A Tearful Farewell In The Wicked + The Divine #45
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead!]
It’s July 16th, 2055, and Laura is going to a funeral. She meets up with Eleanor outside of Valhalla before the service begins. The rest of the attendees, all of which are other survivors of godhood, slowly gather to mourn their fallen friend. Tears are shed, feelings are shared, and everyone is forced to reckon with what their lives were, are, and can still be.
The Wicked + The Divine #45 closes out this long-running Image Comics series from Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, Matthew Wilson, Dee Cunniffe, and Clayton Cowles.
This final issue serves as an epilogue to the series as a whole, rejoining our characters 40 years after the events of the prior 44 issues of the mainline Wicked + Divine series. We get to see how life turned out for many of the principal characters and how their bonds changed and grew over the years following their ordeal.
It’s a heartwarming finale, the centerpiece of which is an emotional eulogy provided by the deceased’s own hologram recording. It’s a turn for a funeral for sure, but it provides a wonderful bookend to this fantastic series.
McKelvie finishes strong, and his already beautiful artwork seems even more powerful in this comic. We get plenty of portraits of our aged protagonists, and Laura shines as beautifully as ever. The aesthetic is as explosive as ever, and Matthew Wilson brings an impeccable color palette to the book.
The Wicked + The Divine #45 brings a photo-finish to a series that I’ve grown to love over the past few years. Despite some criticisms I leveled at some of the later issues during my time at my previous outlet, I’ve never stopped loving this series. It’s one of Image’s best without a doubt, and I’m glad to see it end in such a fantastic manner. Of course this one gets a recommendation. Give it a read.
The Wicked + The Divine #45 comes to us from writer Kieron Gillen, artist and cover artist Jamie McKelvie, color artist Matthew Wilson, flatter Dee Cunniffe, letterer Clayton Cowles, and variant cover artist Olivia James.
Final Score: 9/10