Battle The Valkyries With The Wicked + The Divine #43
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead!]
Laura and her friends arrive at Valhalla in London while Minerva/Ananke continues her plan for immortality. Her Valkyrie meet Laura and the other gods to prevent them from getting to Minerva. The battle is pitched, and Minerva is working on a machine that will further trouble Laura’s plans. Even if the gods make it through that, they will still have to risk a confrontation with Minerva/Ananke herself.
The Wicked + The Divine #43 brings us ever-closer to the finale of the long-running and popular Image series. Laura and the other gods know some of the truth behind Minerva/Ananke’s plans, and they want to know the full plan now.
The tension and stakes of the story have been well-established and set up strongly by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie, so, if you’ve been following the series, it’s easy to get quickly absorbed by the issue. It goes right into the big conflict with the Valkyrie, and we get big revelations about the continued reincarnations of these gods.
It’s worth mentioning that Minerva/Ananke is still a fairly enjoyable character. There’s something almost childlike in her intentions and methods, amplified by the literal child’s body she inhabits.
We get moments focusing on the other gods too, like Dionysus, Lucifer, Inanna, and the Norns.
McKelvie’s artwork continues to be incredible. He puts together some incredible scenes from the battle along with several good dramatic profiles of the various characters in the conflict. Matthew Wilson, as always, supports it with vivid color art that explodes off the page.
The Wicked + The Divine #43 shows how bombastic the ending to the series will be as it draws nearer. Big revelations, big fights, and big character moments are all on the table, but Gillen and McKelvie also make it clear that it won’t abandon the personal and emotional. This comic gets a strong recommendation. Give it a read.
The Wicked + The Divine #43 comes to us from writer Kieron Gillen, artist Jamie McKelvie, color artist Matthew Wilson, flatter Dee Cunniffe, letterer Clayton Cowles, and cover artist McKelvie with Wilson.
