REVIEW: Magic The Gathering Chandra #2

Focuses on Chandra Nalaar (1st appearance Magic the Gathering: Chandra #1) , a Planeswalker who plays a key role in Magic: The Gathering lore.
The Magic The Gathering Chandra series is written by Vita Ayala (Supergirl) and drawn by Harvey Tolibao (X-Men), published by IDW in collaboration with Wizards of the Coast

In the past five months Wizards of the Cost, Hasbro have been aggressive with their revelations of the way forward regarding Magic: the Gathering.Â First, back in December, 2018 Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro announced the Magic Pro League, which will feature 32 top players and a prize pool increase to $10M USD for the game“s competitive scene.Â Later they announced plans for its first indoor water park and family resort, themed around some of its biggest toy and game franchises. The holiday destination is set to include themed hotel rooms, entertainment and food and drink, as well as installations and experiences inspired byÂ Magic: The Gathering, and this month it release its’ 81st expansion pack War of the Spark (WAR) and the Comic, Magic The Gathering Chandra issueÂ #2.

So,Â just by the timing of the announcements and the releases,Â I was under the impression that this series had 3 goals: (1) Introduce The Magic the Gathering to Comic Book Readers who may not normally play Table top games.(2) Introduce new characters to the Magic the Gathering Universe. That would help me as a noobie understanding of the game. (3) Or at the very least serve as an advertising platform for their newer War of the Spark (WAR) merchandise.

So now onto Magic The Gathering Chandra issue #2.Â I was ready to give it a pass on the story if it manages to accomplish at least one of those three objectives.Â Which it did not. Tibalt, Rakish the Instigator had already showed up in issue #1.Â on the cover there are at least 11 characters who will probably be apart of the WAR release but none of them show up inside of the comic.

The art by Harvey Tolibao, is a mixed bag for me.Â The first 12 pages are detailed but personally is not a style that I’m intoÂ However, After that the pages are absolutely fantastic and a perfect fit, for the disaster that is being portrayed

What’s next? Hasbro has to be considering a movie.Â Though the abysmal Dungeons & Dragons ,movie may make them a little gun shy, Hasbro has taken to the film industry in order to establish their brands, and keep them in popular culture. Recently they released Bumblebee , Ouija: Origin of evil and My Little Pony: The Movie. These movies have grossed more than expected with Bumblebee grossing over $414 million to date, Ouija over $79 million and My Little Pony a modest $22 million.Â So that’s why these Planes walker storylines maybe important particular with Chandra, who I could definitely see headlining a movie.

War of the Spark (WAR) merchandise will be released on May 3, 2019,Officially, it is not part of a block. However, it is part of a series of three consecutive sets on the same world, unofficially referred to as the Guilds of Ravnica block. In fact, War of the Spark will launch in Magic: The Gathering Arena April 25, 2019 before the cards hit retailers April 27, 2019.

Magic The Gathering Chandra #2 will have two issues; Cover A Regular Harvey Tolibao Cover; Â Cover B Incentive Harvey Tolibao Variant Cover.

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(W) Vita Ayala (A) Harvey Tolibao