the wicked and the divine

The Wicked and The Decapitated: The Covers of Jamie McKelvie
The Wicked and The Decapitated: The Covers of Jamie McKelvie
The Wicked and The Decapitated: The Covers of Jamie McKelvie
Thumbnail is a new recurring feature on ComicsAlliance in which we invite our writers to reflect on comic book details that deserve a little extra attention, whether it’s a favorite character, and artistic choice, or a striking page. For this installment, Steve Morris looks at the meaning behind Jamie McKelvie and Matt Wilson's The Wicked & The Divine covers — and the cruel joke they've been building up to.
Best Cosplay Ever (This Week) - 01.12.15
Best Cosplay Ever (This Week) - 01.12.15
Best Cosplay Ever (This Week) - 01.12.15
Although cosplay has been present for decades within the comics, anime, and sci-fi/fantasy fandoms, social media has played an integral role in the thriving communities of costuming that exist, such as Cosplay.com and the Superhero Costuming Forum. Over the years, the cosplay community has evolved into a creative outlet for many fans to establish and showcase some impressive feats of homemade disguise, craftsmanship, and sartorial superheroics at conventions. In honor of the caped crusaders of the convention scene, ComicsAlliance has created Best Cosplay Ever (This Week), an ongoing collection of some of the most impeccable, creative, and clever costumes that we’ve discovered and assembled into a super-showcase of pure fan-devoted talent.
Image Covers Will Look Especially Wicked + Divine In December
Image Covers Will Look Especially Wicked + Divine In December
Image Covers Will Look Especially Wicked + Divine In December
I'm going to go ahead and assume that you've all been reading The Wicked + The Divine, because it is amazing and since you're currently reading ComicsAlliance, I already know that you're a person with taste. With that being the case, you may have noticed that one of the most distinct parts of the book has been the covers, where artist Jamie McKelvie and colorist Matt Wilson (not to be confused with our own prodigious Arrow recapper) have been doing striking portraits of the cast's faces. It's a pretty great look, and next month, they'll be expanding that style to the rest of Image's lineup, providing WicDiv-style variant covers for six of Image's titles, marking new series and new story arcs.
Best Comic Book Covers Ever (This Month): October 2014
Best Comic Book Covers Ever (This Month): October 2014
Best Comic Book Covers Ever (This Month): October 2014
A great comic book cover is an advertisement, a work of art, a statement, and an invitation. A great comic book cover is a glimpse of another world through a canvas no bigger than a window pane. In Best Comic Book Covers Ever (This Month), we look back over some of the most eye-catching, original and exceptional covers of the past month. Fear, passion, beauty, love, and monsters. There's a feast of wonders in the best of October's comic book covers, with exceptional work from Becky Cloonan, Jorge Molina, Megan Hutchison, Kyla Vanderklugt and more -- taking us to some extraordinary places, and showing us some incredible sights.
'The Wicked + The Divine' #5 Preview
'The Wicked + The Divine' #5 Preview
'The Wicked + The Divine' #5 Preview
As someone who will argue vehemently against the very existence of a second Pipettes album, I've been a fan of Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie's comics about the (literal) magic of pop music since day one. The only problem I've had with them is that they tend to lack the true indicators of quality literature: Explosions and people getting punched in the head with lightning bolts. This, incidentally, is why Street Fighter remains the high point of modern art. Fortunately, The Wicked + The Divine is out to remedy that with as much explosion-based storytelling as Gillen and McKelvie can cram into it, and this week's issue takes things to the extreme. Not only are there finger-snapping kabooms and electric Falcon punches, there's a full-on riot in the streets going down. And also, I suppose, minor vandalism, but that's a little less impressive in the scheme of things.
Comixology Launches Image 'New Hits' Bundle, First Issue Sale
Comixology Launches Image 'New Hits' Bundle, First Issue Sale
Comixology Launches Image 'New Hits' Bundle, First Issue Sale
If there's one problem that we as comics readers all share, it's that we just have too much money. Sure, we keep trying to give it to publishers and creators, but sometimes there just aren't enough comics to buy, and that's why we always need more great books out there to pick up. Fortunately, the good folks over at Comixology are doing their best to make that as easy as possible, and this week, those efforts are taking the form of the Image Comics "New Hits" Sale. A ton of great new Image books like Southern Bastards, The Wicked + The Divine, Velvet, Burn the Orphanage and more have seen their first few issues dropped down to 99 cents each, and on top of that, there's a bundle of 20 first issues for just fifteen bucks.
Best Comic Book Covers Ever (This Month): September 2014
Best Comic Book Covers Ever (This Month): September 2014
Best Comic Book Covers Ever (This Month): September 2014
A great comic book cover is an advertisement, a work of art, a statement, and an invitation. A great comic book cover is a glimpse of another world through a canvas no bigger than a window pane. In Best Comic Book Covers Ever (This Month), we look back over some of the most eye-catching, original and exceptional covers of the past month. September's covers include masterclass composition from Genndy Tarkakovsky and Noelle Stevenson, some beautiful uses of light, color, and contrast, and some very different portraits of gods, old and new.
'Wicked + Divine' Variant Cover Honors David Bowie Mugshot
'Wicked + Divine' Variant Cover Honors David Bowie Mugshot
'Wicked + Divine' Variant Cover Honors David Bowie Mugshot
Because you're young you may not realize the latest Wicked + Divine variant cover is a particularly cheeky reference to a 1976 mugshot of David Bowie, himself a major inspiration on the Kieron Gillen/Jamie McKelvie series about ancient gods reincarnated as glamorous pop stars. But hang on to yourself; the only way to get ahold of this conversation piece is to buy it from Beach Ball and Corner Store Comics in California.
Oh Snap! The Godlike Genius of 'The Wicked + The Divine'
Oh Snap! The Godlike Genius of 'The Wicked + The Divine'
Oh Snap! The Godlike Genius of 'The Wicked + The Divine'
The mark of a great pop song is not just that it's a pleasure to hear and hear again, but that it rewards struggling with it. Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie have been conflating pop music and comics since they first collaborated on Phonogram ten years ago; Gillen's described the central conceit of their new series The Wicked + The Divine as "gods as pop stars, and pop stars as gods." That's a good way of describing the story itself -- but the comic is also about presenting Gillen and McKelvie as pop stars, and as pop mechanics. It's the product of a decade spent working out what makes comics click, and how to make them speak to a mass audience. I've been fortunate enough to read the first two issues of The Wicked + The Divine; they're marvelous, a little bit maddening, and thoroughly worth wrestling with.
A Wicked +  Divine Interview With Gillen + McKelvie + Co.
A Wicked + Divine Interview With Gillen + McKelvie + Co.
A Wicked + Divine Interview With Gillen + McKelvie + Co.
The creative team of Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie first made their mark with the 2006 Image Comics release Phonogram: Rue Britannia, a thrilling and thoughtful story about magic, music, modern sorcery, and how the records we listen to affect our lives and identities. The series combined cultural touchstones and urban fantasy trappings in a way that captured the imagination of critics and readers, and its success ultimately led to Gillen and McKelvie becoming separately and together some of comics' most fan-favorite creators on books like Journey Into Mystery, X-Men Season One, Suburban Glamour, a second series of Phonogram, and their rmuch-lauded collaboration on the recently concluded reinvention of Young Avengers. This week, they're releasing the debut issue of their latest (and most ambitious) project: The Wicked + The Divine, an ongoing series from Image that blends together many of their favorite subjects: youthful reinvention, manifest deities, supernatural superpowers, and, of course, the transformative power of pop music. The first issue is both intriguing and exhilarating, depicting the adventure of a superfan as she rubs elbows with ancient gods who return every ninety years, this time in the form of gorgeous young people who become 21st century celebrities. At once sublimely understated and action-packed, the first issue grabs you instantly and leaves you anxious to read more. ComicsAlliance connected with the entire W+D creative team of Gillen and McKelvie; designer Hannah Donovan; letterer Clayton Cowles; and colo(u)rist Matt Wilson for an in-depth conversation about the story they're telling, their collaborative process, and the artistic and cultural inspirations for the series. Along the way, we're revealing some previously unseen behind-the-scenes materials and an exclusive previews of The Wicked + The Divine #2.

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