Mystic Arcana: Magik #1 -
Two slightly connected stories in this. "Time Trial" (Writer: Louise Simonson, Penciler: Steve Scott, Inker: Kris Justice, Colorist: Pete Pantazis)
While Magik and Dani were temporarily waylaid in Ancient Egypt, Magik was drawn into a little side adventure involving an ancient sorceror who wants to use her to find a mystical artifact.
Well, it's certainly nice to see Magik again, but I'm a little disappointed. I suppose I didn't so much want a Magik dealing with magic story, I wanted a Magik-in-the-New Mutants story, or perhaps a solo Magik deals with limbo story. This issue suffers from some of the problems I occasionally find in other stories about magic... that what happens happens just because the writers say it can, but without any sense of an underlying rule that lets it work.
"Ritual of the Sphynx, Part One" (Story: David Sexton, Art: Eric Nguyen)
Sorceror Ian McNee is attempting to acquire the artifact talked about in the last story. As such, he must face the challenge of the Sphinx to prove himself worthy.
It was a fair enough story and mildly entertaining at parts, but there
weren't really any big surprises. Moreover, it didn't convince me in
any way to want to buy into the overall story of the miniseries, or to
be especially interested in the big magical event it's may be leading up
to.
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So, overall, it was okay, but I was a little disappointed. I wanted more. I won't buy the rest of the series, save the Nico issue (because she's one of the Runaways). Still, it was nice to see Magik again. I wonder where we'll next see that character.
Review: 3 stars
Oh, apparently here.
While Belasco continues to torture some of the students for information
on Magik, some of the others encounter her in the flesh. She's willing
to help them save their friends, but she has a demand.
Well, the high body count of the series continues in this issue, despite
(as expected) one of the deaths of the last one being reversed. As such,
(and considering the target), I suspect this one will be reversed too,
and it feels gratuitious and pointless rather than dramatic. I am
expecting one permanent death coming out of this (or if not from this,
than sometimes soon), because if not there's a huge deus ex machina
hanging around.
Sadly, something unpleasant happens to one of the minor characters I
really like so far. However, it's also possible that this event will
make the character more interesting.
My Pick of the Week, I guess.
Review: 3.25 stars
Well, that's it for this week folks. Next week, according to the
shipping list, it might be a skip week. The only thing I see on the
list that that I might want to get is the X-Men: Endangered Species
One-Shot, and I'm cynical enough from recent Marvel 'events' to want
to look at it in the store or see some preview pages before committing
to buying it. I'd say the odds are about 70% I'll buy it and review
it though, and there's always a chance something else will show up
when the shipping list is finalized.
See you next week...
Peter Dimitriadis
Discuss these reviews in the forum
Jump to last week (Avengers: The Initiative #3, Birds of Prey #107, Loners #3, New Warriors #1, Teen Titans #47)
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New X-Men #39 - "The Quest for Magik, Part Two of Four" (Story: Craig
Kyle & Chris Yost, Script: Chris Yost, Pencils & Inks:
Skottie Young, Colors: Jean Francois-Beaulieu)
(jump to last issue)
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