Huck Vol. 1

By Mark Millar and Rafael Albuquerque

In a quiet seaside town, a gas station clerk named Huck secretly uses his special gifts to do a good deed each day. When his story leaks, a media firestorm erupts, bringing him uninvited fame. As pieces of Huck 's past begin to resurface, it 's no longer clear who his friends are or whose lives may be in danger. Collects HUCK #1-6

• Language: English
• Publisher: Image Comics, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 20, 2016
• ISBN: 9781534300804

Book preview

Reviews for Huck Vol. 1

[kthxy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Well, it's literally perfect in all of the ways. It's just, I… didn't really relate to the characters? At all? It's all cool to read, but yeah, I didn't relate to the protagonist, or to any god except Sakhmet obviously. So, this is really good, but I don't know if I'm going to read the next volume.

[tobinelliott · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm giving this a four simply for the gorgeous art. The story? Well, at it's heart, it's simply a whodunnit. Who's framing Luci for murder.

I sense that this first volume is really only scratching the surface, setting up the world while, at the same time, attempting to engage the reader through a suspenseful story. Not sure it's completely successful, as we're only given the quickest of sketches for most of the gods.

If the proper care is taken and the characters (not just the gods, but the humans as well) are better explored, as well as the effect they have on the world, and how the world dealt with them 90 years in the past? Yeah, if the creative team can effectively chart that path, then pull it off, this could be a fantastic series.

We shall see.

[jonez-6 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

4.25

I like where the story is going. I love the premise, and the fact that the GODS chosen to be represented are so diverse. The art is also fantastic. On to book two.

[juva_3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Every 90 years 12 gods return, taking over the bodies of teenagers and living as pop stars for 2 years. After this brief time in the spot light, they die. The gods have recently returned and a teenage fan becomes entwined in a murder mystery when she gets brought back stage. She witnesses an assassination attempt in which Lucifer (aka Luci) kills a man in self-defense with a snap of her fingers. Luci is put on trial but the judge is also killed in the same way. Luci says she didn't do this one but no one believes her except our teenage protagonist. She is on a mission to find the real killer and clear Lucifer's name. But interrogating all the newly arrived gods returns no new information. The other gods are content to let Luci remain in prison. They don't know if she's guilty but someone must be punished in order to appease the humans. If things go wrong, there might be no new incarnations. In the end, Lucifer tires of her confinement and burns her way out. She spends a few brief moments sowing chaos before she is executed by her fellow gods. The first volume closes with her young human follower discovering she has taken on some god-like power of her own.

[5eva5 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Every ninety years, twelve gods reincarnate and live like superstars for two years before they die again in a cycle known as the Recurrence. I liked the premise in this one and the characters were potentially very engaging, but with more than 12 characters, set-up takes a lot of time and eventually I lost interest. Also, the art is not a style I enjoy - all characters look the same, the only difference is their hair, makeup, and outfits; I like my characters to have a little more character.

[fred_mouse · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Lush, detailed, beautifully drawn and plotted. Looking forward to the next collection.

[kristymk18-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Hmm. I am not sure how I feel about this graphic novel. On the one hand, the illustrations are great and the story unique; however, I often felt myself getting slightly confused and it didn't hold my interest like I had hoped it would.

[holdenkillfield · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Amazing artwork, but the story was very confusing and hard to follow at times. I found myself re-reading passages, thinking I might have missed something, but I didn't. You feel lost at times, trying to understand what is going on. The artistic choices of lingo for some characters are straight-up nonsensical and I don't believe that was what they were going for. Lots of characters and backgrounds with no real explanation of their connections adds to the confusion. The story is weak in its development, but the premise and the artwork keep me interested in continuing with the series, at least the second book, to see if it improves hopefully.

[rabidgummibear-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Dreamy sighs from me for this book from me. It's got a diverse cast and incredible art, writing, colors just everything. I am on the edge of my seat for issue 6 to be released.

The premise is that gods are resurrected every 92 years and they well this time around become super stars. People follow them basically worshipping them and of course the gods get into trouble.

I read through this entire set so quickly it was ridiculous. I can't recommend the series enough. I think it is something that can bridge the gap between non comic readers. If you like things about gods then I can't recommend this enough.

[allison_s-802575 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

YOU CAN'T JUST END THE VOLUME LIKE THAT

[jonarnold_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Gillen and McKelvie are the most pop-culture aware creators currently working in comics. By which I don’t mean that they’re going to drop a hipper-than-thou reference every few panels (although they’re more than capable of that) but by their awareness of how pop culture works. How it raises icons and then discards them. They’ll be very much aware that The Wicked & the Divine is their imperial phase; the one where they’ve made it and release their world-eating magnum opus after working their way up from the toilet circuit with a small but passionate following (Phonogram) through the progressively bigger superhero series for the Big Two to the work that’ll probably be regarded as their magnum opus. The Wicked & the Divine is effectively an extension of Phonogram’s conceit of music being a form of magic. But whereas Phonogram dealt directly with the music itself (and in the current third volume the pop video) The Wicked & the Divine deals with the way pop culture and music raise celebrities of a short lived nature. Every hundred years or so a group of twelve mortals are raised to godhood for period of up to two years and then perish; the very nature of the series is already a sardonic comment on the need for constant novelty in pop culture. McKelvie and Gillen choosing some current and often fairly obvious visual models for these gods only emphasises this. The Faust Act (a typically brilliantly awful Gillen pun) economically sets up the conceit within the first issues, plus introduces us to the central character Laura (a name Gillen seems very fond of), a 17 year old caught up in the celebrity god worship. She meets Lucifer (yes, that fallen angel Lucifer) backstage at a gig and is introduced to the world of the gods; she’s present when Lucifer apparently blows a judge’s head up whilst on trial (and there are a few pleasing Scanners style moments in this first volume). On the face of it this is a straightforward murder mystery but that’s not really the point of this collection – rather it’s an apotheosis. Does Laura make some kind of deal with the devil? At the point where this ends we don’t quite know what’s going on – the central mystery’s unresolved and our heroine’s in a very interesting place. But it’s an intriguing set-up; the serial storytelling form is expertly used with exquisitely timed cliffhangers and fresh questions driving the reader to come back after each issue.McKelvie’s art and Matt Wilson’s colours are perfect; modern, bright and shiny clean and feeling perfectly attuned to modern electronic pop culture. It understands the importance of iconic moments, of big showstopping panels being a hook and often a chorus. So far this is the equivalent of a perfect EP; five perfect pop songs in one package. All killer, no filler.

[asxz-2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Great premise for a new series which immediately veers away from the expected and delights with some nice references and wit.

[floratina · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Read all my reviews on htpp://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com

I'm not overly experienced with reading comics/graphic novels, but when I read this one was about Gods reincarnating every 90 years to have two happy years, I knew I wanted to read it.

The Gods are pop stars, immensely popular but some of them might also be killers. What is exactly going on, it's hard to tell...

I had some trouble in the beginning to understand what was going on. The story moves really fast and it took me some time to get into it. But after that, it really was enjoyable. I never quite figured out which Gods they were representing. It looks like a weird mix of all kinds of different polytheistic religions. Nevertheless, I found the story quite interesting and I want to know what else is going to happen after The Faust Act. The artwork was very bright and colourful, but I liked it. It worked great with the story.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

[katesherrod · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this duo's Phonogram books and these have the same energy and verve. Beautiful art about beautiful people and how crappy beautiful people can be. Adore them or GTFO.

[adaorhell · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

HOLY SHIT. stunning art work, beautifully crafted story, a main character, who looks like me, who reflects me in her little mulatto face. FUCK THIS IS AMAZING.

[octjillery · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

//Second reading because it's been a year and I forgot most of this volume.

The lineart, the colors, the panel layout, the text placement, the story itself--there's honestly so much to love about this book. The idea of immortals "dying" and being reborn decades later is really interesting, though we aren't told the why at this point. Laura is a fun protagonist in that she's quippy and sarcastic, but also still a teenage girl who's infatuated with all of these gods posing as pop stars.

The characters are incredibly expressive and unique. The gods are oversexed and mostly indifferent to mortals--but what else would you expect? I like that they're from a variety of cultures and faiths, because the overall effect is then more sci-fi rather than religious, which is funny in a way.

[widsith_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Here we have a variant on an idea that's been rehearsed by several writers recently: twelve gods from world mythology are incarnated on earth every ninety years, for two years, after which they die and the process begins again. During the current incarnation, all twelve are pop stars in London, which seems unlikely but at least sets up a productive theme about the deification of musicians and the burn-out rate of modern celebrity.For such a strong hook, it's rather badly set up and I couldn't shake a vague feeling at the beginning that we were following the wrong aspects of the story. As cool as our central character is, I was less interested in her and more interested in how these twelve people found out that they were to become divine; there is a little of that in a flashback, but overall I had the sense that Gillen and McKelvie were skipping over all the most promising aspects of their concept.The artwork I thought was just OK, although the colouring (by Matt Wilson) is sometimes spectacular, a dreamy haze of luminescent pastel gradients.The rest of the time it has that recognisably Anglo-American visual style that I associate with superhero strips – high in saturation, low in background detail, with most of the panels framed closely around the characters.Being more familiar with European comics, I found myself thinking of Enki Bilal's Nikopol Trilogy, in which a near-future Europe sees fascistic dictatorships negotiating with the gods of the Egyptian pantheon. Most of the themes are not really the same, but Bilal's work does have a strangeness, an other-worldliness, that Wicked + Divine never reaches, as well as a genuine sense of shock which this comic can only simulate by means of a couple of explosively gory set-pieces.I did love the fact that it's basically all female characters, and I also loved seeing the London music scene put front and centre in a comic book like this. I will probably pick up parts two and three if I see them in a shop, but I doubt I'll go out of my way to order them.

[arewenotben · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Didn't have a clue what was going on for large periods but looks lovely and was reasonably engaging. Nice to read a graphic novel set mostly in South London too.

[tapestry100 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Thoroughly enjoyed this first volume. I think it expertly answers the question of what would happen if gods actually existed in today's social media crazed society: instead of being worshiped as just gods, they would be worshiped as rockstars, and they would play the part accordingly. I'm really interested to see where the rest of this series goes.

[tiffy_reads · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

At first I thought I wasn't going to enjoy this one even though it came highly recommended. I was incredibly wrong. I devoured this graphic novel and I can't wait to see what happens in the next volume.

[rosa.mill · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wow I can't believe I almost missed out on this. Art is beautiful; concept is amazing. Can't wait for the rest of the series.

[m_mozeleski · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love this type of story.
The gods are real. Embodied in human bodies for two years, followed by their exit left and reincarnation 90 years later, this cycle has been, undoubtedly, one of the most public. Of course, every God has their followers, but what of the gods themselves?
Luci just has a hard time adjusting this go-round, but Laura tries to see past the God(dess) and look at Luci as a person. This may not be the wisest choice.

A refreshing take on where Gods go, are, and exist.

[fyrefly98 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Summary: In the world of The Wicked and the Divine, every 90 years ago, twelve gods return into the bodies of young people. They live for two years, idolized and feared by the public, and then at the end of that time, they die.In Volume 1, seventeen-year-old Laura is a superfan of the gods. She's seen them all - all of them that give public performances, anyways. So when she's invited - by Lucifer! - to meet Amaterasu personally, she's beside herself. But when the meeting turns into an assassination attempt, which then turns deadly for the assassins (it doesn't pay to anger the gods, after all), Laura starts to wonder what she's gotten in to. Especially when Luci's trial goes awry, and she's locked up for good. Laura wants to help her, but what can she do, against the combined powers of mortal justice and immortal anger?Review: I got interested in mythology in sixth grade, and since then it's been a continuing interest. I absolutely love fiction that looks at mythology and how it intersects with life, or that has mythological figures interacting with real life. So The Wicked and the Divine was right square in the middle of my wheelhouse.Or at least, it was, once I expanded my horizons a little bit. The first time I read Vol. 1, I liked the concept a lot, but I had absolutely no idea who most of the gods in that volume *were*. I knew Lucifer, of course, and had a decent idea about Sekhmet and Woden, and had heard of Ba'al and Morrigan, but Amaterasu? Baphomet? No clue. (And I couldn't figure out what the deal was with The Morrigan's three incarnations, and why they were separate but only counted as one of the 12.) So the first time through, I was pretty lost, not with the story per se, but certainly with a lot of the context and deeper meanings. The second time through, I had the Wikipedia app pulled up on my phone, and things went much more smoothly. It's a very complicated world that Gillen's building, but he's doing so at a very nice pace - some things are a little confusing, especially initially, but we get backstory and explanations not only at a good rate, but also in places that feel organic to the story (no infodumping!). There's also plenty of things left hinted at but unexplained; plenty of room left to dig deeper into this world, which I really appreciate, and makes me want to keep reading. The art is lovely throughout; lots of color and movement and supernatural effects that could look super-cheesy but don't. Lots of cool paneling decisions, and the characters are drawn realistically and very detailed but still quite clean. 4 out of 5 stars.Recommendation: If you like mythology - any kind of mythology, or all kinds of mythology - this is the series for you. If you've grown up on Rick Riordan books (or are a grown up who likes Rick Riordan books), then this book has a similar vibe of the world of the gods impinging on regular life. (But definitely grown-ups only; it's not Saga but there's definitely sex and drugs and violence and rock-and-roll and swearing.)

[bravenewbks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Okay, I'm late to the party on this one, but WOW. Immediately became a favorite and I ordered the next two volumes within five minutes of finishing this one. The art is glorious, the story is entrancing, the characters feel fresh, and so the whole package is just one big beautiful excitement bomb.

[booklover3258 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Loved the artwork in this graphic novel! At first I was a wee bit confused as to what was going on with the story, but it picked up afterwards. Luci (a.k.a Lucifer) was my favorite character. Definitely graphic and not for the faint of heart. I'm thinking I'm going to continue reading the series just to see where it goes next.

[wyvernfriend · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What if every 90 years a cohort of gods reappeared for 2 years before flaming out. What if they're artists and musicians and superstars, people with influence. They are guided by Ananke who has lived on, deathless.It's an interesting world and an interesting read and the end shocked me.

[cassiewinters-2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was floored by this graphic novel. I did not know anything about it, but I saw it on a wikipedia page that discussed transgender characters in different media. There is a service called HOOPLA that my local library participates in. From there I was able to check this out. I enjoyed it greatly! I enjoyed it so much that I immediately checked out the second volume and read it just as quickly as I did this volume.

[smokler_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Gods come back every 90 years as pop stars and have 2 years to live. What a great concept. Can't wait to read more.

[apokoliptian · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is not another Phonogram installment, but has all the pop music references that spices this series. Expect to see the likeness of David Bowie, Rihanna, Marylin Manson, Jay Z and snippets of lyrics all over the dialogues.The premise is that every 90 years the gods come to Earth in the form of pop artists to point out the next routes of behaviour and culture and have a good time. Bad thing: once you are discovered as a god, you only have 2 years to live. Only this could make a good series, but they also put a crime to hotwire the book.Kieron Gillen is more cryptic in this time, spinning a tale that demands the second reading, in a Grant Morrison way. Jamie McKelvie's clean art is more mature and the colours give a good contribution to it.All in all, it is fun and left me wanting for more.

[needmoreshelves · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another graphic novel, another one I've heard raves about, with good reason. Every 90 years, twelve gods become incarnate as humans. Some people love them, some people hate them, within 2 years they are all dead. This is the story of what happens when they come back. It's a freaking fascinating idea, and the story is strong. The illustrations in this book are gorgeous, and the characters are complex and interesting. I feel like I'm just scratching the surface of what graphic novels have to offer, but if they are consistently this good I think I've found a new genre. This series is definitely more adult, so reader beware, but I'm hooked.