Kieran Gillen - Die
Kieran Gillen - The Wicked + The Divine
Kieran Gillen - Once & Future
It's hard to end a series satisfactorily, and I can't say I'm 100% happy with how any of these ended. All three of these comics are stories about stories, the danger of labels and mantles, and the temptation to define yourself by a role. If I had to rank em I'd put Once & Future up top, because I love the grail mythos, because Bridgette is a badass, and because Duncan and Rose are real snacks. I found the ending a little rushed, and one character's background and evolution could've been more heavily foreshadowed. Also, I did like the comic better when it was just dipping its toes into the Otherworld, rather than being fully submerged in supernatural nonsense. Still, the good bits outweigh the mediocre so impressively that this ranks as a 4/5. 

Die probably goes in second. Stephanie Hans' art is fantastic, possibly the most beautiful I've ever seen in a comic. The ending is extremely satisfying. The issue pacing is great. I love the stable time-loop embedded in the world, and touches on TTRPG history from Kriegsspiel to Angria. But... I don't really love the characters, they're pretty fucked up and cynical, even if the story isn't. So is the world. Made it hard to get attached and keep reading at points.  3/5 

Finally, the Wicked + The Divine -  There are amazing moments, like Morrigan/Baphomet's backstory and conclusion, and Dionysius's fate. But the plot twists are ridiculous. I point to one particular prophecy which is presented in one issue, but immediately handwaved as "but it's not what you think" in the subsequent one. W+D is also not particularly thematically consistent. During the middle couple dozen issues, I lost track of the plot - like, so Persephone is a god now, so nobody is around to keep all the other gods on rails, so what is anybody going to do about it? Mope, sing, and wait for the situation to get really critical, it seems. The story gets back on track for the last dozen issues or so, but at that point the middle third had already muddled me up too much. And despite the ending being thematically appropriate, I did not enjoy the timeskip at the end, including the romance switcheroo and the auto-eulogy. 2/5
 
Cassandra Khaw - Nothing But Blackened Teeth
This was a terrible book too weighed down by the bickering of the supporting cast and shitty word choices to achieve any proper atmosphere. "Smartphones strobed to life?" - "full of absolvement for my outburst, chin tipped to a modest angle" - "made him look like a goldfish drowning on dry air." To say nothing of the ending ritual, which starts too late and ends too soon.  1/5

Kirsten Chen - Counterfeit
I was only interested in the subject matter because I'd previously enjoyed repladies drama and have missed it sorely since it went private. This story's structure is interesting and effective, as is its use (and disuse) of stereotypes, but I could've used more of the book's second POV character, and less of the first.  2/5

Martha Wells - All Systems Red
 This was fun! But of course any book where the protagonist is called "Murderbot" would be fun. I enjoyed the social awkwardness between Murderbot and their "colleagues," Murderbot's general apathy, and determination to do the bare minimum require of their job. However, the various factions and supporting characters are not so well developed. There are some sequels, which I guess I'll read too.  3/5

Tamsyn Muir - Nona the Ninth 
This book only makes sense as part of an incomplete hole. The highs are so high, notably, everything the Sixth House is involved in, Corona's plea, Crux's reappearance, Kiriona's transformation, and the Epilogue. But. There are so many questionable choices in this. Why does so little happen of long-lasting consequence happen in the first half? Why does it take an entire space ship of plot threads to land midway through to kick everything off? And why, for the love of the Emperor, was PAUL picked as a suitable name??? 4/5.