Magic #2

Magic #2

BOOM! Studios 2021

Written by Jed MacKay

Illustrated by IG Guara

Coloured by Arianna Consonni

Lettered by Ed Dukeshire

* A NEW ERA FOR MAGIC CONTINUES HERE!

* With their homes rocked by an attack -- and Jace Beleren's life hanging in the balance -- Planeswalkers Kaya, Ral and Vraska must discover who is behind it all.

* But as they begin to suspect one of Ravnica's biggest Guilds is behind the attack, it becomes clear their enemy may be plotting something even more destructive...

I really like that we pick up this issue right where last issue ended with the trio having escaped to another plane to talk and figure out what the heck is going on. There is something really natural about the way that this is being told and how we see the characters act and react to the events that are happening to them. Rarely do we see this being done this well so kudos to Jed for his talent, skill and sheer chutzpah in knowing how to do this so effectively. This issue also introduces us to almost all the Guild leaders and that’s pretty cool because it really gives this the whole grandiose feeling that is implied in such a book.

I am loving the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is laid out spectacularly well. The character development that we see is phenomenal and I think the way the three them interact with each other and how they act and react to the situations and circumstances they encounter really fleshes them out people. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of story it pulls you into the mystery of what is going on here.

I am pretty darn impressed with the way that this is structured and how we see the layers within the story growing stronger. I think that each of these guildmasters, planeswalkers, have separate things going on that all seem to coincide with each other whether they want to admit it or not and its this binds them together. That is something that I love to see. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is greatly achieved.

The interiors here are really nice. I am so incredibly impressed with how we see the magic being shown on the pages and how there’s no inking so the bright near neon colours really pops in such magnificent ways. The linework we see is great and with its varying weights and techniques that we see being utilised to bring out this level of detail work is really stupendous. I do wish Vraska was much more terrifying in appearance just as I wish we’d see more backgrounds in use. I mean these are worlds and realms that are a real opportunity to go that extra mile with the creativity and imagination so it shouldn’t be wasted. The depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope is rendered very nicely. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show an extremely talented eye for storytelling. The colour work is absolutely gorgeous. How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work really showcase a true understanding of how colour should work. The waterfalls are impeccably done, Trostani is a dream come true with how we see these greens, the ghost fight makes me shiver the colour work is just mindbogglingly brilliant.

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This is a book where imagination and creativity abounds throughout the work and into the readers soul as it should be. Regardless of if you play the card game or not this is an exciting superhero style whodunit that will thrill you intellectually and visually stun you.