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Nikki Pastor

HNRS: Graphic Novels

17 April, 2020

When I finished reading ​The Wicked + The Divine​, I did not like it as much as I thought I

would. The plot was your average murder mystery, the characters were not exciting to me, but

the art style was impressive. I’m sure the plot becomes more explained later in the series and the

characters become more fleshed out, but my first initial opinion of ​The Wicked + The Divine:

The Faust Act​ was unimpressed. I did, however, appreciate the underlying theme of the book

which was the relationship between celebrities and their fans along with celebrities' power of

influence.

The gods in the books were all pop stars and influencers. The gods were once ordinary

people who were chosen suddenly one day to become stars and only have two years to live. The

gods’ cycle of resurrection represents a celebrity’s rapid rise to fame and the short period to revel

in said fame. Their sudden rise to fame and their struggle to live with their new reality.

Celebrities have constant pressure to remain relevant and like the gods, their popularity may only

last for a short time. I liked how the author presented the idea of stardom and the flaws that come

with it. I never understood why the gods had to be pop stars, but if they wanted to make a large

impact on the world in a short amount of time, becoming popstars is probably the fastest and

most effective route to achieve that goal.

The main protagonist was Laura Wilson, a diehard fan of the gods who became wrapped

up in their mystery. I did not like Laura at first. I know that the author probably intended for her

to be this plain Jane girl who becomes special later, but I thought the author made her so plain

that I found her boring and sometimes annoying. Laura represents the fan base of celebrities. She
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goes to all the gods’ concerts and is so willing to throw away her life to be involved with them. I

guess I did not like her because I cannot relate to her character in any aspect, and I find diehard

fans annoying. I don’t know how someone can be completely enthralled in a stranger’s life and

be obsessed with their mundane actions. However, the author did do a good job of creating Laura

to be a hardcore fan if her character can annoy me to this level. The author painted Laura’s life as

unexciting and mostly average. The dynamic between her and her parents seem that they are not

very involved with her. Therefore, her obsession with the gods may stem from her own mundane

life. She finds excitement and glory in the gods and wants to achieve that same glory for herself.

People who are constantly keeping up with celebrities' lives are like Laura. They watch the lives

of celebrities because their lives are seemingly more glamorous than their own. People love

watching the “drama” between celebrities since they may lack the same excitement.

Finally, the art of the book was beautiful. As discussed in class, the art style was distinct

from the other art styles found in our other readings. The art style fits the story of the book well

by portraying the vibrate colors and beautiful characters. The gods’ depicted as the most lively

characters in the book and rightfully so. Even the death scenes found in the book were fantastic

and flamboyant. I do applaud the illustrators’ talents.

While I did not initially like the book, talking with the class and thinking of the book out

of context allowed me to appreciate the small nuances found in it. The author did well to

represent the dynamics of celebrities and their fans while the illustrators did a fantastic job

creating the beauty often associated with pop stars.