Review: Magic the Gathering #1

For the longest time, comics have been mined for alternative cross media purposes, be it video games, movies and TV shows. Very rarely does this cross media journey work the other way around. BOOM! Studios have taken the deck by the “shiny’s” and published a new comic book series based on Magic: The Gathering.

In this new series, there is a multiverse where those with the “spark” can tap into the raw power of Magic! These Jedi’s……. sorry Planeswalkers can travel across the realms. With three Guildmasters are targeted for assassination; it is the catalyst that threatens the plane of Ravnica. Now these three masters have to work together, to discover why there is a threat to the Planeswalkers. Confused? Not being Magic; The Gathering fan, I am!

Thankfully, Jed MacKay, the writer of my favourite Marvel book Black Cat, is on hand to explain things as we go. The problem with that is that there is a lot of exposition through the first act of the book, which kind of impacts the pace of this issue. Down the line, the first act will no doubt come in handy as either a reference point or part of a table reset. Being the first issue, I am not really that involved with any of the character yet. This may change or if they are carryovers from the card game, then fans of the game may feel more resonance. For me though, there feels a distinct difference in writing for a new universe, applying characteristics and such to writing for an existing character such as Black Cat.

The art is supplied by Ig Guara who has world building in mind and through the first act, the art look glorious. When the various characters are introduced however, things take a bit of a step back. Some of the initial poses look odd and faces show a lack of emotion. Guara quickly finds his feet as the action scenes later in the book look great, if a tad chaotic. There is a good sense of pace towards the end of book, which goes some way to prove that there is longevity in both the story and the art. The colors are provided by Arianna Consonni who delivers a bright scheme that works against my expectations of a Dungeon & Dragon environment. Thats not to say that the colors are bad; they are surprising. Finally letters are supplied by Ed Dukeshire whose work I have seen on a number of books. Here Dukeshire has to carry the brunt of the exposition laden, which he manages brilliantly.

This is a bit of an odd book for me. I am not a fan of Magic: The Gathering not having played it in the card system, online or even mobile variant. I am also at a loss as to whom this book will appeal to. After all, isn’t one of the points of the game is that each play is individual? Therefore applying s structure in the form of a story told by someone else, without reader or player interaction feels counter-intuitive.

Writing – 3 Stars
Art – 3 Stars
Colors – 4 Stars

Overall – 3 Stars

Written by; Jed MacKay
Art by; Ig Guara
Colors by; Arianna Consonni
Letters by; Ed Dukeshire
Published by; BOOM! Studios

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network