Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Writer: Erica Schultz
Artist: Maria Sanapo
Colourist: Heartwork Studios
Release Date: OUT NOW!
Price: $3.99

Jumping on the Buffy bandwagon of long-gone TV shows we loved back when we were young, come the Halliwell sisters; Piper, the sensible one, Phoebe, the sexy one and Paige, the replacement for Prue and the surprising choice for greatness as a Whitelighter and responsible for a young witch called Shainna.

A certain Mr Shakespeare never bothered to sue for copyright infringement so I guess the updated “Hubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble” characters are considered a modern re-booting of an established supernatural trope insisting: “The Power of Three” trumps any magical horde or singularity that has evil designs on the universe. Whether having first names beginning with “P” is actually an essential ingredient in making the world safe from demons and their ilk is never delved into, but needing all three sisters together in order to make any spell work is a restricting and tired plot device which gets old real quick on the TV show and will no doubt do the same here.

Charmed #2 serves up a fine art masquerading as demonic portals as Piper wrestles with true evil in the shape of the IRS and their devilish emissary, the Accountant, Mr Wiskunde. Maria Sanapo’s art is glossy and slick and Erica Schultz aims for the humour and coolness of the TV original, although even then it was only TV cool and not genuine street-cred, but the format seems a little tired now and a tad tame.

Nothing here to frighten the horses, but magic is like curry; you either like it mild and aromatic or hot as a hellhound’s chew toy. Charmed #2 has a pedigree and a nostalgia hook which should give it mass-market appeal, so expect a long run as long as the Taxman doesn’t get to them first.

 

 

Reviewer: Gary Orchard
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker