(Not actual cover)
Publisher: Roar Comics (distributed by IDW)
Release Date: October 2015
Price: $12.99
Creator(s): Anne Toole (writer); Katie O'Neill (artist)
Format: 112 pgs., Full-Color, Trade Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-6314-0431-3
Age Ratings: N/A
ICv2 Ratings: 3.5 Stars out of 5
As a matter of full disclosure, I am acquainted with the writer of this new "magical girl" series, Anne Toole. I met her through gaming, since she is also a game writer.
Here, she has a good handle on adventure story and blends it with the remarkably cute artwork of Katie O'Neill. The result is an all-ages "magical girl" story, aimed primarily at girls. [Boys may have a harder time jumping in, but there are a few male characters eventually.] In this series, good and evil have visible and even physical manifestations. If you do bad things, evil in and around you can get stronger from your actions. If evil gets strong enough, it can infect anyone who has even bad thoughts, which is perhaps the weakest part of the story. It suggests that for good to win, no one can ever have as much as a moment of greed or jealousy, or else they can get controlled by evil, and do even worse things. Even kids may notice that this is a downward spiral that doesnt end well.
The weapons for good are a set of magical crystals. The wielders have special powers, based on what gemstone they have, and part of this story is that they don't know their own powers and limitations very well yet. Each wielder also has a magical creature attached to their powers, as wildly different as the powers are.
O'Neill's artwork is excellent, other than the truly bizarre supposed eyebrows on one character. At first, I thought they were a deformity. In any case, O'Neill's portrayals of magic and magical creatures are excellent and intriguing. Just don't trust her eyebrows.
--Nick Smith: Library Technician, Community Services, for the Pasadena Public Library in California.
