Review - Charismagic #2

Aspen Comics is still sticking to the notion that "Everything you know about magic will vanish" in Charismagic #2. The thing is that with this issue it's more than just knowledge about magic that's vanished. Things are about to get weird.

Everyone in Charismagic #2 has vanished, leaving Hank and his newly speaking cat Sparkles coping with the recent events. Hank is quickly realizing that there's definitely something bigger at play that, mainly because Sparkles is talking. This is quickly followed by Hank being threatened by a somewhat menacing beast looking to feast on him, prompting Hank to show that he still has a few tricks up his sleeve. It's clear in the world of Charismagic that the darker forces of magic are looking to establish dominance in the human world.

Hector is (presumably) in the dimension where the other humans were teleported to and is managing to hold his own. He's a strong enough character that he can still hold his own against magical beasts with human resourcefulness. Meanwhile, Samsun is wreaking havoc in the United Kingdom and taking out his own magic cohorts. The entire issue leads up to encounter between Hank and Sudana where Hank has to set aside his reservations yet again about trusting random beings to help him through the craziness that is the new world.

Writer and creator Vince Hernandez is crafting an interesting tale with Charismagic. So far the theme of the series is shaping up to be a tribute to the abilities of one man in saving the human race. What's interesting is that Hank himself might have some special powers flowing through him; special powers that Sudana will no doubt enlighten him on in the third issue. Khary Randolph's illustrations are colored nicely by Emilio Lopez and have a fantasy quality to them with clean and well defined lines. Even the letters by Josh Reed fit within the concept of magic.

I liked Charismagic #2. Right now it's still flexing some imaginative muscle and is posing some intriguing questions that I want to see answered. How big of a threat is Samsun? How strong is Hank? How much will Sudana play a role in the grand scheme of things? Hernandez is taking the story in a fresh direction and it'll be fun to see how it plays out over the next few issues.

The book hits stores July 13 and you can check out some interiors below.