Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, and Matthew Wilson continue to sometimes literally slice and dice The Wicked + the Divine’s status quo in the last few issues of “Imperial Phase Part 2”, and issue 32 is certainly no exception. The comic manages to pack Dio’s last stand, Woden’s (thankfully premature) moment of Kanye quoting glory, Sakhmet vs. the world, and even Minerva crossing a line. All the while, Persephone plays the punch pulling, sometimes carelessly cruel wild card and gets confronted for this fact by Urdr, who still cares about Laura and even gets to kick it critic style for a little bit. All the gods appear in WicDiv #32, which gives McKelvie and Wilson a veritable playground of styles to throw at the reader with some subtle visual callbacks to big scenes in the series like WicDiv #8’s rave issue, the “superhero” style battles of “Rising Action” and at the end of “Faust Act”, and an unexpected character playing the role of Ananke the mercy killer.

If you’ve read my reviews of WicDiv up to this point, you know that I love both the character of Dionysus, the original Greek god, and forgiving one’s cares on the dance floor. That is why I was glad that Dio got one last rave in WicDiv #32 with symmetrical layouts from McKelvie, heroic sentiment caption boxes from Gillen, and of course, color palettes to end all color palettes from Wilson and his flatter Dee Cunniffe. And it all starts out with an icky lime green color for Woden’s mind control that Dionysus fights back against in the “rave” panels. He takes a beating, but persists because he truly cares about every individual on the dance floor even if it means sacrificing his own life. For the most part, McKelvie draws flexible, silhouette figures before occasionally going for more detail to show how much of a beating Dio has taken after the whole thing where he sat in the dark with Baphomet and then promptly got his hive mind powers stolen. It is definitely sad to see the most decent member of the Pantheon take a curtain call, but Gillen, McKelvie, and Wilson truly collaborate to give him a perfect, empathetic ending with intense colors, blazing speed lines, and the repeated line “One more time” like bass line of “Blue Monday”.

Along with Dio, Woden, and the revenge of the Norns (Matt Wilson makes Urdr’s black and white scheme look very frightening as she charges at Woden and the Valkyries.), Gillen and McKelvie also put the seal on Sakhmet’s storyline beginning with the first page where she and Persephone take the murder of someone considered to be a friend quite casually. But, of course, Persephone is a super secret agent for Baal and Minerva, and the look of betrayal on Sakhmet’s face is quite painful even if she is a killer. Persephone’s flat was a sanctuary for her restless, ravenous soul, and now it is yet another battleground. McKelvie and Wilson go big and bombastic with Persephone, Baal, and Sakhmet’s powers with exploding greens and purples everywhere before toning down the color mix and flailing bodies and going for sheer emotion at the fight’s conclusion. A silent panel is a great way to wrap up these pretty noisy scenes, and the poses and space between the remaining characters nails their attitudes toward and relationships with each other. Also, during the fight, Gillen does some masterful multi-plotting and sets up a possible vine tendriling, crow pecking showdown between Persephone and Morrigan in the “Imperial Phase Part 2” finale with a quiet conversational scene between the fisticuffs.

Urdr is the bridge between Sakhmet/Dionysus last stand storylines along with being the only character who now gives a shit about the Woden machine/MacGuffin plot in WicDiv #32. Gillen and McKelvie show her range, and she slips into a variety of roles, including the ultimate critic, vengeful goddess, extremely disappointed friend, and maybe even grieving lover. Gillen crafts some of his most incisive dialogue, and McKelvie draws some intense as Urdr speaks for a good portion of the WicDiv fanbase when she says that Persephone was better of being Laura. And she can’t help but still be a critic and call Persephone’s shows “middlebrow”. This leads to some hurling of unkind words, an almost fight, and an ambiguous ending. It also reminds readers that Laura wanted to be a goddess during the first two storylines of WicDiv and has done nothing really inspirational with her divine powers. That could change as the colossal story developments and rocking of the proverbial Pantheon boat hints at Persephone totally being more of the Destroyer than an ascended fangirl.

WicDiv #32 is a true companion to the universe shattering, plot demolishing WicDiv #31, but Kieron Gillen either tapers off or adds elements to character arcs to go with Jamie McKelvie and Matthew Wilson’s fireworks or quiet artistic moments. With the deaths of Dionysus and Sakhmet, a lot of rage and serenity has exited the building along with WicDiv‘s respective superego and id, but my excitement for the “Imperial Phase Part 2” conclusion has definitely increased.

Story: Kieron Gillen Art: Jamie McKelvie Colors: Matthew Wilson
Story: 9 Art: 9.8 Overall: 9.4  Recommendation: Buy 

Image Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review