Aspen Comics 2017
Written by J.T. Krul
Illustrated by Giuseppe Cafaro
Coloured by Wes Hartman
Lettered by Zen
A young boy, Malikai, begins to question his future, as he painfully adjusts to a much more privileged life under the guidance of a industrial magnate, Rainier. Meanwhile, two powerful magical devotees, Grace and Pili, have their own doubts about the return of magic to the world—as they know better than most of the dangers of manipulation at the hands of his powerful benefactor…..
Well I will say that so far i’m enjoying this re-envisioning of the Soulfire Universe. Malikai being seduced by the dark side before he has a chance to meet his friends is a nice twist. While inevitably we’ll see good triumph over evil it’s nice to see how Rainier is being portrayed as a more viable, powerful villain that ever before. The subtlety that we see in his approach is nicely done by T.J. and I think has a more powerful confidence to succeed than I would’ve given it credit for.
I’ve been a fan of J.T.’s for a long time now and one of the things that he’s been so consistent with is his characterisation. While we see the characters as they were before this new universe began we can also see how he’s fundamentally changed them and yet kept them true to who they were. It’s not like the core of who you are was rewritten here it’s more like the circumstances that led them to where they are have changed. So in that regard what we’re getting here is so fresh, new and exciting while still feeling like being wrapped in a warm blanket on a chilly morning.
The interiors here are very nicely done. Giuseppe and Wes really make this series their own and aren’t trying to replicate what’s come before. Again fundamentally they are same and have the same traits, Mal needs a haircut, but this whole thing looks and feels like Giuseppe’s baby. The use of page layouts with their angles and perspective are wonderful to see, the utilisation of the backgrounds only enhances the story for me.
As far as the whole idea of new merged rewritten universe goes this is off to one heck of a stellar start. I’m a tad disappointed that this isn’t the same time and place as Aspen but we can’t have it all. Still with what we’ve seen maybe the Blue will end up coming around and we’ll see if they’ve mellowed at all or are just still at war with the surface. Which should be much more interesting considering Magic has just returned and things are wonkier than ever!
With the usual cast of characters assembled but with different parts and roles to play for now this has become far more interesting and intriguing than I had bargained for. What the guys are doing here is proving once again that you can “reboot” a universe without fundamentally making it suck.