The Wicked + The Divine #11
Written by Kieron Gillen
Art by Jamie McKelvie
Colors by Matthew Wilson
Letters by Clayton Cowles
Cover by Fiona Staples
Image Comics
Release Date: June 3, 2015
Cover Price: $3.50

Well, well, well. It appears that others besides myself have taken a shine to this comic series. While this is technically a review of The Wicked + The Divine #11, I wanted to alert you to some other news that has recently made a few headlines. It appears that this little Eisner nominated comic has been optioned by Universal Television to become a television series through Matt Fraction and Kelly Sue DeConnick’s production company Milkfed Criminal Masterminds. So there! But seriously, how cool is it to see a new comic series get recognition right from the start? Keep reading to find out what makes this comic so notable.

First off, if you are only a sometime reader of this series, I may drop a hint or two as to things that transpired in past issues. In order to speak to events in this current installment, it’s inevitable that I reference the last ten issues. So, in advance: I’m sorry.

The Wicked + The Divine #1
Written by Keiron Gillen
Art by Jamie McKelvie
Colors by Matthew Wilson
Letters by Clayton Cowles
Image Comics
Release Date: June 18, 2014
Cover Price: $3.50

What if every single one of us possessed something special inside of us? Not a soul, but rather something that made us greater than others around us. The Wicked + The Divine #1 suggests just that, though of course it isn’t as easy as I just made it sound. Because if we were able to harness all of our life force and focus it to become more than mortal, our lifespan would become greatly reduced. Curious? So was I!

Imagine that every century or so the eternal beings of the past chose avatars so that they could once again inhabit the earth, albeit for a brief time. Of course, not everyone is a believer but what does that matter? People would flock to you merely because of the pleasure they get from your presence. Interestingly enough, these new godlings seem to be in the entertainment business, reaching their followers through singing, dancing, or what have you. Don’t we see fans doing some crazy things on a regular basis? Not so farfetched now, is it? But along with their power to entice, excite, and arouse comes the ability to destroy. Just as we are to insects, so are these immortals to us.

The Guild: Fawkes #1
Written by Felicia Day and Wil Wheaton
Art by Jamie McKelvie
Color by Matthew Wilson
Letters by Nate Piekos of Blambot
Cover by Paul Duffield
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: May 23, 2012
Cover Price: $3.50

The Guild: Fawkes is a one-shot, backstory comic for one of the best characters in Felicia Day‘s insanely popular web series. If you don’t already know what The Guild is, then firstly, shame on you. Secondly, this comic will probably not make much sense to you; it’ll just be a story about some kilted sociopath who oddly resembles Wil Wheaton. You should probably watch all five seasons of The Guild to truly appreciate this comic. Hey, the web series is short, free, and hilarious. You have no excuses.

Back in February, Dark Horse Comics released a preview image of the cover, the first ever glimpse of Fawkes’ in-game avatar. The character looked amazing. Not how I would have pictured Fawkes — just infinitely cooler. I was floored and instantly said, “I’m so gonna cosplay Fawkes at DragonCon.” Yeah, I’m a complete mark for this whole Guild metaverse thing.

I don’t know about you, but I’m a little tired of only hearing about DC after the last week and a half, so Marvel has seen fit to release a bit of news themselves. Unfortunately, it’s not necessarily the kind of news I want to hear.

On Thursday, Marvel revealed that they would be ending one of their flagship titles when Uncanny X-Men comes to an end in October with issue #544. The issue will be written by Kieron Gillen with art by Greg Land and will tie into whatever happens in the upcoming X-Men: Schism event.

The solicitation for the issue reads like this…

Joe Quesada announced a bevy of new Marvel projects at his annual Cup O’ Joe panel at WonderCon 2011. Sure there’s tons of focus on the upcoming Captain America and Thor films, but at this panel there were plenty of tasty comic book announcements too. Perhaps the most notable of these announcements was that writer Warren Ellis and artist Jamie McKelvie will be teaming up to take over Secret Avengers in August. All that Quesada would say about Ellis’ run on the series is that the stories will be of the single-issue variety. So, sounds like no big story arc this time around.