 motif that’s been established in the series. With panels and numbers offsetting each other as you move down the page. While this happens the backgrounds of the pages are constantly changing. Some are geometric line patterns; others show off an after-image effect of the panel above/beside the background. There are so many details to take in it’s staggering.

Perhaps my favorite example of the wildness of the art comes in the form of a double-page spread that shows Laura as she starts to understand what this experience is going to be. It highlights the 1-2-3-4 motif, shows off the vivid colors that will be present throughout the issue, establishes some of the after-image and geometric patterns that will be on display, and has Laura and the reader essentially experience/”get it” at the same time. It’s brilliant writing and artistic storytelling wrapped into one perfect splash page.

The art in this issue is purely superb on all counts. McKelvie routinely nails character expressions, models, backgrounds, and general designs and layouts while Wilson brings splendid and top-notch colors to take the book to the stratosphere and beyond. It’s truly a tour-de-force of comic book creativity and craft.

The Wicked + The Divine #8

Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Jamie McKelvie
Colorist: Matthew Wilson
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: Image Comics

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