For my 31st read of the year I came back for more of the comic book phenomenon known as The Wicked + The Divine, and in volume two I must say writer Kieron Gillen and artist Jamie McKelvie (along with colorist Matt Wilson and letterer Clayton Cowles) have done it again only more so.  Volume two, entitled Fandemonium, continues the tale of 12 gods of old reborn as modern young adults, and of the mortals – including a skeptical journalist named Cassandra and the ‘fan-girl’ who has served as our main narrator so far named Laura.  Both Laura and Cassandra have important character arcs in this second volume even as the wider story of the modern pantheon continues.  New gods are found, and when they become gods they are told that they will be adored by many and within two years they will all be dead.  One god died at the end of the first volume, and without giving any spoilers I can say that trend continues.  I cared about the death in volume one, but what happened in this second volume struck even more deeply.  The tight writing and beautiful art tell a gripping story and while in hindsight I can see what the author was preparing us for I was caught off guard when I read the ending of this volume.  “Beautiful pain” is how I described it on Twitter when I put the book down last night.  If you haven’t started reading The Wicked + The Divine yet it’s not too late to dive in; there are only 21 issues out and most of them are collected in the first three volumes.  This is a wonderfully told and illustrated story – just don’t say I didn’t warn you.