The Wicked + Divining Comics # 14
Annotations of THE WICKED AND THE DIVINE # 14
This post may be truncated if read as an email. Click here to read on the website
In the early 2010s, Image comics began one of its most prolific, critically acclaimed, and high selling eras since its founding. High-profile creators began beloved series like SAGA, BLACK SCIENCE, DEADLY CLASS, EAST OF WEST, SEX CRIMINALS, BITCH PLANET, and more. One of those series was THE WICKED + THE DIVINE, from writer Kieron Gillen, artist Jamie McKelvie, colorist Matt Wilson, and letterer Clayton Cowles. It was one of the first series I got into during college, when I actually had money to spend for myself.
This year marks the 10-year anniversary of its publication, and I wanted to commemorate my love of this series with a gift only I could provide: too many words. I'll be annotating the entire series with the end in mind, so SPOILERS WILL FOLLOW. You can show your appreciation for this hard work and get me to write more consistently by supporting me on Patreon or giving me a one-time tip here. In issue 14, the third issue in volume 3 aka "Commercial Suicide," Woden remixes and recontextualizes the past of the series, revealing who killed the judge back in issue 1.
Corrections and Addenda from last week
I'm going to add a correction myself - I forgot to note that, on the Icon recap page, it now says that "Fangirl Laura and god Inanna investigated a possible conspiracy, but were murdered by Ananke and Baphomet respectively." While Issue 12 neatly dodges the issue of Baphomet not actually being a murderer, these recap pages are outright lying. Ah well, that's the nature of spoilers I guess.
Solicitation
Behind the music, Woden's stayed back from the spotlight. But in this issue? We look beneath the mask. Shall we say it's the most audacious and experimental issue of WicDiv yet? I think so.
The gang is calling their shots in the promos! As always, I love how descriptive these try to be without saying anything at all about what happens.
Behind the Scenes
These don't really fit anywhere, as they have to do with the process of constructing the whole issue. But, in the collected editions, the team shares some behind-the-scenes notes on the construction of this issue.
Matt Wilson had the idea of adding in digital artifacts from the original, pre-sampled pages bleeding though.
Gillen basically did what I did in reverse, finding every single panel he could use for the story and catalogued them for ease of use in sampling. He notes that using Cassandra was easy because she almost always wears the same all-black outift. The same works for Woden, whose obscured face means he can be reused even if the original emotions don't match up 100%. The difficulty came with how much they had to use Ananke. The solution they arrived at was that each scene in issue 14 would use an Ananke from a different issue.
We don't learn a whole lot from this page, but it is fun.
Covers
A Cover - Jamie McKelvie Woden
This is the third issue with the centered circle logo. To me, Woden here looks exactly like the "You know I had to do it to em" meme. This is entirely possible as the meme came around about one year before this issue was published, but seemingly unlikely as the Know Your Meme page says it didn't gain in popularity until a few years after it was originally posted.
B Cover - Grimes…uh, I don't really know to be quite honest.
Yes, it is that Grimes. According to the writer notes for this issue, they asked Grimes to "riff on the Norns of the Valkyries or something and see what you end up with."
Icons
The third skull (fourth if you count The Morrigan, I guess, but I don't) has been added to the circle. Once again, the Morrigan's jail cell bars are added in the collected edition and the recap lies about who murdered Inanna.
This issue is also dedicated to Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky, the creators behind the comic SEX CRIMINALS. There had been a friendly rivalry going between the series. It stated with cove homages, including later several variant covers done in the style of THE WICKED + THE DIVINE.
As we'll see later on, it escalated to a side character in SEX CRIMINALS being cast in a THE WICKED + THE DIVINE themed adult film. That gets responded to here. As Gillen puts it, "We were considering having it be 'THIS ISSUE IS DEDICATED TO MATT FRACTION AND CHIP ZDARSKY. YOUR MOVE.' but that would have only encouraged them."
Page 1
Panel 1
Woden is talking to someone, but at this point in the comic we don't know who. We find out visually at the end of this issue that he is talking to someone dressed in a blue helmet that is very visually similar to Woden's, and further that their "voice" via the stylized word balloons is similar (but pink) to Woden's word balloons. Much, much later (like, issue 33) the blue helmet is revealed to belong to Mimir, the irony being that this issue only shows his head because that is all he's got.
This and the final page are essentially the only new pages from McKelvie, especially since there is no "Videogames" backup this issue.
Page 2
Because this issue is told is flashback, we only get the general "2014."
Re-Re-Remix sounds like a DJ scratching a record that says the "remix". It also calls attention to the meta stylings of this issue as one that not only remixes things, but remixes the remix (re-remixing it). It also lets readers know what is happening. They don't all pay attention to this series as much as I do.
Because this issue is told is flashback, we only get the general "2014."
Re-Re-Remix sounds like a DJ scratching a record that says the "remix". It also calls attention to the meta stylings of this issue as one that not only remixes things, but remixes the remix (re-remixing it). It also lets readers know what is happening. They don't all pay attention to this series as much as I do.
Page 3
Panel 1
This is taken from issue 7, page 16, panel 5.
Woden refers to her as Kerry, not as Brunhilde. Being himself an ordinary person granted godlike powers through technology, it seems he doesn't view the Valkyries, or at least the former one who tried to kill him, as worthy of divinity.
Panel 2
This is taken from issue 7, page 16, panel 4. I believe the drawing of the gun is new, but they took the image from the prior panel and put it partly in Woden's reflective helmet and added a mirror image of Brunhilde/Kerry.
Woden's fear here must be genuine. I see no reason for him to lie to Mimir about his fear of mortality.
Panel 3
This is sampling the same panel as panel 1. It is also the clearest representation on this page of an idea that colorist Matt Wilson had of keeping a "ghost" image of the original page. This panel is zoomed in slightly, but the second, actually black gun is said digital artifact ghost.
This might be the first official confirmation we get that Woden is working alongside Ananke in secret, and that she isn't totally improising but does have a plan.
Page 4
These panels are the same as the page prior, just zoomed in more.
Panel 2
The line "Just shoot," could be a reference to the censored and later published issue of HELLBLAZER called "Shoot," written by Warren Ellis and drawn by Phil Jimenez. Gillen mentions that others made the comparison and "they wouldn't be wrong."
Page 5
Hoo boy, this is quite the remix page. It's almost a recap of the series thus far, exploding out of Woden's brain like blood splatter. His head is the same head used the previous two pages.
Starting from the top left, Laura singing is taken from issue 11, page 21, panel 3. The Norns are from issue 9, page 19, panel 2. Brunhilde's suit disintegration is issue 9, page 13, panel 1. The prior Ragnarock panel is used multiple times already, but is first from issue 9, page 14, panel 1. Inanna's pose is from issue 6, page 12, panel 1. Lucifer's pose comes all the way back from issue 1, page 23, panel 3. The house exploding is Laura's, from issue 11, page 26, panel 1. The Morrigan's head comes from issue 3, page 3 panel 4. The bus and Baal's sportscar comes from issue 8, page 28 panel 1. Lucifer's headless body falling is from issue 5, page 16, panel 2. Phew.
Page 6
Panel 1
This is a very straightforward reuse of issue 7, page 17, panel 1. It concludes the prior scene, but also allows a transition to the next scene, which is entirely new to us the viewer.
Panel 2
Here we start getting some heavily reworked panels as opposed to the pure remix. The foreground and setting is from issue 9, page 2, panel 3, but, as Gillen notes, Minerva had to be removed, they used Ananke's pose from page 5, panel 3 of the issue, and grabbed a Woden from (I think) issue 4, page 8-9 (a double page spread). The pose is right, but they would have had to remove Brunhilde and Baal's necklace.
Ananke is using some dark puns for "reaping" and "sowing," I'd say. We get some more development at her newly revealed arrangement with Woden, him wanting very much not to upset her and her teaching him about manipulation.
Panel 3
I think this is that same dang Woden panel used a bunch already.
Woden line about how "a god can't be hurt…but I was scared" really is quite revealing, as he isn't a god at all and very much could have been hurt.
Panel 4
Ananke's pose is from issue 9, page 9, panel 3. The back of Woden's head is from issue 8, page 13, panel 3 (not counting the "1-2-3-4").
Page 7
Panel 1
Ananke is taken from issue 9, page 6, panel 1.
Panel 2
Woden is taken from issue 7, page 15, panel 8.
Gillen notes that some of these backgrounds haven't been used in-issue before, but are from previously created 3D models that Jamie McKelvie uses to design interior spaces.
"All on the payroll" suggests that Ananke has been using her near-infinite lifetimes making some smart investments.
Panel 3
Ananke is taken from issue 9, page 6, panel 4.
Panel 4
Woden is taken from issue 7, page 15, panel 4.
Panel 5
Ananke is taken from issue 9, page 7, panel 6.
Gillen writes that this panel was included as an explanation as to why this isn't a "supeheros and the government" comic
Panel 6
Ananke is taken from issue 9, page 13, panel 4.
Alas, Carthage does not come back in this series in the specials or in issue 36's list of every pantheon. Her reference is to Rome's siege of Carthage which began in 149 BCE and ended 3 years late in 146. This was part of the Third Punic War between the two city-empires. After Scipio Aemilianus took control and finally won for the Romans, they destroyed the city and either killed or enslaved all of its inhabitants. The site was essentially totally abandoned for a century before being rebuilt as a Roman city. Hence, Ananke's joke that property values are going to go way down.
Panel 7
Woden is taken from. Ananke is taken from issue 9, page 14, panel 2 and reversed.
Panel 8
Anake is taken from issue 9, page 15, panel 4.
I wonder if this is the point that Ananke realizes that Laura is Persephone.
Page 8
Panel 1
This panel is a zoomed in issue 7, page 15, panel 8.
Like in prior issues where pages are reused, this panel does a good job revealing new information about things we already read. Woden was aware of Laura's investigation and was simply playing with her.
Panel 2
This Woden is from issue 7, page 14, panel 4.
Panel 3
This Ananke is from issue 9 page 4, panel 1.
Panel 4
This Woden is from issue 7, page 16, panel 3.
Woden's rambling on lets Ananke know that he has been keeping an eye on Cassandra. She (Ananke) really is a master manipulator. This also shapes Woden conversation with Cassandra next scene. He tries to play it cool, but Ananke has already called him out for being a creep in the next panel.
Panel 5
This Ananke is from issue 9, page 14, panel 1
Panel 6
This Woden is flipped from issue 8, page 15, panel 1 (not counting the "1-2-3-4"). This Ananke is from issue 9, page 7, panel 5, flipped and with her arm removed.
Woden loves speaking in club DJ puns. Like Gillen notes, all the characters are bits of him, for better or for worse.
Panel 7
This Ananke is from issue 9, page 9, panel 6.
Ananke is able to manipulate people because she understands their hamartia, their fatal flaw that attracts them to godhood. For Cassandra it is ego, the thinking that she can and indeed deserves to change the world through truthtelling.
Panel 8
This Woden is from issue 7, page 11, panel 1. This Ananke is from issue 9, page 9, panel 3.
Page 9
Panel 1
This is from issue 8, page 15, panel 4 (not counting the "1-2-3-4").
The fascinating part to me is that Woden view Dionysus as an enemy, as opposed to the rest of the pantheon. This is most likely because he is one of the hardest to manipulate. Dionysus's ethical hedonism and non-stop partying makes it hard to get him to do anything that isn't more raving. Woden even thinks Cass, the stereotype of an extreme feminist activist, could be his ally. While that may not be true, he can certainly direct her energies.
Panel 2
This Cassandra is from issue 2, page 17, panel 5.
Panel 3
This Woden is from issue 7, page 12, panel 2.
I wonder how much emphasis we are to put on the "just" in "not just hitting on you." Woden certainly wouldn't be above such vulgarity.
Panel 4
This Woden is from issue 7, page 15, panel 4
Panel 5
This Cassandra is from issue 2, page 17, panel 3.
Panel 6
This Woden is from issue 7, page 16, panel 3.
Woden is what I've long predicted what might become the future of the more fascist wing of politics: trans-inclusive misogyny.
Panel 7
This Cassandra is from issue 3, page 23, panel 6.
Page 10
I'm positive we've used all of these Woden's before (except panel 4). Do you still want me to spell it all out?
Fine. No rest for the wicked.
Panel 1
This Woden is from issue 7, page 15, panel 2.
Panel 2
This Woden is from issue 7, page 15, panel 4.
The "godhood methadone" line works as a critique of Laura. Hell, it could work as a critique of me writing all this. Is criticism artist methadone?
Panel 3
This Woden is from issue 7, page 12, panel 2, zoomed in.
Because of the layers of performance here, it is hard to tell how seriously Woden is being. This is him recounting a story to his son of a time he was manipulating someone else. That being said, I think we are supposed to detect some self-hatred here. Woden is pathetic, and he knows it, and that's why he's so awful.
Panel 4
This Woden is from issue 7, page 11, panel 2.
Panel 5
This Woden is from issue 7, page 15, panel 8.
Panels like this reinforce the performance of all this. No one like a salesmen to tell you they aren't selling anything.
Panel 6
This Cassandra is from issue 9, page 12, panel 1, but flipped.
Panel 7
This Woden is from issue 7, page 15, panel 4, but flipped.
Of course, Woden is partially right. The patriarchy does hurt, well, not everybody (the patriarchs tend to do fine), but doesn't just hurt non-men. Of course, a partial truth means it's also a partial falsehood. That's why they're dangerous.
Panel 8
This Cassandra is from issue 3, page 23, panel 1.
Page 11
I had trouble finding the sources of the public domain images sampled in the background here. If you know, please share in the comments.
Panel 1
This Woden is from issue 7, page 11, panel 2. The background seems to have the Tower of Babel, but isn't any of the works of classical art I can find.
Gillen says that this part of the rant comes from THE RED QUEEN by Matt Ridley, a book he had to read as a student about human sexual selection and evolution. Which is to say, he isn't confident at all that it holds up, scientifically speaking. But it works for someone like Woden.
Panel 2
Same Woden as above.
Writing someone who is slightly self-aware almost prevents Woden from falling for your classic alpha/beta/sigma Men's Rights nonsense. What you get is almost worse. I presume that is the tie-in to the background, a drawing of wolves. Interestingly enough, the "alpha male" wolf hypothesis is no longer scientifically accepted, as it is only the observed behavior of wolves in captivity and not in the wild. Other animals retain the inter-male competition for dominance, because there are countless variations of behavior in nature and drawing human morality from animal examples is a silly and logically invalid practice.
Panel 3
This Woden is from issue 7, page 12, panel 2.
This is presumably a picture from World War I, the era that Woden argues it was definitely better to have been a woman than a man. Gillen says that this thought came about after listening to the WWI episodes of the podcast HARDCORE HISTORY.
Page 12
Panel 1
This Woden is, I believe, from issue 7, page 12, panel 6. The background image is the Angel of the Lord intervening to stop Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac. It is an engraving printed in the book HISTORIA SAGRADA, a compendium of illustrations of the Old and New Testaments, by Juan Laguia Lliteras. Here is the watermarked image that I am claiming fair use on. That's how that works, right? I'm not a copyright lawyer.
Gillen says the idea that patriarchy isn't rule by men, but rule by fathers comes from a book he actually thinks is quality, UNSPEAKABLE THINGS by Laurie Penny.
Panel 2
This Cassandra is from issue 8, page 15, panel 1 (not counting the "1-2-3-4").. This Woden is from issue 7, page 14, panel 4.
As Gillen puts it, "Nihilism is an awful position, but it's also a hard one to argue against." He reminds me of someone I knew, we'll call him the Awful Italian, who understood that certain political options would cause things to be worse for women, but that, to paraphrase him, "as a straight white man, it is in my self-interest to keep those things from happening."
Panel 3
This Cassandra comes from issue 9, page 15, panel 1.
Panel 4
This Woden comes from issue 7, page 14, panel 6.
Panel 5
This Cassandra comes from issue 4, page 2, panel 1. This Woden comes from issue 7, page 13, panel 3.
Page 13
Panel 1
This page of the Norns is from their transformation in issue 9, page 19, panel 2.
Woden just keeps telling on himself about his own fantasies. Disgusting. But, he is learning from Ananke. He reveals some truths to Cassandra about the shooters without revealing the bigger picture, leading everyone to conclude that Lucifer did in fact kill the judge. Gillen writes about how an ongoing theme of this issue is the tarnishing of the reader's perception of the gods. Woden is odious, and seeing how he manipulates them brings them down to his level. It turns out (cue the Daft Punk reference with Woden's outfit) they were Human After All.
Inset 1
This panel of the shooters is from issue 1, page 22, panel 3.
Inset 2
This panel of Lucifer's foot is from issue 1, page 25, panel 4.
Inset 3
These panels are originally from issue 6, page 14, panels 1 and 5.
Page 14
Panel 1
Gillen admits that the over-the-shoulder Ananke was a new drawing for this issue. The Woden all down this page is from issue 7, page 15, panel 3. The courtroom is from issue 1, page 26, panel 2.
Woden uses the necklace he gave Amaterasu to scry. I feel like I remember her telling everyone that the necklace was from the 1920s pantheon, but I can't find where. If you remember, please share.
Panel 2
Lucifer preparing to snap is from issue 1, page 28, panel 5.
Panel 3
The snap is from issue 1, page 29, panel 3.
Ananke seems to have been hoping that Lucifer actually would kill the judge here, and improvises when she doesn't.
Page 15
Panel 1
The snap is from issue 11, page 22, panel 3, when Ananke "kills" Laura.
This is the first time we get confirmation that Ananke killed the judge. People might have expected it, after she "killed" Laura and Tara, but this is kind of a big deal, understated. This was the initial mystery hook of the series, and Gillen notes that after this issue some readers were confused as to what the ongoing plot of the series even is at this point.
Panel 2
The exploding head is from issue 1, page 30, panel 1. Woden is (I believe) from issue 7 page 11, panel 1, but with an arm borrowed from somewhere else. It could be from issue 7, page 17, panel 1.
Panel 3
The Woden is from issue 7, page 15, panel 8, used multiple times before, but here his left arm is duplicated and flipped so that both hands are up.
Panel 4
Ananke is from issue 4, page 10, panel 5.
Her comment about things usually turning out well is confirmed in the "all the Anankes vs all the Persephones" sequence in issue 36
Page 16
This whole page draws from issue 5. Gillen insisted on using Impact font for the fake dialog. This ties it into the internet meme culture, another form of remixing. It also brings back the theme of tarnishing the gods by not taking them seriously. They are punchlines, image macros to be shared and forgotten.
Panel 1
Baal's lightning smash is from issue 5, page 5, panel 1. Woden's parody dialog confirms to me that he 100% has tweeted derisively about "sportsball."
Panel 2
Baal emerging from the fire is from issue 5, page 7, panel 2. Interestingly enough, this happens chronologically after panel 3. Gillen wants to make a shirt from this.
Panel 3
Lucifer's flames are from issue 5, page 6, panel 1.
Woden's dialog slips into his usual perversion here.
Panel 4
Sakhmet's lunge is from issue 5, page 7, panel 1.
Panel 5
This panel and the following are actually contiguous in the original. Scratched-up Lucifer is from issue 5, page 11, panel 3…
Panel 6
And Baal's sneer is from the next panel, issue 5, page 11, panel 4.
Page 17
The backgrounds of these scenes are not technically from any older pages. Jamie McKelvie designs some sets with 3D rendering software, SketchUp, to ensure continuity. They processed screenshots from that to this wire frame for these panels. It also works to give the page a TRON visual style, another one of Woden's visual inspirations.
Panel 1
This is the Pantheon's throne room in Valhalla, first seen in issue 4, pages 8 and 9. Woden is taken from issue 7, page 15, panel 7.
Woden talks about Ananke assigning Woden work such as designing Valhalla. In reality, it is Mimir who builds all of this. That makes the narration kind of awkward, given that Woden is talking to Mimir. Perhaps Mimir simply manifests these things, but Woden designs them?
Panel 2
This pre-incarnation Ragnarock convention was first seen in issue 6, page 14, panel 1.
Panel 3
The Ragnarock music festival was first seen in issue 10, pages 4 and 5.
Page 18 (NSFW IMAGES WARNING)
These two pages are actually from SEX CRIMINALS by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky, issue 9, page 14-16. There, a character is acting in a porn parody of THE WICKED + THE DIVINE. Instead of usual colorer Matt Wilson, these pages were colored by series flatter Dee Cunniffe.
Panel 1
This is from SEX CRIMINALS # 9, page 14, panel 6. The blue outlined character was originally Jamie McKelvie.
Panel 2
This is from SEX CRIMINALS # 9, page 15, panel 1. Originally, instead of Woden, they drew in Kieron Gillen. This Woden, used again in panel 4 and on the next page in panel 8, is from THE WICKED + THE DIVINE issue 8 page 13, panel 4 (not counting the "1-2-3-4").
How much do I need to comment on the grossness of Woden these pages? He's nasty. His philosophy is morally repugnant. Let's keep going.
Panel 3
This is from SEX CRIMINALS # 9, page 16, panel 1.
Okay, there actually is something interesting here. Woden talks about being able to do this because he can "take women and forge that they're people." Right before this, he says this is why he doesn't "regret giving up (his) face." You would think it is the opposite. He would put a mask on the women to more easily dehumanize them, like Stormtroopers in STAR WARS. The opposite is the case. He first needs to dehumanize himself. The twisted pleasure he gets here relies on the double knowledge of knowing that these are people despite not treating them as such. As stated before, Woden's pure nihilism is particularly heinous because he is aware of all the arguments for good and yet rejects them out of hand.
Panel 4
Woden rejects any notion of moral desserts, because to accept this would be to acknowledge that his victims deserve better. He'd rather nihilism and raw power arbitrate morality than feel a twang of guilt.
Panel 5
This is from SEX CRIMINALS # 9, page 15, panel 4, the same as panel 2 on the next page.
Page 19
Panel 1
This Amaterasu is from issue 1, page 13, panel 3.
Panel 3
This is from SEX CRIMINALS # 9, page 15, panel 5.
Woden is being gross and possessive this whole page.
Panel 4
This Lucifer is from issue 1, page 27, panel 8.
Panel 5
This is from SEX CRIMINALS # 9, page 15, panel 6.
Panel 6
This is from SEX CRIMINALS # 9, page 15, panel 7.
Panel 7
This Cassandra is from issue 3, page 23, panel 6.
This is what we call "ominous foreshadowing" in the biz.
Page 20
Panel 1
Woden is from issue 7, page 15, panel 1. I'm not sure exactly where the pillars come from, or if they are reused from a 3D model. They are clearly Valhalla, most reminiscent of how it looked in issue 9, page 9, panel 4.
Woden is, because of his fraudulent deity, way more afraid of death than any of the other gods.
Panel 2
This Ananke is from issue 11, page 26, panel 3. Blood is added to her face.
The body needing moving is Inanna's, being moved from outside Laura's house to the Church that Baphomet blew up. Thinking through it now, I'm not sure what body the first-time reader would assume this was.
Panel 3
This Woden is (once again) from issue 7, page 16, panel 4. It remains from that source for the following three panels.
Panel 6
This calls back to Woden's line to Cassandra that "We are all serfs." Clearly, he disagrees with himself, or at least thinks through his deal with Ananke he has ascended above serfdom.
Page 21
Panel 1
This Ananke is from issue 11, page 25, panel 5, flipped, from when Ananke kills Laura's parents.
Panel 2
Another popular Woden. This one is, once again, from issue 7, page 15, panel 4.
Panel 3
This Ananke is from issue 11, page 15, panel 5. It is from before Ananke "kills" Persephone (and actually kills Inanna), so the blood had to be re-added for this panel. Matt Wilson gets a lion's share of credit for making this issue work.
This sequence serves to explain why Woden in the future acts against Ananke. He is purely self-interested, and in her anger she misjudged how to treat him and guarantee loyalty.
Panel 4
This Ananke is from issue 11, page 25, panel 3.
Ananke, being actually functionally immortal, views Woden as merely a tool.
Panel 5
This Woden is from issue 7, page 11, panel 2.
Her comment about what "exactly" he is foreshadows the reveal that he is a total fraud without any godly powers. Further, it references the many awful things he does, like how he treats women.
Page 22
Woden gets a false incarnation sequence. Instead of many Ananke heads saying this, it is many Woden heads saying this to himself, and in a broader sense to Mimir. Thus, we should not take it literally when it says he is "of the pantheon." The repeated lines about how he will and should be hated are a reflection of how he feels about himself.
The heads are from (left to center, then repeating in reverse) issue 7, page 14, panel 6, issue 7, page 16, panel 4, issue 7, page 15, panel 2, and issue 7, page 11, panel 2. The falling Woden might actually be a cut and past job. He looks like he got one hand from issue 7, page 15, panel 4, one hand from issue 7, page 14, panel 4. As for the rest of his body, I can't find the source.
Page 23
Panel 1
This Ananke face is from issue 11, page 24, panel 1. They also took the snap from issue 11, page 22, panel 3, but this time instead of drawing blood it removed blood. That way, the art team can use panels from earlier in the sequence, before Ananke's violent turn.
Panel 2
This Woden is from issue 7, page 11, panel 2.
Panel 3
This Ananke is from issue 11, page 14, panel 7
Panel 4
This Ananke is from issue 11, page 25, panel 1. Ironically, this panel had to have the blood digitally removed.
Panel 5
This Woden is from issue 7, page 16, panel 3.
Gillen used this same pun for his later series DIE, drawn by Stephanie Hans, who draws the next issue.
Panel 6
This Tara is from issue 13, page 10, panel 3.
Panel 7
This Tars is from issue 13, page 21, panel 3.
Page 24
The 1-2-3-4 page motif returns. It was last seen in issue 8, I believe. The headshots are mirrored with (mostly) their decapitations, fitting given how obsessed this series is with heads and skulls.
Panel 1
This Lucifer is from issue 1, page 14, panel 5. It is the panel where Lucifer first introduces herself to Laura, saying "You can call me Luci."
Panel 2
This Inanna is from issue 6, page 16, panel 2. Inanna is saying "I've got no reason to be afraid any more." Gillen notes that the process of picking which headshot to use here "felt particularly cruel."
Panel 3
This Tara is from issue 13, page 29, panel 3. This is the Videogames short for the issue, meaning it is one of the only times thus far that McKelvie has actually drawn Tara.
Panel 4
This question mark is interesting. It foreshadows the ritual that Ananke engages in, which requires four severed heads. Woden, of course, doesn't know this. But, there's more. The reader, but presumably not Woden, knows that Laura was incarnated as Persephone, and first-time readers assume Laura was killed. She would be the question mark spot. But! Re-readers, ie, the only people who know about Ananke's four-head ritual, would also know that Laura isn't really dead.
Page 25
Panel 1
This exploding Lucifer is from issue 5, page 16, panel 1.
Panel 2
This exploding church is from issue 11, page 13, panel 1. It isn't actually where Inanna died, but it isn't clear if Woden knows that or not. Presumably, he had to move the body, but it might have been burnt enough that Woden thought it was Laura's.
Panel 3
This exploding Tara is from issue 13 page 20, panel 1.
Page 26
Panel 2
"I won't let her get you" is a surprisingly revealing comment. Ananke is killing gods, and Woden is safe because he isn't actually one of them, whereas Mimir is. Woden doesn't know about the ritual, but presumably Mimir is in extra danger because he is already decapitated and could be used for the fourth head. From that, we can deduce that Ananke doesn't know for sure how to access Mimir or where he is hidden.
Panel 3
And now we finally meet Woden's interlocutor. It won't be until issue 33 that we learnt his is Mimir, aka Jon Blake, the son of David Blake, aka Woden. It is apt that all we see here is a head, as David cut off his son's head.
Page 27
Thought and Memory are associated with Odin/Woden's ravens, Huginn and Muninn. Though this association is traditional, Muninn is perhaps better translated as "will." This is relevant because a different character in Norse myth whose name is translated as memory is Mimir, whom we met but didn't realize the page before. This also work thematically with the issue, given much of it was about re-contextualizing past events or memories via Woden sharing his thoughts with Mimir.
18 August is the same date listed at the end of last issue. Because the next issue also begins with 18 August, my interpretation is that Tara died at sunset on the 17th and this is after midnight on the 18th. The date from the prior issue is after her death becomes public, also on the 18th.
Backmatter
No letters again. Gillen promises that there will be room for some soon. Otherwise he talks briefly about this issue's remix nature and that there are t-shirt orders coming soon.
Back Cover Quote
You're not stupid, are you? Just evil." - Cassandra -
And that is the conclusion to my annotation of THE WICKED + THE DIVINE # 14. Did I miss anything in those 5800 words? By god, this is the longest one yet, but it's definitely possible. Are you named Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, Matt Wilson, Clayton Cowles, Hannah Donovan, or Chrissy Williams and would like to correct the record on anything? Comment below! I will issue any corrections in the next annotation and add a note on this one. See you soon for issue # 15