Dark Horse Comics 2016
Written by Kate Leth
Illustrated by Megan Levens
Coloured by Marissa Louise
Lettered by Nate Piekos of Blambot
I’m enjoying this it’s kind of like Charmed meets Josie and the Pussycats. There’s magic, drama, mystery and road trip to various locations to find their missing objects. The girls have no idea who’s behind all this and one of those responsible might shock them. Still this is only the first stop on their journey to retrieve their items and figure out who is behind all this and stop them so buckle up the rides just beginning.
This issue they stop at Arthur Boldram who bought the orb. He invites the girls into his home and doesn’t seem all that surprised that they’ve come. I like this as we get to see how Arthur got introduced to magic and how it’s become something of a passion of his since then. Fleshing out the world and those who know that magic is real is a nice way to go only when dealing on the Goblin Market you’d think that not everyone is going to be what they seem.
I do like what Kate does here as she has Arthur play a ruse on the girls in the hopes of his being able to use the objects in his possession to steal the girls powers. This whole cutthroat world of magic and those who discover it wanting more well it’s kind of intoxicating. Plus I can see how an artist who lost his mojo would want magical assistance in getting his work back into prominence once again.
The characterisation here is really rather interesting. Claire definitely has a grudge to bear and her attitude is both the girls weakness and it’s saviour. There’s a lot of interesting dynamics happening here with the girls and it’s nice to see that regardless of what’s happening they’ve still got each others back through it all. Sure there’s some gruffness and let’s get this thing said and done, they are on a time table after all, but it’s nice to see just how close they truly are.
Megan and Marissa do some great work on the interiors. It’s all-ages at it’s finest really as they are able to show off three very different styles of dress, attitude and personality through their art. Also that you have such strong female characters who don’t have to rely upon revealing clothes or themselves too much to be effective. The flow through the page layouts by the use of angles, perspective and backgrounds are extremely well done. The facial expressions and body language do wonders to flesh out what the characters are feeling and going through. All around it’s very well done i’m pretty impressed.
There are a few moments here that make my eyebrow raise and Jolene kissing that girl was among them but it’s really that on the whole how completely Kate is able to throw in some moments that really define these characters in ways you won’t always expect.
This really is a fun, interesting story that has all these different feelings and emotions thrown into the mix as we get to know these women. I look forward to seeing their world expands a little more and hope this arc is only the beginning of their adventures.