Welcome back to another edition of Wicked Intervention, Multiversity Comic’s monthly annotations for Image’s “The Wicked + The Divine”. You may notice this column is just a little late and that’s due to the disgusting cocktail of finals and moving. Now that the apologies are out of the way, let’s talk WicDiv #10. Spoilers ahead!
Please Allow Me To Introduce Myself – The Cover Gallery
Baphomet’s probably the most loved character here on Wicked Interventioin an-
Ah… Okay so he’s working through some stuff. We still love him!(?)
Interestingly enough, Baphomet’s history is more easily traceable than most other rdeities. He gained widespread notoriety in the 19th century when people dug up his name in relation to the Templar Order. It’s speculated that their worship of him is why the order was cleared out by the Catholic church. While some figures of the 1800’s claimed that Baphomet was created as a concentrated effort to discredit Freemasonry, which the Templars were associated with. Eventually, Baphomet was folded into the period’s interest with occultism when Aleister Crowley threw up his hands, yelled “Fuck it!” and made him part of Thelema, Crowley’s quasi-religion. Whether or not the Templars really worshipped a goat demon god, Baphomet’s relevance is more contemporary than Amaterasu’s or Baal’s. Okay maybe not Amaterasu. Okami is still really good.
As for Baphomet’s rock star lineage, his design has been attributed to Nick Cave and Andrew Eldritch from The Sisters of Mercy. Both are known for their pale skin and matty hair which Baphomet has in spades. Eldritch in particular wore the same sunglasses Baphomet can’t seem to take off. If you’re interested in 80’s post-punk, both acts are worst your time.
Page 1
Truly surprised Baphomet’s not wearing sunglasses indoors.
To be perfectly honest, I have no clue what Baphomet and Morrigan (or her human ego Marian) are talking about. There’s been no on-screen instance of Morrigan “dooming” Baphomet, but there have been hints of the two conspiring towards some end. Them being the judge’s killer seems a bit too easy, but at this point they’re more suspicious than a politician at an Arianna Grande concert.
Baphomet’s desire here comes from what Ananke told him last issue. As a death-god, Baphomet could potentially absorb some years out of another god should he kill them. Unfortunately, he immediately saw the transformed Cassandra (Urdu) afterwards and set out to make her his mid-twenties.
Page 2
We didn’t see much of Laura last issue save for some much-needed crying so this is us catching up with her a couple months after issue #8. Evidently, she’s still grappling with the whole “I’m not one of the gods!” thing she learned after Cassandra switched. Laura’s reasoning behind becoming a god also exhibits the contradictory aspects of altruism and selfishness at the heart of her character. On one hand she does want to help people (like Lucifer) but that comes from a place of seeking a reward. That’s not necessarily a bad trait, but still one that exemplifies all the conflicts going on in Laura’s head.
Page 3
If I didn’t have any shame left I would say this page was filled with “squee.” Laura’s relationship with Inanna (whether it gets romantic or not) is a lot more positive and supporting than anything she had with Lucifer and (presumably) Baal. Plus, her parents like him which, if we follow the idea that they’re a tether to the world outside the Pantheon, means he wouldn’t swallow her up in his world like Luci could have.
Page 4-5
Hyde Park is a location in London named after Mr. Hyde who died there after heroically sacrificing himself to stop the War of the Worlds. Ragnarock 2014 (time is passing and we are all older) is happening here and is meant to represent all twelve gods. Even if one of those gods is KIA. What are those monolith things anyway? Speakers? Shouldn’t the entire crowd be dead from the output? For a concert with seemingly little organization, this still looks like the cleanest music festival I’ve ever seen.
Continued belowPage 6
So looks like Baal and Laura’s dalliance from #8 ended up being pretty awkward. Laura’s instance that she hasn’t told Inanna anything about her and Baal might imply some more-than-friends thing there or may be an extension of some “this never happened” policy with Baal. Oh also, Cassandra found out who the fanatics were.
Page 7
First Cassandra steals your place in the Pantheon and then she steals your mystery. Go be the protagonist of your own book, Cass.
Page 8
David Blake was at last year’s Ragnarock (where Inanna met Laura) where he doubted the chances of a Recurrence actually happening, saying the current generation was unworthy. Now that it’s actually happened, he’s openly working the Pantheon and helped Cass locate the shooters. Apparently he was able to track down two members of the fandom who fell off the map and they ended up being the ones who tried to kill everyone in the first issue. Quick question: if someone can track when people fall out of fandoms, is there currently a distressed person in grey facepaint from the “Homesick” fandom trying to find me?
Page 9-10
Duncan Ackford and his grad student Tom Wilkes were the shooters and also present at last year’s Ragnarock. Their expedition to South America to look for lost Pantheons is particularly interesting, and hopefully a thread that gets picked up sometime soon. Even if it was just a cover for the two cultists, that’s still some truly fertile ground.
Also, how dope are the Instagram filters over the previously seen artwork? It’s a nice way of fashioning old art into a true flashback sequence.
Page 11
I can guarantee we’ll be forever arguing about who killed the judge too.
Also, David really needs to learn how to read people’s body languages. “Cassandra’s great and you know who would be her best friend? Luci! Girl would have loved her.”
Page 12
I’m none too sure what Urdr’s direct musical influence is but if anyone knows any artists who scream spider-webs please hook me up.
Page 13
The devil on Baphomet’s shoulder likely stems from the actual disconnect between the god Baphomet and his host. Even if the human host (who we’ll just call Tyler or something) doesn’t want to hurt anyone, he’s being urged on by this devil Templar ghost. After Ananke told him all about the Gambit, that side of him probably grew enough to get him to do something like this.
Also, you could carve Parmesan cheese off Tyler or something’s abs. Damn.
Page 14-15
Again, Morrigan and Baphomet’s relationship is super weird. Is she trying to save him from whatever murder mode he’s in or did they both conspire to something that’s gone wrong. Morrigan’s been acting pretty suspicious lately so it’s hard to tell if this is her trying to save her friend or covering her own tracks.
16-17
Announce talking shit like she ain’t the one who casually let slip that Baphomet could extend his life by killing someone. I’m not sure what she has to gain by setting her gods against each other but this would have never happened if Baphomet was like “Any way I can live longer?” and she was like “Nah.” Unless she wants the Gods to fight against each other so they can ruin and discredit the Recurrence and keep her from living forever and watching her loved ones fade away. That would explain who exploded the Judge’s head, as Ananke has proven capable of that. Nah, she just probably wasn’t thinking.
Page 18
After Morrigan and Baphomet flee to underground, their fight causes a riot at Ragnarock.
Or, uh, skanking. I think they’re all just skanking. Anyway, with the aggressors gone, Cassandra tries to calm the crowd down as such.
Page 19
So crazy that Image Comics got the rights to republish an entire Morrissey song for that page.
Page 20
And where artists like Kurt Cobain try to create some art that expresses the pains of being human and the fleetingness of it all, the masses turn it back around into t-shirts and mindless cheering. Some artists are really good at turning that reception into long-term success (Morrissey) while others are not (Kurt Cobain).
Continued belowPage 21
Cassandra spent years trying to disprove the whole Pantheon thing only to have her witness it first hand and then wind up as part of it. Now she’s trying to show them it’s all bullshit which only attracts even more fans. We in the comics call this the Alan Moore effect. It’s when you write a really good yet sour comic that shits on everything else and you’re really proud of it for a minute but then Zack Snyder turns your book into a movie. Urdr just performed in front of an army of Zack Snyders.
Page 22
Laura telling Cass “No one’s going to underseand all of you. But some people will.” seems to be a callback of sorts to “The Singles Club”. There, protag David Kohl told a schluppy kid who couldn’t stop pitching band ideas to listen to Los Campesinos! (exclamation mark included.) Los Campesinos! is actual band that may or not be the best in the world but, as Kohl says, they won’t become big. They’ll matter to a select number of fans but to those fans they’ll mean a lot. For any artist, that’s all you can really strive for.
Plus, it’s so refreshing to see Cass and Laura move forward as friends instead of jealous rivals. There’s already enough animosity with the following page.
Page 24
“Heaven would break your moth wings on a fiery wheel…” isn’t a quote is it? I swear I’ve seen it in a Shakespeare play somewhere.
Baphomet’s devil head saying not everyone knows he’s a murderous asshole yet is either referring to his fans or the other gods. Either word hasn’t leaked to the fans about the attack at Ragnarock (unlikely) or no one knows he killed someone like the judge (more likely.) Either way, it’s seemingly influenced his next course of action.
If Baphomet singes off Inanna’s chest hairs I’m boycotting this title.
That’s all for Wicked Intervention this week. Check back later this month when someone probably dies.
