“How dare you speak to me like that? I’m the son of a fucking lord and your father drove a bus.”
Keep reading for a review of The Magic Order volume 2, issue #4.
Big spoilers below for this issue and issue 3.
First up, it hardly needs saying, but the art in this issue is beautiful, both the figures and the backgrounds. And Sunny Gho and David Curiel’s colors just leapt off the page, really lovely work.
As for the story, this issue felt…odd. Not in a ridiculously dangerous monster way, we were light on monsters this time. More in a “why are we focusing on this moment what’s happening” kind of way.
There’s a page dedicated to two members of the London order getting dressed. They look great (as I’ve said, the art in this series is always excellent down to the smallest detail) but I don’t know why we spent time on it. If I had to guess, it’s probably because these two are going to be very important later on, and this was a way to make them seem more like fully fleshed-out characters. But considering the stakes of what’s happening, it felt jarring to pause and watch people taking showers and putting on makeup.
Also, the way the Order is handling the Francis situation just doesn’t make any sense to me. He murdered Harun last issue in a heroin-fueled rage, and is quickly taken down by Cordelia, but she immediately tells the members who just arrived that it was the Dark Order who killed Harun.
But then, in the members only meeting inside the painting, everybody seems to know it was Francis. Francis tearfully gives a nothing-apology (“I hate myself and I think I might have a little demon problem”) and everybody’s furious and disappointed with him. So, why the lie? If she’d stuck to the lie I’d assume she still has feelings for Francis and is covering for him, but two pages later I’d swear the people she lied to are in the meeting with Oh Poor Pity Me Francis. What gives?
Plus, they just let him go? I definitely don’t understand that. He murdered a fellow wizard, admitted to breaking out of rehab, to being stoned off his gourd in a very important battle, and then he just walks out of there. They know he’s an addict, they can probably guess he’s suicidal, and he’s got more than enough power to level downtown Chicago. So why aren’t they, I don’t know, locking him in a cell?
If they’re so mad at him they don’t care if he starts using again and/or kills himself, wouldn’t they still be concerned about a wild card like that wandering around when they’re at war? And if they’re not punishing him because they love him, why did they practically forget about him the second he was out of the room?
I’m a little worried that this Magic Order we’ve been following for two series now…maybe they’re not actually the good guys? Francis could murder a hell of a lot of civilians, but I don’t think the Order cares. (It seemed really obvious that he brainwashed his own father into a nursing home, but nobody even raised an eyebrow.) And I know they’re at war and the situation is dire, but Kevin straight up annihilated that informant, and everybody was like “dude, he could’ve had more info.” (Or maybe being blasted into a pile of puzzle pieces is reversible?)
The Dark Order that’s been causing most of the chaos comes off as a little one-dimensional, because they all seem to be evil just for the sake of being evil, and they want to be in control just so they can say they’re in control. But in the end the “good” guys don’t seem to have any better motivation. They just want to stay on top, and anybody who gets murdered in the process (civilians, informants, or their own members) is in the end collateral damage. I’m starting to wonder why we’re rooting for them.
I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love this series. The art is fantastic, we’ve had a lot of deliciously weird magical carnage, and I can’t wait to see what happens next. But this issue felt a little all over the place. I’m hoping that it’s because we’re missing a crucial piece of information, and when we get it it’ll blow our minds.
