Review - Charismagic: The Death Princess #2

Magic is a tricky thing, full of illusions and, well, magic. It breeds friendship, camaraderie and sometimes conflict. There's all sorts of mischief when opposing magical forces come together and those fireworks are on full display in Charismagic: The Death Princess #2.

The issue is written by Vince Hernandez, art by Emilio Lopez, colors by Lopez, Jocelyn Dunn and Mirka Andolfo and letters by Josh Reed.

Kon and his running crew are learning a hard thing about saving the world: primarily that trusting each other is important. The group is divided over including Samsun in their entourage, a being who's extremely powerful and equally dangerous. Meanwhile, The Death Princess--along with Serké--gather an army of the most capable human slaves they can muster in preparation for the group’s impending arrival at her castle.

Hernandez lives in the Charismagic universe at this point and the writing shows it. The bulk of the issue surrounds Samsun and whether or not he should be trusted and a part of the group. He's an immensely powerful being who has wreaked havoc in the universe and fans know why the others are scared of him. He's probably on par with the Death Princess herself in terms of power, something that will likely come to pass in a future issue.

There's a lot of relationships tested in the issue as well, which Hernandez uses to move the issue along. Friends and spouses are forced to reconcile differences and come to terms with their choices and that's something the issue really seems to promote. Choices are being made and battle lines will be drawn, both of which will ensure the impending battle has even higher stakes.

The art by Lopez is fantastic. It's got a strong sheen to it that really finishes well and just looks gorgeous. There's a cel-shading feel to it that really helps the action scenes flow. The variety of character renderings really supports the character conflicts and hits home that the stakes are high. It's also colored very well relying primarily on darker colors that allow the light of the magic to explode off the page.

The Death Princess is fear inducing and has an agenda. Kon and his merry band are determined to stop her, despite her penchant for living up to her namesake. She thrives on being divisive and it's those divisions that will make or break the good guys. The second issue continues the chaos and threat of the Death Princess; whether or not she's triumphant remains to be seen.

Charismagic: The Death Princess #2 is in stores February 13 with interiors below.