I’ve written about this series for a long time, and as it has progressed, it has gone from a weird, silly series about gods, music, and the concept of forced family to, well, a weird, silly series about gods, musick and the concept of forced family. While the major themes of the series have stayed strong, the characters and the story have moved in such amazing ways that it has become yet another opus in the careers of Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie. Together, these two creators have brought some incredible works to life with their influential run on Marvel’s New Avengers and their masterpiece, Phonogram.

Now, The Wicked + The Divine brings forth a sad, yet rewarding, final one-shot. These two ridiculous goofballs have, after dozens of issues, released an issue whose entire purpose is to make fun of itself, its creators, and anything else. Along with Gillen and McKelvie, this issue features a cavalcade of artists and writers who make a valiant effort to hilariously tear down everything that this series has built.

With nine shorts inside this issue, there’s a little bit of something for everyone: a dog story by Gillen and the wonderfully talented Erica Henderson; one about being one of twelve reincarnated chairs by Lizz Lunney; and a metatextual look at the creators of the series by master satirist and potentially insane human being Chip Zdarsky. From there, it somehow gets even stranger.

The middle third features more incredible talent, something this series has become known for: a story about Annie by Chrissy Williams, Clayton Cowles, and Dee Cunniffe that is brilliant in a way I’m sure is lost on me; a great look into the mind of everyone’s favorite lightning god Baal by Romesh Ranganathan, Julia Madrigal, and Dee Cunniffe; and a very silly magazine-style article about Cat-God Sakhmet by Hamish Steele which was a highlight of the issue.

Finally, we get the incredibly strong final trio of stories by Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris about the 13 on a Scooby-Doo-style mystery; a brilliant story by Kate Leth and Margaux Saltel featuring many of our favorite characters and their attempt to list their favorite song; and what is the absolute best thing in this issue – a Gillen/McKelvie story that is basically everything everyone who follows either of these two on social media have come to expect: Kieron making some incredibly terrible jokes and Jamie reacting accordingly and in step with what everyone else should be feeling.

There was a ton of content in this issue, and with each story came a snippet of talent from some incredible creators and friends of those who have worked on this series for so long. These contributions serve as a love letter to a series that is beloved by so many. As this book approaches what will be the final stretch, this one-shot is a thank you to those of us who have kept going with it and loved it as much as those who are making it.

Creative Team: Kieron Gillen (writer), Erica Henderson (artist), Lizz Lunney (writer/artist), Chip Zdarsky (writer/artist), Chrissy Williams (writer), Clayton Cowles (inker/letterer), Dee Cuniffe (colorist), Romesh Ranganathan (writer), Julia Madrigal (artist), Hamish Steele (writer/artist), Kitty Curran (writer/artist), Larissa Zageris (writer/artist), Kate Leth (writer), Margauz Saltel (artist), Jamie McKelvie (artist), Matt Wilson (colorist)
Publisher: Image Comics
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