Comics
“The Wicked + The Divine” Is “Better than the Bible”
Image likes to put out these quotes from hot creators to help promote the release of new books, which is a pretty smart tactic. The latest praise coming in is for the new series from Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie, “The Wicked + The Divine”. Matt Fraction calls the book “Better than Watchmen. Better than the Bible.” Is he joking? Obviously, but the book still looks great. Check out the wave of praise below.
From the press release:
The hotly anticipated new series from Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie, THE WICKED + THE DIVINE, was first announced at Image Expo in January and has already generated a wave of enthusiasm across the comics community. Leaders in the industry and critics alike are singing the praises of THE WICKED + THE DIVINE, where the gods are worshiped as pop stars, but only live briefly and are reincarnated every ninety years.
Bryan Lee O’Malley, whose bestseller Scott Pilgrim and upcoming Seconds drew fans in droves, will be drawing a variant cover for THE WICKED + THE DIVINE. This electrifying O’Malley variant can be pre-ordered with Diamond Code FEB148314.
THE WICKED + THE DIVINE #1 hits shelves 6/18. The two McKelvie/Wilson covers were drawn as a pair and Cover A can be pre-ordered with Diamond Code APR140486, Cover B with Diamond Code FEB148313.
Advance praise for THE WICKED + THE DIVINE:
“So if you’re looking for a new favourite comic, tell your store you want The Wicked + The Divine by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie in June.” —Warren Ellis, TREES, SUPREME: BLUE ROSE
“Just read The Wicked + The Divine by Jamie McKelvie and Kieron Gillen. Holy shit, holy shit, holy shi—“ —Becky Cloonan, Demo, Batman, By Chance or Providence
“It’s one of the best books I’ve read this year.” —Wil Wheaton, actor
“Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie’s The Wicked + The Divine is better than Young Avengers. Better than Phonogram. Better than Watchmen. Better than the Bible.” —Matt Fraction, SEX CRIMINALS, Hawkeye
“I got to read Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie’s new series, The Wicked + the Divine and it’s the best thing they’ve ever done. You need it.” —Ed Brubaker, FATALE, Criminal
“The first issue of Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie’s The Wicked + The Divine is a wonderful door to a seductive new world. Let’s all go in!” —Fábio Moon, CASANOVA, Daytripper
“Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie’s The Wicked + The Divine is a warp into the middle of a wildly imaginative mythology and I’m itching to read more.” —Rick Remender, BLACK SCIENCE, DEADLY CLASS, Uncanny Avengers
“If you’re headed to the comic shop tomorrow, please tell them to preorder you a copy of The Wicked + The Divine. Jamie and Kieron are both masterful here. Just a great job by the whole team. Give the first issue a try, you won’t regret it.” —Jonathan Hickman, EAST OF WEST, MANHATTAN PROJECTS, Avengers
“Gillen and McKelvie shared their upcoming The Wicked + The Divine with me, and it’s amazing. Please tell your retailer this week to order!” —Mark Waid, Daredevil
“The Wicked + The Divine has an absolutely perfect first issue. 10 out of 10. This is going to be a very special book. We live in an era spoilt by great creator-owned work—but The Wicked + The Divine has as good a shot at ‘classic’ status as any book I’ve read in the last 5 years. Congrats Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, Matthew Wilson, and Clayton Cowles.” —Nick Spencer, MORNING GLORIES, THIEF OF THIEVES
“Just read an advance issue of Wicked + Divine. The team is firing on all cylinders! Order it, quickly!” —Jordie Bellaire, THE MANHATTAN PROJECTS, PRETTY DEADLY
“Not solely because of my art-crush on Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie, I had the honor of losing my shit over issue #1 of The Wicked + The Divine.” —Max Bemis, lead singer of Say Anything, Polarity
“The Wicked + The Divine #1 is excellent, surprising nobody. You should pre-order it right now.” —Al Ewing, Mighty Avengers, Zombo, Loki: Agent of Asgard
“I have read The Wicked + The Divine #1 and it’s probably my favorite Jamie McKelvie and Kieron Gillen book to date. Both are in their prime.” —Mike Norton, REVIVAL
“Pretty sure The Wicked + The Divine gave me a hangover. Need the hair of the dog that bit me.” —Ivan Brandon, Viking, 24Seven
“I just got a look at Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie’s The Wicked + The Divine #1, and I urge you to order yours at your local comic store now.” —Emma Vieceli, Vampire Academy: The Graphic Novel, Alex Rider: Graphic Novel, Breaks
“It’s so much good and then some. Pick it up.” —Andy Suriano, Samurai Jack, CHARLATAN’S BALL
“The Wicked + The Divine #1 is an astonishingly awesome debut by top-class gents Jamie McKelvie and Kieron Gillen. You need this in your life.” —Joe Keatinge, TECH JACKET, SHUTTER
“Gillen and McKelvie’s The Wicked + The Divine is the Gillen-and-McKelviest thing Gillen and McKelvie have ever done.” —Andy Diggle, MANIFEST DESTINY, The Losers
“Was lucky enough to see an issue of Jamie McKelvie and Kieron Gillen’s new comic The Wicked + The Divine and yes it’s amazing.” —Christian Ward, INFINITE VACATION, ODY-C
“I was delighted to read an advance copy of The Wicked and the Divine by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie. Trust me, you want this.” —Paul Cornell, Doctor Who, London Falling, Wolverine
“Just read Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie and Wilson and Cowles’ The Wicked + The Divine #1… it’s gorgeous. I can’t wait to read more. Buy it!” —Ray Fawkes, Batman Eternal
“My favourite comic books are Lucifer, Transmetropolitan, and Preacher: the new The Wicked + The Divine, by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie, is right up there.” —Musa Okwonga, pundit for the BBC World Service
“Just read The Wicked + The Divine by Kieron Gillen and crew—IT’S GREAT, so pre-order now and support creator-owned!” —Michael Oeming, Powers, The United States of Murder Inc., Victories
“Reading The Wicked + The Divine by Kieron gillen and Jamie McKelvie is like trying to eat a fluorescent light tube whilst electricity is still in it. You should probably order The Wicked + The Divine. If you like pop gods and explosions and having a late twenties crisis like me that is.” —Cara Ellison, Eurogamer
“I got to read The Wicked + The Divine from Image Comics and it put me on my ass. You can pre-order it, or settle for a second print.” —Gerry Duggan, Deadpool, Nova, THE INFINITE HORIZON
“The Wicked + The Divine #1 reviews itself a few pages in: ‘it’s what orgasms aspire to be.’ Awesome first issue, Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie.” —Lucas Siegel, Newsarama
“The Wicked + The Divine is everything you love about Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie, LEVELED UP. You’ll kick yourself if you don’t pre-order this.” —Dennis Hopeless, Avengers Academy, Cable & X-Force
“I read The Wicked + The Divine just now and it is great. Jamie McKelvie really knows about eyeliner.” —Kate Leth, Bravest Warriors, Adventure Time: Seeing Red
“Just read advance first issue of The Wicked + the Divine by Mckelvie, Gillen and Wilson—a gorgeous book by a comics superteam. A+” —Cameron Stewart, Seaguy
“Read Episode 1 of Kieron and Jamie’s The Wicked + The Divine. Exactly as splendid as you’d expect, with added wiggy courtroomery.” —Si Spurrier, X-Force, Six-Gun Gorilla
“I love the phrase ‘a book that teaches you how to read it’ and The Wicked + The Divine #1 reads like a beautiful realization of that ideal.” —Christopher Sebela, High Crimes, Dead Letters
Comics
‘You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive’ – IDW Dark’s Next Horror Comic Will Make You Question Reality
Five friends. Four houses. One perfect life. Bloody Disgusting is excited to exclusively announce You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive, a brand new horror comic from IDW Dark.
From Eisner-Nominated writers Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, and rising horror artist Heather Vaughan, You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive is described as a “paranoia-laced, socially-conscious, horror mystery that will leave you questioning reality, and reveal that this crafted world is more of a nightmare than the idealistic dream they were expecting.”
Phoebe Joplin has never questioned the world her parents built: a secluded community where she and her friends were raised to be smarter, stronger, and better than anyone else. No distractions. No dangers. No secrets. Until the night of their graduation.
When one of them dies under impossible circumstances, Phee starts to pull at the edges of her perfect life—and what she finds is something far more terrifying than she ever imagined.
Because this place isn’t a sanctuary. It’s a cage. And no one who discovers the truth ever leaves it alive.
Collin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing (Batman – One Bad Day: Clayface, Star Trek: The Last Starship) co-write the upcoming IDW Dark horror comic, featuring art by Heather Vaughan.
Jackson Lanzing said in a statement to Bloody Disgusting, “You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive is in many ways a spiritual successor to our last creator-owned horror, The Principles of Necromancy – a dive into the promise and consequence of playing god with the blood of innocents. But the Hivemind book this reminds me of most is Clayface: One Bad Day. This is a deeply human story with intensely raw emotions – five best friends and their five mysterious parents, tearing one another apart for the promise of some impossible glory that’s waiting just beyond their darkest actions. We’re thrilled to be bringing this story to life with our long-time partner in crime, editor Heather Antos, at IDW Dark – and we’re particularly excited to give our Clayface fans a new, brutal and emotional horror made just for them.”
Adds Collin Kelly, “We’re deconstructing a feeling that seems universal these days; our elders have a death grip on their power, without any intention of giving it up to the generations that come next. YNLTPA is about growing up with the limitless potential of the future… and realizing how much it’s a lie we’ve been fed to keep us under the yoke of the past. Bringing this brutal experience to life is our artist and co-creator, Heather Vaughan, who brings an incredible amount of humanity to our cast. But it’s in our youthful leads that Heather’s art really shines – you are going to fall in love with these young people, even as they go through the worst experience of their lives. What we’ve all crafted together is going to be tragic, painful, but above all else, sincere – with a future so uncertain, there’s only one thing we can trust: you’ll never leave this place alive.”
“Some horror stories are about monsters in the dark. YNLTPA is about realizing the monsters raised you,” previews Senior Group Editor Heather Antos. “Working with Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly on this series has been a dream in the darkest possible way. They’ve built a story that’s layered, brutal, and deeply emotional, and every issue gives artist Heather Vaughan opportunities to push the art into places that feel both haunting and deeply personal. Some horror comics will keep you up at night…this is one that will stick with you for years to come.”
The first issue of You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive goes on sale October 14, 2026! Make sure to pre-order at your local comic shop by September to guarantee a copy.
Exclusively check out the various covers for Issue #1 down below.
IDW Publishing’s horror imprint IDW DARK features comics like A Quiet Place: Storm Warning, Smile: For the Camera, The Exorcism at 1600 Penn, Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees, The Twilight Zone, Event Horizon: Dark Descent & Event Horizon: Inferno, and more.
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