Hexed #10
Boom Studios 2014
Written by Michael Alan Nelson
Illustrated by Dan Mora
Coloured by Gabriel Cassata
I really am a huge fan of Michael’s and this series that has gone from one extreme to another in a single issue that took this reader on one of those rare what the hell just happened moments and suddenly flipped everything we’ve learned upside down well it just goes to show that he’s got more tricks up his sleeve than a street magician. Than of course there’s Dan and Gabriel’s interiors here and this issue they demonstrate a new level to their work that we’ve not seen before and now i’m suddenly even more involved and who knew that could even happen at this point?
I love the flashback here and it goes a long way to showcasing just what kind of woman Fastrada was before becoming that creature who Lucifer deposed. 1629, Germany and we see her as a witch in a small town where they come to her to heal and for small problems that need solving and it seems like and idyllic life honestly before the fear and persecution of witches went mainstream thanks to the church.
Ah Fastrada and her love Ormond two young people very much in love. However things quickly go downhill as Fastrada’s sisters come to pay a visit as she’s the youngest of eight and arguably the most powerful they’ve come to warn her that her healing is based on magic and if she continues to heal like she just did she’ll branded a witch by the Abbot of Wurzburg and burned alive. Ah the church and it’s need for utter control through fear, lies and force. Her sisters give her a choice and one that doesn’t sit well with her.
A year later and her life has been irrevocably changed and the child she has with Ormond has branded her a Harlot. Her sisters manipulating forces in the hopes that they will drive Fastrada and Margrit to them willingly and comply with the desire to become true witches. However not everything is going to the sisters plans and we see Fastrada become a Hexerei and her daughter lost to her.
This brings her to Lucifer asking for the fate of her daughter something she could never look for or find when she was in that position. Self help isn’t allowed apparently so now that she no longer holds the position she can finally try and track her daughter down. It will be interesting to see how Margrit plays into all this because you just know, that gut feeling, that she’s involved somehow as a relative to someone or still alive and directly involved behind the scenes pulling strings just something.
Then as if all this weren’t enough that Fastrada has turned to Lucifer for help suddenly Graeae has come a calling and now she’s a God. Setting up next issues epic showdown or at least a nice old fashioned fight.
This is like nothing you can imagine the story is fluid, ever changing, like a river whose bends and rising waters happen when you do and don’t expect them.