From Aspen Comics, Vince Hernandez, Khary Randolph, Emilio Lopez and Josh Reed.

If you’re a geek, and you’re online – which as you are reading these words chances are yes to both – you remember the anger over sci-fi TV shows.  Heroes and Lost were attacked for dragging things out with no answers, only more questions and an avoidance of true plot progression.  Charismagic shows how that can be done right.

Overall this issue didn’t “go” anywhere.  One main character gets in a car and meets another main character.  This may be the most deceptively simple summary ever written.  More information is revealed about Hector, and especially about Sparkles.

Sudana reveals a power, only previously hinted at on variant covers, and its stunning.  In fact, the art on this book contributes so much to giving Charismagic its own “feel”.  There is no other book that looks like this on the shelf.  Much like a comic book fan could see one panel and know that its from Jack Kirby, any panel from this book is unquestionably Charismagic and Khary Randolph.  Sudana looks beautiful, strong and mysterious.  Sparkles can be adorable or ferocious.  Hank is sleek and angular.  Is there anything up his sleeve?  In some of these panels there could be, and lots of it.  Plus, the monsters.  Oh damn the monsters.  These beings have only been glimpsed so far however what little has been seen is drawn so dramatically that you cant help feel terrified and entranced.

Continuing with love for the creative team lets talk colors and letters.  Emilio Lopez captures the darkness and the simultaneous glitz that is Las Vegas.  So many comic book based movies have action scenes that take place at night as a way to cover up bad CGI (or in the case of a comic, bad art).  This is not a problem in this book.  No matter where the story takes place every location is unique.  Colors, shading, lighting, are all specific to each locale and each plot turn.  Speaking of specifics, Josh Reed shows what well produced comics can do that regular books cannot.  Magical characters would sound different than normal people.  They would also have one voice in a normal setting and a different one in a magical time or place.  Especially a dangerous one.  This makes an incredible amount of sense within a magic based book as so much of that world is based on words and how they are used.

For every issue, for every page, of Charismagic the story becomes grander and deeper.  This story was not birthed as a simple idea but as an entire universe with its own rules, physics, bit players and history.  It will join my list of titles that are bought as single issues and as trades.  I cross my fingers in the hope that an eventual collection will contain extra information on this magical world they are creating.