Jamie McKelvie

Theological figures possess people and are essentially rock and pop stars for two years before they die. An unknown group tried to kill some of them leading to Lucifer being possibly set up and jailed. Following the story and tangled up in it are a superfan of the gods and a bitter and cynical journalist.

The idea is bizarre. The writing is brilliant. The art is gorgeous. Lucifer is a hot, Queer femme. The mystery and politics are fascinating.

I love it.

The first five issues are really an show more introduction to the world and a set up for our protagonist, so I'm left with a lot of questions and not really having too much of a clue what's going on. But that's the beauty of stories, especially comics, they don't have to make sense as long as the experience makes you feel something. I am absolutely bought in and this first volume has whetted my appetite for more of this and a need to check out other things the writer and artists have worked on.

Regardless of whatever else you do, you simply must look up the alternative covers for these issues. They are fucking sublime! show less

I still feel like I’m waiting for this series to take off, but this was an excellent second collection none the less. We’ve now been introduced to all of the reincarnated pantheon (and an extra methinks) and are starting to get a vague inkling of the central players. Who am I kidding - central playeR singular, since it seems to be Ananke who’s calling all the shots. What keeps me coming back to the story at the moment is not only the draw of who and what the gods/goddesses are actually show more there for, but the simply stunning artwork. It plays itself off as rather simple most of the time, but certain instances within the storyline break the mold entirely and give the story a more flavourful feel - Dionysus’ rave is a clear example of how successful drawing on the Pantheon’s powers to speak through the artwork can be. The ending of this collection was a touch abrupt (and tragic, since we seemingly lose our human protagonist), but I’m sure all will come to rights in future issues! show less

This review covers the first two volumes at once.

The idea of the comic is that the pantheon of gods is real, and groups of them are periodically reincarnated every ninety years, but die within two. In the 2010s, the gods are pop stars, giving magically charged performances across Britain that result in enormous crowds of admirers. The first couple volumes follow an ordinary human girl named Laura, aged seventeen, who is a hardcore fan of the Pantheon. Laura ends up involved with the gods, show more and when the god Lucifer is accused of murder, she tries to prove Lucifer's innocence, alongside cynical journalist Cassandra, and discovers there's a dark conspiracy afoot, and a dark side to both pop idols and fandom.

Like a lot of Kieron Gillen that I've read, I admire it more than enjoy it. I liked Laura, but I struggled to keep track of the large cast of god characters; I really liked the art by Jamie McKelvie, but still didn't feel emotionally connected to anyone. There's a lot of technical proficiency here, but not a lot of heart. And yet, clearly, other people love it. I wonder if it's because they care about music in the way that I don't; the literalization of the pop-idol-as-god metaphor is clearly where a lot of this story's power derives from, and I've just never felt that way about a musician. And the style of fandom it evokes is often a more modern one, I think, the kind that thrives on Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram, whereas I am a guy who still mostly participates in fandom via what used to be called BBSes!

Still, I am interested enough to keep reading. Jamie McKelvie really brings these characters to life. I look forward to the day I finally get around to reading something like Young Avengers by him, which I think will have a much lower level of buy-in for me, given I like superheroes a lot more than pop stars. There are good twists and neat layouts here, and maybe (as often happens with ongoing comics) the cumulative effect of reading this will end up grabbing me over time. show less

This review covers the first two volumes at once, though I don't think it has any spoilers for the first.

The idea of the comic is that the pantheon of gods is real, and groups of them are periodically reincarnated every ninety years, but die within two. In the 2010s, the gods are pop stars, giving magically charged performances across Britain that result in enormous crowds of admirers. The first couple volumes follow an ordinary human girl named Laura, aged seventeen, who is a hardcore fan show more of the Pantheon. Laura ends up involved with the gods, and when the god Lucifer is accused of murder, she tries to prove Lucifer's innocence, alongside cynical journalist Cassandra, and discovers there's a dark conspiracy afoot, and a dark side to both pop idols and fandom.

Like a lot of Kieron Gillen that I've read, I admire it more than enjoy it. I liked Laura, but I struggled to keep track of the large cast of god characters; I really liked the art by Jamie McKelvie, but still didn't feel emotionally connected to anyone. There's a lot of technical proficiency here, but not a lot of heart. And yet, clearly, other people love it. I wonder if it's because they care about music in the way that I don't; the literalization of the pop-idol-as-god metaphor is clearly where a lot of this story's power derives from, and I've just never felt that way about a musician. And the style of fandom it evokes is often a more modern one, I think, the kind that thrives on Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram, whereas I am a guy who still mostly participates in fandom via what used to be called BBSes!

Still, I am interested enough to keep reading. Jamie McKelvie really brings these characters to life. I look forward to the day I finally get around to reading something like Young Avengers by him, which I think will have a much lower level of buy-in for me, given I like superheroes a lot more than pop stars. There are good twists and neat layouts here, and maybe (as often happens with ongoing comics) the cumulative effect of reading this will end up grabbing me over time. show less