Comics Review – Charismagic #2

Serké’s previously mortal minions open the proceedings with the summoning of an old ally, who thinks very little of mortals (don’t they all?) Still, he is quite tickled with the idea of revenge and happily comes along.

Meantime, Hank, Sudana and Sparkles have teleported out of the now destroyed Las Vegas. No more Siegfried & Roy (*weep*) After narrowly escaping the hellish serpent there and ending up in Los Angeles. They need to contemplate their next move, but they have a man down in the form of Hanks’ agent and friend, Kenny, who is passed out. Hank rushes to check on his buddy.

“Kenny are you OK? Are you OK Kenny?”

…Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

Anyway, a few things are needed to combat Serké’s army of the Void, and at Sudana’s suggestion, they split up. Hank and Kenny head to a graveyard and Sparkles joins Sudana to find the House of Illusions. Elsewhere Torgan is dispatched for a bit of wet-work, and Hector realizes that he needs to fight off the magics holding him in thrall before it’s too late.

Hank and Kenny arrive at the graveyard and have a little heart-to-heart, echoing the true gravity of the circumstances. At the House of Illusions, Sudana finds the welcome mat rolled out. She and Sparkles swing into magic mode, defending themselves from a squadron of scorpion like creatures. I kept the bug-spray close. Haven is forced to make an entrance, and the three fend off the attack on his home.

Things are moving along at a brisk pace in Charismagic by necessity. The story spins off a subplot involving a scantily clad woman in the swamps and an old man, both appearing to be magical beings. I’m not sure if there will be a major payoff in the main story arc, at this point I can only wait and see.

The pencils by Vincenzo Cucca combined with ink and colours from Mark Roslan and Emilio Lopez, evoke an even, laid back style reminiscent of an animated feature. There isn’t too much detail, but the layouts and characters hardly suffer for it. It’s a little bit dark in places, but that is mostly an atmospheric choice in keeping with the genre.

This reviewer is looking forward to see how events continue to unfold in Charismagic #3. For now, I’ll keep practicing my sleight of hand until that damned rabbit in the hat stops mistaking my fingers for carrots.