Divinity 1-4 assessment

[jmatt]

On the whole, I think Divinity was a little mediocre in some ways.

I like the overall concept for the character and the book. I think the art and color and covers were great. The telling of his backstory was good in concept and execution

But I can't shake this feeling of being a little letdown in the two crescendos:

1) His encounter with the Unknown was less awe inspiring than I had hoped. The imagery was good with the nebulas, etc but ... that's it? No communication with a being? No grand vision or revelation? No interaction other than looking at it, killing himself by removing his helmet and then just deciding to go home? We didn't even get a panel where he's converted or enervated by whatever it is. A big buildup with no real climax, for me.

2) The battle against Unity really wasn't much of a battle. He performs a mind/time trick and then they dupe him into the containment pod with projections of his wife and daughter. I was kinda hoping to see more of his power, and he wasn't communicative in almost any way.

The story had some good beats, I liked how he dealt with the first reconnaissance team by giving them what they wanted (guy turns into butterflies, etc). And the introduction of a band of followers is interesting.

But the climaxes were less than exhilarating. And we got no sense whatsoever of who he's going to be in this universe. If this was an ongoing title, I'd only have to wait 30 days to get more 'oomph' out of the thing. But cameos aside, it looks like there's gonna be a long pause until his story resumes in full. And that's going to cost momentum for readers on the periphery of the Valiant universe.

[QUARTZ]

I agree, wasn't exactly a benchmark book IMO. It basically just intoduced Divinity and his powers, a brief origin, and a lot of questions.

[BugsySig]

Overall I liked the story of Abram, but the mini as a whole was anticlimactic. That seems to be becoming a theme with Kindts writing.

Would have been better as an arc of Unity. He could then have been launched into his own series after.

[jmatt]

Overall I liked the story of Abram, but the mini as a whole was anticlimactic. That seems to be becoming a theme with Kindts writing.

Like the last Unity issue. Three issues of watching the team recover and it turns out to be a 5 minute battle against Malgam that's simply resolved when Malgam decides to cooperate with Gin-GR.

I really would like to see some new writers take on a Kind-T book or two.

[BugsySig]

Overall I liked the story of Abram, but the mini as a whole was anticlimactic. That seems to be becoming a theme with Kindts writing.

Like the last Unity issue. Three issues of watching the team recover and it turns out to be a 5 minute battle against Malgam that's simply resolved when Malgam decides to cooperate with Gin-GR.

I really would like to see some new writers take on a Kind-T book or two.

I think his work on Ninjak has been really good. He seems to really get the character and it shows in Unity and now in his solo book.

In Rai he's had a lot of plots going from the very beginning and I've always worried about how well he can develop them and have them all come together. But all of those plots are intriguing and he obviously has a long term plan for Rai and New Japan.

Perhaps if Divinity had been kept as part of Unity, I wouldn't feel the way I do about that book right now, but overall I'm not sure what the long term goals are for that book. The fact that the BoD one shot he is writing is for Ninjak and not Unity speaks to this for me.

[jmatt]

I've had my quibbles with some details, but Ninjak and Rai are working well. For the most part, Divinity even works well... just disappointed in the encounter with the Unknown. So much potential there. I wanted to see him to meet The Great and Powerful Oz.

I almost wish we'd seen him encounter the nebula and then not seen what transpired, just picking up on his return to Earth. That way they could go back in a future issue and show us something more exciting and grand than what we've seen. I dunno, maybe they find a way to shoehorn in something more spectacular.

I'll even walk back some criticism of Unity. The Malgam issue was less than I expected but the three solo issues were good.

[erwinrafael]

The last Unity arc would have worked better if they already started with the Malgam issue and then the character issues. That was you don't create unnecessary expectations of a climactic battle.

[NinJZA]

Sort of agree with the slight non-climax of how Divinity was finally taken out. The mind/time trick did make sense though, if you're up against a team like Unity. I liked how it was Ninjak who was the one who sort of realizes what's going on, from his "ninja-meditation" (or whatever it was). I thought 1-4 was solid as a series, but if it was going to serve as just an introduction to Divinity as a character, I don't think it was really necessary for Unity to be part of the story yet, I think maybe Toyo Harada as a telepath would have been a more interesting antagonist.

[CongoBill]

On the whole, I think Divinity was a little mediocre in some ways.

I like the overall concept for the character and the book. I think the art and color and covers were great. The telling of his backstory was good in concept and execution

But I can't shake this feeling of being a little letdown in the two crescendos:

1) His encounter with the Unknown was less awe inspiring than I had hoped. The imagery was good with the nebulas, etc but ... that's it? No communication with a being? No grand vision or revelation? No interaction other than looking at it, killing himself by removing his helmet and then just deciding to go home? We didn't even get a panel where he's converted or enervated by whatever it is. A big buildup with no real climax, for me.

2) The battle against Unity really wasn't much of a battle. He performs a mind/time trick and then they dupe him into the containment pod with projections of his wife and daughter. I was kinda hoping to see more of his power, and he wasn't communicative in almost any way.

The story had some good beats, I liked how he dealt with the first reconnaissance team by giving them what they wanted (guy turns into butterflies, etc). And the introduction of a band of followers is interesting.

But the climaxes were less than exhilarating. And we got no sense whatsoever of who he's going to be in this universe. If this was an ongoing title, I'd only have to wait 30 days to get more 'oomph' out of the thing. But cameos aside, it looks like there's gonna be a long pause until his story resumes in full. And that's going to cost momentum for readers on the periphery of the Valiant universe.

I totally agree with your assessment. You hit on many of the same points and questions I posted in the other Divinity thread. Overall, I think the biggest letdowns for me are not getting a sense of how this character will fit into the VEI universe, that we don't really know what happened to him out there in space, nor do we know the full extent of his powers. And for a guy with seemingly near god-like powers, I thought Abram/Divinity being fooled by Unity's digital projections was pretty weak. It seems he would have a better sense of what's going on than to allow that to happen.

Plus, I thought if Abram had the ability to communicate with his family who are in another plane of existence, well, that'd be pretty darn cool! But if he wasn't doing that, and all of his interactions with his family were fake and being fed to him by Unity, then that kind of sucks and takes away from the potential of the character. At this point his powers don't seem all that different from Harada or Peter Stanchek, although I suppose the big difference is that Abram can manipulate matter in a way that those two can't. But the ability to get in your head and make you do or feel what he wants you to do is pretty standard stuff in the VEI universe, right?

But I am glad that VEI published the series as they did and not as a story arc in Unity. I did enjoy it overall and it was fun waiting for each issue to see how the story would take shape. And it did create some much-needed buzz for VEI, which is all good. And there is still a ton of potential here with this character. But I agree that waiting so long for any follow-up might kill the momentum. I guess that's part of the problem when they plan their books out so far ahead of time.

[jmatt]

But I am glad that VEI published the series as they did and not as a story arc in Unity. I did enjoy it overall and it was fun waiting for each issue to see how the story would take shape.

Ditto. It was a great mini. Overall I'd rate it VF+

[RogueJedi74]

Overall very happy with these books. I can understand the statements about maybe it being anti-climatic but frankly I think Kindt painted a very nice picture of Divinity as a character but left the door wide open for him to be used in the VEI universe. So many unanswered questions / possibilities.

1. What really caused his origin? Could make for a great zero issue?
2. What will his interactions be with Harada? Both have similar motivations but go about things in completely different ways.
3. Will Divinity interact with Sunlight on Snow / Lord Vine 99? That could be awesome!
4. Will this be a fracture that ultimately leads to the end of Unity? I don't think the team was too happy at the end and when Divinity gets loose, will the team be asked to kill him. Also, Unity is getting close to #25 and could be time close the series.

Can wait for Imperium and see what the Dysart does with Abram.

[Tony_H]

Man, he's an African-Russian whose government sent out to die for science at the apex of Western power in the mid-20th century, and who lost his ability to tell time from space because he was overwhelmed by a new conscoiusness given to him by a sentience without body or politics, and his origin story ended with the strongest heroes on earth leaving him buried in the planet's crust like a seed: he's the best new comic character created in 40 years. People should be paying $300 for variants of his #1.

[jmatt]

Man, he's an African-Russian whose government sent out to die for science at the apex of Western power in the mid-20th century, and who lost his ability to tell time from space because he was overwhelmed by a new conscoiusness given to him by a sentience without body or politics, and his origin story ended with the strongest heroes on earth leaving him buried in the planet's crust like a seed: he's the best new comic character created in 40 years. People should be paying $300 for variants of his #1.

Unconventional, no doubt about it.

[Ricomortis]

I liked the entire series.

At first I was let down at the "anticlimactic" ending. Then I pondered. Then I slept. Had a Spark. Then I pondered some more.

I think everyone is reading to much into it. I think Kindt was trying to focus more on the attachment to his family. The emotional aspect of missing your wife and child. The battle was not important, only to create a simple way to contain him while Kindt can create the family connection, a way to show the instability of the character without it just being a madman destroying everything. I find it very intriguing.

Then again...

[CongoBill]

I liked the entire series.

At first I was let down at the "anticlimactic" ending. Then I pondered. Then I slept. Had a Spark. Then I pondered some more.

I think everyone is reading to much into it. I think Kindt was trying to focus more on the attachment to his family. The emotional aspect of missing your wife and child. The battle was not important, only to create a simple way to contain him while Kindt can create the family connection, a way to show the instability of the character without it just being a madman destroying everything. I find it very intriguing.

Then again...

I think you're absolutely right. It's extremely intriguing! I think that's why we're all so hungry for more answers!

[CongoBill]

Man, he's an African-Russian whose government sent out to die for science at the apex of Western power in the mid-20th century, and who lost his ability to tell time from space because he was overwhelmed by a new conscoiusness given to him by a sentience without body or politics, and his origin story ended with the strongest heroes on earth leaving him buried in the planet's crust like a seed: he's the best new comic character created in 40 years. People should be paying $300 for variants of his #1.

I was actually wondering about him being an African-Russian who rose to a position of such prominence. Russia is certainly not a place where you think of there being many black people, and I have no idea what the culture there would be like for a black person in those times, but I'm wondering how realistic it is that a black kid in Russia could rise to such a prominent position in their science /space program. Maybe, maybe not? Anyway, there's also the part of the story that Abram was an abandoned baby, mysteriously left on a doorstep. I wonder if who his actual parents are may figure prominently into his story at some point?

[hkupo]

Man, he's an African-Russian whose government sent out to die for science at the apex of Western power in the mid-20th century, and who lost his ability to tell time from space because he was overwhelmed by a new conscoiusness given to him by a sentience without body or politics, and his origin story ended with the strongest heroes on earth leaving him buried in the planet's crust like a seed: he's the best new comic character created in 40 years. People should be paying $300 for variants of his #1.

I was actually wondering about him being an African-Russian who rose to a position of such prominence. Russia is certainly not a place where you think of there being many black people, and I have no idea what the culture there would be like for a black person in those times, but I'm wondering how realistic it is that a black kid in Russia could rise to such a prominent position in their science /space program. Maybe, maybe not? Anyway, there's also the part of the story that Abram was an abandoned baby, mysteriously left on a doorstep. I wonder if who his actual parents are may figure prominently into his story at some point?

I think it made sense in a way. He was physically top notch, incredibly smart, raised by the system, loyal, and I'm assuming because of the time and place completely expendable if the program failed. It's an extremely important mission so you would want your best of best but at the same time, the odds of it being successful are pretty low. So it would be like throwing away your best and brightest. So in my mind it seemed like Abram was perfect for what they needed. They could have seen his worth as less than others with the right qualifications to still carry out the mission.

[nutflush76]

I was more than excited for this series. But the actual series turned out to be just O.K. to me. I also thought that Livewire's projections of his family as a way to defeat him seemed pretty out of character for a being who can see into your mind. Plus, I thought that Livewire's powers were tech based? How could she affect Divinity in that way? Also, was the interaction with his daughter at the end more of Livewire's doing, or something else?

Overall, I thought the series was a decent introduction to the character. It did leave me hungry for more stories including Aram. I will be looking forward to his appearances in Imperium and the second Divinity mini!

[grendeljd]

I had a thought about the way the series wrapped up that I don't think has been expressed here yet.

To me, the only reason why Livewire's containment pod & fake family imagery feed worked was because Abram allowed it to work. I thought that he came to the realization that the team would not be 'happy' or leave him be until they contained him. He is scary as a godlike being in that he was raised and indoctrinated with 60's Soviet communism molding his world view & moral compass, and yet he is also still potentially a benevolent person/entity.

As such, he was attempting to make the team happy by redirecting their focus when he gave them those years of life spanning mere seconds, but then he understood that it wasn't what any of them wanted. I think he came to understand how they saw him, feared what he could be & maybe recognized that the best solution was to allow them the comfort of having suceeded in containing him. What does it matter to a being like him if he spends a normal lifetime in a pod in the earth? He may very well be eternal, it's irrelevant to him if he is 'contained' for a while.

With the presentation of images of his family projected by Livewire, I think he saw through it as a trap but since all he truly wanted was to come back to see (& be with) his family, & use his power to bring them back - that he decided to get caught up in dwelling on them instead of bothering to battle with Unity or fight for the mini Eden he was setting up. Livewire's plan essentially worked whether her projections were perpetual or not, as Divinity chose to take it on himself to lose himself in it.

I can see why people feel it was an underwhelming conclusion, I even felt the same after my first read of the finale, but on reflection & a few more reads the concepts at play here are really quite good.

And now I'm also very excited to see what Josh Dysart does with the character in Imperium, the fact that Harada learns of him & pursues him is the perfect next logical step of his story.

[leonmallett]

In all for me this was a missed opportunity.

First the good: visually, a great looking concept IMHO. The art was solid. I liked the dislocated time frames of the story sequence.

However there were a number of problems for me. Firstly, as I have mentioned previously, I don't think Kindt adequately rationalised the specific choice of Abram being black, Russian, and in the Soviet space programme; I understand mileage varies here and others had no problem - more power to you, but for me, making it such a defined point that attention was drawn to required a more solid rationalisation.

Secondly, the ending was a let down, leaving me feeling 'meh'. For others it clearly worked, and again great. But for this reader it didn't.

Third, I think Kindt and a few other modern writers are guilty of not filling in enough blanks (Ales Kot is arguably doing the same in Dead drop). Fine that as with any artistic medium, the reader can add their own interpretation, but for me this goes beyond that; it seems more that things are simply to vague and insufficiently defined or outlined. Again mileage varies, but at these prices for modern comic books I would like greater clarity.

Ultimately, the flaws outweighed the positives, and meant for an ultimately dissatisfying experience, following on the heels of the also-dissatisfying The Valiant. Dead Drop is not shaping up much better. I think VEI needs to get a better grip and sense of direction for these stories that are standing on their own.

I do have hope for Divinity II, and look forward to a better arc of story.

[jmatt]

I had a thought about the way the series wrapped up that I don't think has been expressed here yet.

... but then he understood that it wasn't what any of them wanted. I think he came to understand how they saw him, feared what he could be & maybe recognized that the best solution was to allow them the comfort of having suceeded in containing him.

That would explain the "What they want is me" line. It reads as if he is finally realizing that their desire to battle and defeat him is greater than whatever else he believed they desired, but what he actually meant was that he was going to capitulate and allow himself to be captured. That's why the final fight wasn't much of a fight at all.

This is interesting storytelling but it's bad writing. And we see this over and over again in Valiant books where we sit in these threads trying to figure out what actually happened (recent X-O/Shanhara revelations, the BS/Kay nanite 'removal', Aric not flying in DD, etc).

When I get to the end of an issue of Astro City I am never confused about what I just read. I don't have to postulate with a dozen other people as to what it meant.

This could have been so easy. Move that line to the end of the issue, after he parted ways with Eva and Anya and was depressed over his failed 'mission parameters'. Then: "What they want is me. And I will let them have it. This mission is over."

[grendeljd]

I had a thought about the way the series wrapped up that I don't think has been expressed here yet.

... but then he understood that it wasn't what any of them wanted. I think he came to understand how they saw him, feared what he could be & maybe recognized that the best solution was to allow them the comfort of having suceeded in containing him.

That would explain the "What they want is me" line. It reads as if he is finally realizing that their desire to battle and defeat him is greater than whatever else he believed they desired, but what he actually meant was that he was going to capitulate and allow himself to be captured. That's why the final fight wasn't much of a fight at all.

This is interesting storytelling but it's bad writing. And we see this over and over again in Valiant books where we sit in these threads trying to figure out what actually happened (recent X-O/Shanhara revelations, the BS/Kay nanite 'removal', Aric not flying in DD, etc).

When I get to the end of an issue of Astro City I am never confused about what I just read. I don't have to postulate with a dozen other people as to what it meant.

This could have been so easy. Move that line to the end of the issue, after he parted ways with Eva and Anya and was depressed over his failed 'mission parameters'. Then: "What they want is me. And I will let them have it. This mission is over."

You nailed it, jmatt - that 'what they want is me' was a key line that makes me think he allowed it to happen. And that's a great character defining

I'll agree with you on the point about vagaries in modern comics writing - while not ubiquitous, there are many who seem to feel that less is more. That can work (& I agree with that philosophy from a creative standpoint), but there is always room for it to be mis-handled.

If you leave readers constantly underwhelmed or confused because they aren't picking up on the subtle (or visually implied) elements of your story, maybe it's time to spell it out just a little more.

[jmatt]

If you leave readers constantly underwhelmed or confused because they aren't picking up on the subtle (or visually implied) elements of your story, maybe it's time to spell it out just a little more.

I think part of this is because the writer knows what his intended meaning is, so in his mind its perfectly clear. This is where more panels and words comes in handy. But I'm not holding my breath.

But it's not just Valiant. For the first dozen issues of East of West I felt like I had no idea what was going on.

[grendeljd]

If you leave readers constantly underwhelmed or confused because they aren't picking up on the subtle (or visually implied) elements of your story, maybe it's time to spell it out just a little more.

I think part of this is because the writer knows what his intended meaning is, so in his mind its perfectly clear. This is where more panels and words comes in handy. But I'm not holding my breath.

But it's not just Valiant.

Agreed - it's become part of the 'modern' style of writing across the board. And normally I am fine with that, as it allows the art to do more visual storytelling rather than being crowded out by excessive exposition & overly detailed narrative explainations.

I'm not going to be an advocate of returning to the silver age style of writing, for example. Trends come and go, new styles evolve & change over time as creators & readers alike decide what works & what doesn't. I think there is a careful balance to be struck between words & images, and some writers are going to be better than others at finding that sweet spot. I'm not even trying to point a finger at any writer in particular here - I'm not as disgruntled with Matt Kindt's writing as a few others are.

[jmatt]

I think there is a careful balance to be struck between words & images, and some writers are going to be better than others at finding that sweet spot. I'm not even trying to point a finger at any writer in particular here - I'm not as disgruntled with Matt Kindt's writing as a few others are.

Yeah, and I don't mean to be a curmudgeon about everything. But more clarity was only a few words away.

And thanks for your insight, it helped me understand the book a bit more, and why he's not fighting against his containment.