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

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 la unched 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 no t 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, magazin es, 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.