Gods Are the Ultimate Pop Stars in THE WICKED + THE DIVINE

Gillen and McKelvie team up on November graphic novel

Every 90 years, twelve gods incarnate in the bodies of ordinary people. For two years, they are loved. They are hated. They are stars. And then they are dead. The Image Comics series THE WICKED + THE DIVINE is the stunning new work from the critically acclaimed and reader-beloved Young Avengers team, Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie. THE WICKED + THE DIVINE VOLUME 1: THE FAUST ACT will be in stores in November.

Returning to the collision of music, fame, and divinity that launched their careers with the series PHONOGRAM, Gillen and McKelvie have created a world where gods are the ultimate pop stars and pops stars are the ultimate gods. Caught in their shining wake is Laura, the ultimate fan girl, who is made an offer she can’t refuse when Lucifer (here a sleek, Bowie-esque androgynous blonde in a crisp white suit) is framed for murder and asks for her help.

Writer Gillen described the effect the gods have on mortals in THE WICKED + THE DIVINE in an interview at Comics Alliance. “What the gods do isn’t music — it’s kind of an above-music, an ur-art-form that all art forms aspire to,” he said. “We take some of the semiotic fancy dress of pop, but we’re very expressly not saying it’s pop music. It’s just what pop music feels like, at the absolute best.”

Shimmering with colors by Matthew Wilson are artist McKelvie’s signature clean lines, beautiful people, and eye for fashion.

“I say this a lot, but comics are pop culture, and as such should feed from all the other forms of pop culture around it,” said McKelvie of his visual inspirations in an interview at Multiversity Comics. “We should bring in fashion, music, TV, movies, magazines, anything that can be used to further the story or make it look right. In terms of the look of the characters, well, I just pay attention to the world around me.”

THE WICKED + THE DIVINE VOLUME 1 will be in comic book stores on November 12 and in bookstores on November 25. It is specially priced at just $9.99 and available for pre-order now.

THE WICKED + THE DIVINE VOLUME 1: THE FAUST ACT by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie

• ISBN 978-1-63215-019-6
• Diamond Comic order code SEP140684
• 144 pages, paperback, full color
• $9.99
• In comic book stores November 12, bookstores November 25
• Rated Mature
• Collects THE WICKED + THE DIVINE VOLUME #1-5
• Retailers, librarians, and reviewers may request a PDF galley from Jennifer de Guzman, Director of Trade Book Sales, jenniferdeguzman@imagecomics.com

Praise for THE WICKED + THE DIVINE

“...cocksure, contemporary and perverse, light entertainment from a brutally heavy place. The Wicked + The Divine announces up front that it’s constructed for the moment rather than for the long haul, which is a smart move on Gillen and McKelvie’s part. That’s the only way pop ever gets to be immortal.” –Douglas Wolk, Comics Alliance

“The Wicked + The Divine is a consistent must-pull for anyone who enjoys music, pop culture, criticism, and/or storytelling that hits on multiple levels. It's an exquisitely made comic book (writing, art, lettering, all of it), but it's also more intellectually intriguing than a lot of books in publication right now.” –Jen Aprahamian, Comic Vine

“We’re still in the early phases of what Gillen has already confirmed is to be an on-going who’s ending is ‘years off’, but, so far, The Wicked + The Divine is proving to be a tantalisingly paced whodunit about gods told through the eyes of one of their fondest acolytes.” –Stephenson Ardern-Sodje, Multiversity Comics