Written by: Boaz Lavie
Art by: Tomer Hanuka, Asaf Hanuka
Publisher: First Second
The Divine is a work of absolute perfection; not only is the story one of the most unique I’ve read or seen in recent years, it is executed very well and the themes that are dealt with serve as an excellent backdrop to the more supernatural spectacle involved. The Divine is a story about a man called Mark, who is having money problems and nervously awaiting the birth of his first child—trying to provide for his wife and being let down on the hopes of that perfect promotion. When an opportunity arises for Mark to make a lot of money fast, he takes it and heads off to the Quanlom wild to help his abrasive, arrogant and trigger-happy friend, Jason with a military matter. What he doesn’t anticipate is the threat of The Divine—a terrifying evil corrupted by the violence and war they have grown up around.
Whenever I pick up a comic, it has become commonplace for me to make my mind up within the first few pages—I’m not a harsh critic, but I know what I like. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that The Divine was going to be great; I’d seen a lot of promo images on social media from Asaf and his brother, and what I’d seen, I liked—a lot. Earlier in the year I read Asaf Hanuka’s The Realist and fell in love with it. It emotionally resonated with me and I related to a lot of the issues he himself had dealt with as a father. Not only was it well written, it was illustrated in such a brutally honest and distinctive way. Asaf had created his own way of envisioning the world and I was 100% on board; when I heard that he and his brother were working together—and Boaz was writing, it was a no-brainer for me.
Everything about this book is fascinating. Boaz Lavie has written a story that encompasses great character development and relationships that grow and deteriorate in equal fashion. Mark is a likeable character—an everyman. He is easy to relate to because he is like most fathers and husbands; Mark just wants to do the right thing by his wife and provide for his new family, all at the same time trying to come to terms with the fact he is going to be a father—one of the scariest things a parent will ever face. The story itself is fresh and fascinating. I genuinely can’t think of anything similar to it and in today’s day and age, that is an increasingly rare thing. When you finish The Divine, it is definitely worth reading about the inspiration for the story on the penultimate pages because it was quite surprising that two of the characters actually exist (minus the supernatural elements). There are so many wild ideas in The Divine and to go into them would be unfair to those that haven’t read it yet but, just know that you won’t be disappointed. As Mark delves deeper in to the mysteries of the Quanlom jungle, the threat that at first seems dangerous and heartless soon shows us a vulnerable side and makes us question who the real enemy is. Not only does it give us an exciting story with sci-fi/ horror elements flowing strongly throughout, we are introduced to political and ecological turmoil that fleshes out the scope of the book and introduces questions about war and its effects on the younger generation. It is a smart idea that helps to elevate the emotional impact of the end result and show us how the actions of those in power can have such a negative effect on those less fortunate.
The artwork in The Divine is versatile and striking. Some of the book’s more action-orientated panels are bold and concise; sometimes they use a single colour to make up most of the panel, but the way in which it is done brings out the actions of the characters. For example, there is a page towards the end that has a striking pink sky set as a backdrop to the inevitable meeting of good and evil that brings out the relevance of what is about to happen. Another effect that is detrimental to The Divine, is patience; they have no issue with using two full pages to share one image and there are a few that do it beautifully, especially one that showcases the powers of one of the characters in a brutal, yet mesmerising way. The pacing of the story is remarkable and each time you read a page you are given time to breathe and time to soak in the story. The emotions of the characters are really brought out in their expressions; this is sometimes a problem in comics, but the Hanukas manage to portray exactly what the writing suggests and it makes it easier for the reader to connect with them. The children in the story are the victims and you feel a real sense of empathy towards them and this is helped greatly by the way they are portrayed visually.
The Divine is a work of art—both in storytelling and the in illustrations. Boaz, Tomer and Asaf have given the world a unique and remarkable story that will stand up as one of the best of our generation. In a time of remakes and unoriginality, The Divine is a lesson in what the standard of comic book writing should be.
Thank you to Gina Gagliano at First Second Books for a copy of The Divine. All the best with all future publications—if this is only a fraction of what you’ve got, then I’m sure we will see First Second standing toe to toe with the best indefinitely.
