Reinventing Old Stories in The Wicked and The Divine

    The Wicked and The Divine is a unique ongoing comic in that it uses the comic book form to reinvent characters from myth. While this idea has been done in multiple mediums, The Wicked and The Divine takes it in an interesting direction by turning its incarnate gods into pop stars. The premise itself is interesting, however the artist has had probably the most difficult job in redesigning characters that have literally been around for thousands of years. Easily the most interesting choice was the creation of Luci, the comic’s representation of Lucifer. The biggest change about the character is the gender swap, since Lucifer is traditionally represented as a man within different works like Paradise Lost. 
    Why is any of this important? Because it shows that comics have the unique opportunity to alter and adapt five millennia of stories or more for the modern reader. By redesigning such a well known figure as Lucifer, the artist has given the story a pedigree steeped in the history associated with the character. At the same time, having Lucifer wear a pristine white suit that never even ruffles (no matter how gory and chaotic the story can get) sets her up as fashionable and current. In essence, The Wicked and The Divine has taken these old figures from myths and legends and given them a relevant equivalent to today’s readers. After all, these characters were in a way the pop stars of their time, and so that transition is more accurate than readers may initially believe. This entire premise is unique to comics in a way, since it allows both the visual and literary freedoms to alter these well known-characters, and make them more accessible to a modern audience.