Kon has gathered his forces for the final showdown with the scourge of the realm, the Death Princess, Orlana. Orlana knows he is coming thanks to the begrudged anger of Kon’s former friend Serke. Seduced by Orlana’s..erm..magic, he becomes her consort when she realizes that he is immune to her.
Orlana’s powers of ..Uh, what was I saying?
Kon leads the charge, but not without contingency in case things go up the proverbial creek without a paddle. Inevitably, they do. Ro is the first casualty, takes a personal hit that cuts deep (literally), and the offensive dissolves rather quickly. This is where we open.
Forced to do battle with his dearest friends, Kon faces off first with Eschera, who drains his life force before our eyes. His skin wrinkles and his hair turns shock white as she saps the very youth from his bones, all while under the mind control of Orlana.
Things go from bad to worse as Kon’s Buddhist approach to the battle is challenged. Orlana, seeking to break his spirit, forces him to kill another friend in cold blood. This only serves to piss him off. With the stakes raised beyond measure, Kon finally reveals his ace in the hole: Samsun. With his ability to drain magical beings, he gives the Death Princess an enchanted wedgie, sucking every last drop of magic from her body. The bad news? He gets a little… Power hungry. Drastic measures are taken by the now recovered allies to prevent an even worse apocalypse at the hands of the newly empowered Samsun.
The art in this short run series has a wonderful, near animation quality to it and the sense of movement in each panel feels kinetic. It’s a style that sometimes feels a little playful for such dark fantasy, but it’s hardly jarring. Emilio Lopez’s pencils are complemented handily by Mirka Andolfo’s colour palette.
Vince Hernandez’s plot treads familiar ground some, but overall he puts his protagonist Kon through the wringer enough that it can be overlooked. I only wish that more time had been spent explaining Orlana’s reasons for being a such a scantily clad pain in the backside. Oh well, can’t have it all.
I’m off to see if I can hypnotize this slice of cheesecake and convince it not to go straight to my gut. ’Til next time, head on over to Comixology and grab your copy of Charismagic: The Death Princess #3.
Overall Score 4.2