Advance Review: Tommy Gun Wizards #1 (of 4)

Mixing genres has always been a great way to tell interesting stories, from, at times, the most over used of tropes.Â Here, The Untouchables get to meet magic as Elliott Ness takes on demons born of magic and of himself.

The time is the 1930’s, the place Chicago.Â Prohibition is in full swing and the Untouchables are there to ensure that people follow the law, whilst also hunting Al Capone.Â All pretty much the same right?Â Look closer; instead of booze, the banned substance is magic; magic normally ingested in a pill called Lick.Â With it, anyone has the ability to wield a variety of powers, if you know the spell.Â Controlling it all, Capone who with his magical friend of red hair, serves a greater master.Â Standing in their way is cleaner than clean Elliott Ness and his gang of almost Untouchables.

Christian WardÂ is a creator of renown, having spent time with a number of publishers, working with people like Nick Spencer and Matt Fraction.Â Ward works as both an artist and a writer; here he is the writer who is mixing his genre metaphors.Â Ward takes the best parts of the Untouchables, characters act as you would expect for the most part, though Ward sets each one with their own foibles.Â The magic element does take a little time to get your head around; the first issue is perfectly balanced in way that sets up its stall, only for cracks to appear.Â Ward has his beats down brilliantly, even going as far as to ensure that Ness is doing what is lawful, rather than what he possibly wants, reminding me of the movie where at the end, Kevin Costner’s Ness can have a drink when prohibition is lifted.Â It is a well observed piece of character writing.

The art is provided by an artist that I haven’t seen for a while;Â Sami Kivela. I first saw Kivela’s work on an Indie book called Chum, a review of which can be foundÂ here. In the time since I last saw Kivela’s work things have progressed nicely, with stronger and more consistent line work.Â Throw in the mayhem that magic can cause and you are a long way from the more realistic pencils of Kivela’s earlier work.Â Magic is one part of the story, albeit the most colorful part.Â Kivela still needs to give us a believable Chicago of the 30’s, which he manages with great aplomb.Â It is a pleasure to see his work on a bigger publisher such as Dark Horse.Â Colors are provided by both Ward and Dee Cunniffe.Â I would be very interested to know who was responsible for which elements; whomever did what, the cohesion is fantastic. Old world meets magic in a conflagration of reds, oranges amongst the more urban setting.Â Finally, letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou adds a bold style to the chaos that gives the impression of unlawfulness in the font chosen.

Tommy Gun Wizards is an interesting read, especially for those who may be a bit tired of either genre, as Ward, Kivela and company break down each separate element, before putting them together to create a new and unique new picture.

Writing – 5 Stars
Art – 5 Stars
Colors – 5 Stars

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Written by;Â Christian Ward
Art by; Sami Kivela
Colors by; Christian Ward & Dee Cunniffe
Letters by; Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Published by; Dark Horse Comics

Tommy Gun Wizards #1Â is due in shops: Aug 28, 2019

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