Zeb Larson reviews Wicked + Divine #15…
Wicked + Divine breaks with the theme of misogyny and gender that has run through the last few issues to introduce…something new. It’s hard to say exactly what it is because the shape of it is still fuzzy, which the writers admit in the back pages of the book. But that doesn’t matter, because what is here is sufficiently interesting that I’m willing to take it on faith that the new direction is headed in an interesting place. More to the point, Wicked + Divine is doing a great job of balancing meditations on culture and fame while telling a modern legend about gods. I will be discussing spoilers in this review, so consider yourself forewarned.
Continuing the trend of issues profiling specific deities, this issue focuses on Amaterasu. Amaterasu learns of Tara’s death and heads to the morgue, where she sees several of the others. Ananke warns them of an impending darkness and coming conflict before leaving. Elsewhere in the hospital, Amaterasu runs into Cassandra in a room with a different patient. Conflict has been simmering the two for a long time, in large part because Cassandra treats Amaterasu as nothing more than a dilettante whose appropriation of Shinto Buddhism is offensive. This sets off a fight between the two in Japan, which ends with both of them feeling sheepish.
It’s easy as a critic to agree reflexively with Cassandra, because so many of the points she raises are valid. Yes, it is deeply offensive to create an artificial sun in Hiroshima, of all places, something that somebody who has adopted Japan as a place of meaning should understand. Yes, Amaterasu should probably understand that not everybody can afford to understand, and when she talks about travelling there she sounds excruciatingly like a trust fund baby. But that doesn’t really change what she believes, does it? If much of this issue is about cultural appropriation and what Amaterasu has adopted for herself (and it is; Cassandra has been talking about Amaterasu since the first issue), the last panel suggests that what’s going on here is less appropriation and more about adoption. Amaterasu really believes all of this, and not just the parts about herself. Appropriation is just taking the symbols and trappings, whereas adoption suggests trying to meaningfully bring it into your life.
So if the more theoretical take on culture and appropriation/adoption is present in this issue, it’s well-supported by the interesting plot developments. Ananke’s ultimate game here is still anybody’s guess. She’s committed most of these murders, and now she’s scaring the rest of the Pantheon with the threat of a demon and an impending war. Why? Sure, it makes Baphomet look worse, but most of the Pantheon hated Baphomet anyway, so why was Tara’s death necessary? And how much truth is there in what she says about the “forces of darkness”? Are they actually out there, or is this smoke and mirrors?
Alongside this, there’s the question of Amaterasu’s genuine belief in Shinto Buddhism. None of the other gods have really believed in their own religion, except as a matter of ego, and it’s not really religious belief if you’re just believing in yourself. Just how real are her beliefs, and what does this mean for the rest of the Pantheon?
I’m hoping that eventually we can break away from the issue model of looking at each deity, but it’s not tired yet. This book has been on a winning streak for its last few issues, and I’m curious to see what the shape of the new arc will be in the next issue.
Rating: 9.3/10
Zeb Larson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=r8eFmbwpBDk
Originally published October 14, 2015. Updated April 14, 2018.
