Charmed: Season 9 Vol. 2 TPPublisher: Zenescope Entertainment
Release Date: September 2011
Price: $17.99
Creator(s): Raven Gregory and Paul Ruditis (Writers); Dave Hoover (Artist)
Format: 184 pgs.; Full-Color; Trade Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-9825-8269-5
Age Rating: Teen+
ICv2 Rating: 4 Stars out of 5
This publisher, best known for violent and risqué versions of fairy tales, has turned out a very credible sequel to the long-running television series. As with the recent Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics from Dark Horse Comics, this volume of collected comic issues is set after the end of the broadcast series. This allows the writers to tell stories without the constraints of fitting between existing episodes, and to introduce characters never seen in the show. In this comics series, the characters were about 18 months into a "happily ever after" when things began to go wrong, and long-defeated evils began to rise again.
Over the course of the stories, the three sisters must re-enlist in the fight against evil, but with new complications caused by their family lives and other issues. The result is a story arc that should satisfy newcomers, but will be more enjoyable to readers with at least some familiarity with the show. The back stories of the secondary characters are complex enough that a newcomer will only be able to focus on the central three.
Teens and up will find an enjoyable supernatural fight between good and evil, with some innovative concepts intriguing plot threads for the ongoing story.
--Nick Smith: Librarian Technician, Community Services, for the Pasadena Public Library in California.
