Punks. Everywhere.
Creative Staff:
Story: Matt Wagner
Art: Matt Wagner
Colors: Brennan Wagner
Letterer: David Lanphear
What They Say:
This long-awaited conclusion follows the adventures of the reluctant everyman hero Kevin Matchstick, who, after encountering a shaggy and beguiling wizard, discovers he is the reincarnation of the legendary Pendragon and able to wield the power of the mystical weapon, Excalibur. The story picks up several years after the fateful climax of THE HERO DEFINED and finds Kevin beginning to once again doubt the virtue of his actions and the course of his destiny.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Way back in my early days of reading comics I had that moment where I visited my first comic book store as opposed to the newsstand in town where I got my irregular arrival of comics. I was entranced for a good year by filling in the backstories of my favorite superheroes but eventually, I started to discover comics outside of the Big Two. And one of those was the Grendel series which introduced me to Matt Wagner. So when I went looking for more of his work that lead me to Mage. There’s been a good gap between the last full work and tis one and I’ll readily admit that I remember almost nothing about it at this point in time outside of just some positive memories as I love Wagner’s style of art in this form. So, getting into this third and final arc of the character, I’m pretty much going in as a new reader.
What Wagner is doing with Mage in this form is more just a shortened re-introduction to some of the basics without really digging into the mythology of the series. The focus on the now older Kevin Matchstick, also know as the Pendragon, is in a bad part of town waiting for a certain something to happen. His time there is interrupted by the arrival of a kind of garish and frustrating “new breed” of hero that goes by the name of “The Steeze.” Suffice to say, he’s the epitome of what a lot of people dislike about these kinds of heroes and that’s kind of the point. When the infestation reveals itself with a group of Bookas, it’s made clear that the Steeze knows how to deal with things like this but not what they are or the bigger important part of why they exist where they do. The Steeze is all flash and style and Kevin just kind of watches and is forced to listen to a whole lot of sound and fury with the “dialogue” that comes from the Steeze.
Wagner’s artwork definitely makes for an enjoyable experience here in watching the Bookas play and the way the Steeze works his attacks on them as it has a great energy that Brennan Wagner brings to it through the color work. It reminds me of what drew me to Wagner all those years ago and just how assured it all comes across here. And some of that comes through just in how Kevin handles this. He’s older, missing a lot of his hair, perhaps a bit stockier than he might have once been, but he has that air of experience about him that’s just enticing to watch. You don’t want him to show up the Steeze because that’s just pointless. But you wait for and savor that moment when the truth of the situation is revealed and Kevin moves into the real fight. It’s supremely satisfying and works wonderfully well.
In Summary:
The return of Mage with this new fifteen issue series that’s going to finish it up is enticing. I’m kind of interested in just going through it as a “new” reader to a larger degree and then re-reading it in full afterward to see how well it all ties together through all these years. With this issue, we get a fun little jumping on point that gives me what I want. Great artwork, some fun action, a look at our lead in his current form, and hints of what’s to come. There’s a lot to like and it’s definitely an easy jumping on point that I hope some folks will take the chance with, or go and grab the previous works and dig into those as well. It’s going to be quite the ride!
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Image Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: July 12th, 2017
MSRP: $1.99
