Image Comics 2018
Written by Mark Millar
Illustrated by Olivier Coipel
Coloured by Dave Stewart
Lettered b Peter Doherty
With each wizard brutally murdered, Madame Albany comes another step closer to seizing the dark power of the Orichalcum as her own. The next kill on her list: Leonard Moonstone. Is her gruesome assassin powerful enough to destroy the leader of The Magic Order?
We all know that Mark and Olivier working together is going to create something so magnificent and awe inspiring and of course they have. I mean with so many shows out there right now that centre around magic how do you create something new, fresh and original? I don’t know but I'll be damned if this isn’t one of the most creatively horrific and fascinating looks at what length someone will go to to claim what they feel is theirs and exact revenge against those who is felt wronged you. Yes Madame Albany and when we finally get to see the back story instead of all this craziness that is in the now well it should be something to see.
I really like the way that this is structured. There is a great pacing here that as we read the book it feels like everything is just at the right place at the right time. As the family goes after those they can to find the identity of the new assassin it’s kind of fun to see some of the twisted way these folks operate. As the brother and sister talk to one such individual I really am impressed with the creativity involved in how they persuade him to cooperate. I think part of the draw to this is just that the creative ways that magic is engaged to either help or destroy enemies. Mark is creating this somewhat magical version of Saw and I have to say I love every minute of that.
There is something about the father/son relationship we see with Gabriel and his father. I mean I know he means well and they have something of a tumultuous history given how they are now but what is going to draw Gabriel into the fray? Yes he tries to keep his family out of the realm of magic after what it did to them previously and his wife’s never been the same since. What happens when his family starts to become the targets and are killed off? Can/will/is Gabriel the most powerful among them and the only one to really be able to stop Madame Albany?
Olivier and Dave are doing some of the astounding work on the interiors here. Olivier has a way with manipulating the linework using it’s varying weights to create some of the most lovely detail and faces in comics today. From the fashions, how the clothes lay on the body and the little touches like hair on the chest or those little lines in the face that give them their individuality. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows of his strong, talented eye for storytelling. To see backgrounds being utilised like they are open up the size and scope of the story beautifully.
How this issue ends is shocking if not for it’s content but for the fact that while as a reader we knew something like this would happen we weren’t expecting to happen so soon. I think this however is one of the things about Mark’s writing that draws us to it. That along with his ability to do some sensational characterisation keep us on the edge of our seats. This is classic good versus evil in a realm that is right in front of us and yet just out of sight. No one can do these things like this creative team can.