The Magic Order 2 #1 Review

(W) Mark Millar (A) Stuart Immonen

The Magic Order was a cracking series that lived up to its premise of Goodfellas meets Harry Potter, with some great storytelling, brutal, beautiful art and great world building.  Coming from the team of Mark Millar and Olivier Coipel, I was always hoping for a sequel.  It has now arrived, and although there was a little disappointment that Coipel is no longer on art, the series barely misses a step with Stuart Immonen.

A new threat is rising against Cordelia and her family, the established top family in the world of magic.  It’s almost as if they’ve gotten a little too comfortable, an early scene at a children’s birthday party, and a one night stand establishing that things are all a little too under control in their world.  Or so they think.

Before too long we are introduced to the Korne family, from Bucharest, who are powerful magicians, and they are not afraid to show that power or to wield it in despicable ways.

This is an excellent first issue setting the tone for another great magic romp from the mind of Mr Millar.

Batman: The Long Halloween Special #1 Review

(W) Jeph Loeb (A) Tim Sale

Just as I’d mentioned the pairings of Brubaker/Phillips and Condon/Phillips as being a mark of quality, you can certainly have Loeb/Sale in that list.

The Long Halloween was one of the first Batman maxiseries I ever read, and since that time, has remained firmly in my top 5 Batman stories of all time.  A series that managed to incorporate everyone in Batman’s rogues gallery effortlessly into the story, while exploring the dynamic between Batman, Harvey Dent & Commisioner Gordon, it also manages to focus on the crime families in Gotham as well as introduce a new villain.  It was all absolutely effortless, brilliant writing weaving the tale and career best art from Sale as he presented a noir tinged, stylised version of Gotham.  It’s no surprise that Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight was so heravily influenced by the book.

So when I see we’re returning to this world, with the original creators, to tell a one shot tale, I approached it with massive excitement but also with a tinge of trepidation.  Could it possibly match up to the original masterpiece?  Would it add anything new?  Was there any point?

I’m glad to say it was a big fat yes on all counts, as this was one of my favourite single issues of 2021.  The set up alone was brilliant.

In The Long Halloween, Batman was chasing a killer who always committed the acts on holidays.  So a murder takes place on Halloween, on Thanksgiving, on Christmas etc.  In Batman lore, the obvious suspect was Calendar Man. However, it was not him, but someone who would take on the moniker of The Holiday Killer.  I won’t reveal who that killer was, as trying to work it out is one of the big pleasures of a first read through.  However, it has always grated on Calendar Man that someone essentially stole his gimmick so to speak, so this special starts out with him essentially trying to reclaim his name, by committing criminal acts in the lead up to Halloween.

Harvey Dent/Two Face has also resurfaced, Robin is kicking around, and the relationship between Gordon and Batman is as strong as ever.

Considering this is only a 48 page special, there is so much great storytelling here.  It feels longer.  Jeph Loeb has slid brilliantly back into this world and it’s like he’s never missed a beat.  There’s a brilliant central mystery and noir sensibility driving the story, but there’s also some levity and humour.  Barbara Gordon wanting to go trick or treating with Robin (who of course is much younger here than Batman), and she dresses up as Batgirl right in front of her father to do so?  Fantastic stuff.

Sale’s art, while not quite as sharp and detailed as the original tale (though to be fair, not many people could reach that standard in their prime let alone 25 years later), still connects to this world, and his character design remains fantastic.  The colours from Brennan Wagner perfectly conveys the film noir feel Loeb and Sale are going for and letterer Richard Starkings shines, using different fonts from when Harvey speaks or Two Face speaks, adds a subtle touch that just adds to the overall atmosphere of the book.

The ending is both definitive but also open ended.  If it all came to an end her then this was a perfect, unexpected send off.  Though a thread or two remains, so if Loeb and Sale ever wanted to revisit this world, they would have my money.  A thoroughly brilliant one shot title.

And if you haven’t read the original The Long Halloween, stop reading this right now and go do yourself a favour and grab it right away.  In fact, talking about it, I may just indulge in a re-read myself over the weekend…

DC vs Vampires #1 Review

(W) Matthew Rosenberg, James Tynion IV (A) Otto Schmidt

A new supernatural DC event from the creators of Hawkeye Freefall, with Tynion thrown in for good measure?  Sign me up.  Hopes were understandably high for this one, and I’m glad to say that it didn’t disappoint!

These are always great titles to enjoy for the simple fact that no-one is safe in these Elseworlds tales, as evidenced by the character deaths straight out of the gate in issue 1.  There’s always something great about taking the safety blanket away in terms of knowing your heroes will always come out on top, and win in the end, surviving to see another day. Titles such as this, and DCEASED, take that feeling of safety away and replace it with a feeling of dread…

Bringing back Andrew Bennett, the protagonist from the absolutely brilliant and criminally underrated I, Vampire series from the New 52, is an inspired choice, as is suggesting that these plans for the undead to overthrow civilisation have been in the works for a while.  This is no sudden occurrence, or change to the status quo brought about by an apocalyptic event.  Vampires have always been there in the background, and you don’t know who they’ve got to, or which of the heroes we can trust.

This is always a great set up, similar to John Carpenter’s The Thing, one of my favourite movies, because it engulfs this horror tale with a mystery as well, and a large sense of distrust.  We find out in issue 1 that a longtime legacy character is in league with Vampires, and it’s quite a shocking moment.

This was simply a fun ride, and a maxi-series of 12 issues seems the perfect length for this tale, in which there’s enough time to flesh out the story and characters, but that it won’t outstay its welcome.