The threat hits close to home.
Creative Staff:
Story: Matt Wagner
Art: Matt Wagner
Colors: Brennan Wagner
Letterer: David Lanphear
What They Say:
After encountering a rare and ominous mystical creature, Kevin Matchstick has enlisted black-market magic to obtain an enchanted potion that he hopes will help lead him to the Fisher King. Will his mystical quest lead to the fulfillment he so desperately seeks…or leave his family more vulnerable than ever? Can even the Pendragon stave off a siege from the Faerie Realms and the schemes of the malevolent Umbra Sprite?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With Mage moving around the middle mark of the series there’s definitely a sense that things are going to shift into a higher gear here. Wagner has taken his time to reintroduce things, touching on the larger past a bit more in the last couple of issues, while also letting a lot of time pass in-series so that we get a sense of what the family is going through. Admittedly, a lot of my interest in the book is still with the artwork and general feeling of it as I’ve long enjoyed Wagner’s style going back to the Grendel days and enjoy seeing each bit of growth and exploration along the way. With Brendan’s work in coloring his father’s work, it just takes on an even greater feeling that I enjoy since it’s fairly uncommon to have such a thing happen.
With this issue, there’s still largely a two-track storyline going on, though one is greater than the other. Kevin’s story has him chasing after the Questing Beast with the drops that Hev gave him and he’s having some luck with it. It’s a great sequence with just the look and color of it as he sees the world at night in a really appealing way, but it’s also an area where Kevin is being blinded to what he really needs to be doing. He’s still so easily distracted that he loses sight of the things that are truly important to him. And seeing what was going on with Magda at the school the last time around, that plays into things heavily here. The creature that has her is definitely fun to watch as he thinks he’s just got another witch in his grasp to nibble on, but the realization of just how powerful she is and then who she really is? That clues in the Gracklethorns.
And that in itself is an intriguing area of the book. They’ve been hit or miss for me in watching how they’re handled as sometimes it just feels like they’re a bit listless with only the search for Kevin and the Fisher King occupying their time and that not really getting anywhere. Getting Magda in their grasp changes everything and seeing how that ripples through the book is just beautifully executed. The panic that sets into Kevin, the realization of what’s going on, and then how foolish he’s been hits like a ton of bricks. It takes some time for all these pieces to fall into place once he understands it – which takes a bit since Magda’s cry for help isn’t understood right away, but watching and enjoying the visual design of him running around in a panic is beautifully executed.
In Summary:
Everything ratchets up a fair bit here with this installment and that’s a good thing. We’ve had panic moments earlier in the run with what’s been going on and the family was uprooted once again as we saw previously, but now it feels like everything has changed dramatically and Kevin will be in a mindset to really do something that he hasn’t before. It’s a slow build at first but it hits well when it counts and sets up for a good second half to this run with a lot of potential with where it can go. The draw is still very much the artwork here and I’ll be curious, down the line, to have the full property in one collection that can be read from start to finish just to see how different the interpretation is. Until then, this monthly run is utterly delighting me.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Image Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: March 14th, 2018
MSRP: $3.99
