Courtney Crumrin Volume 2: The Coven of Mystics
(Advance Reader Copy from NetGalley.com)
"Even the teachers have a bit of magic!"
Written and Art by Ted Naifeh
Published by Oni Press
I was drawn to reading this second volume based on my first impressions of the first volume. It deserved a shot at reading the second volume. I was as pleased with this volume as I was the first volume, which you can find my review for that volume at this link.
This volume steers a little clearer of dealing with Courtney learning magic (the magic is there, but she doesn't seem to be teaching herself it as much) and focuses more on the relationships that she has developed, specifically it deals more heavily with her relationship with her uncle. In this volume it feels important to note that I do not recall seeing her parents on a single page, which adds to the overall story since their appearances kinda slowed down the last volume. Also this volume helps develop Courtney's personality better than the previous volume. We can see that she has a heart deep down instead of appearing emo as she did in volume 1. One of the ways that we see that she has heart is who desperately she wants to save a friend in this volume. This desire to help gives a lift to her as a character. I was pleasantly pleased with what this volume fixed with her. She seemed more like a well-rounded character here than she did.
The artwork always feels right on the money. The people still are a bit less completed than the backgrounds, which I feel adds to the story because of the dark and grittiness it is trying to achieve. I do have to say though that a lot of the incidental characters in this volume appeared to be more completed though than in the previous volume, which was awesome since some of these characters appear to probably be important in the next several volumes. Courtney appeared to be the one character that never looked completed in this volume, which overall doesn't feel like Naifeh is getting it wrong at this point. In a future volume (after more adventures) I hope she looks more completed because at that point I will probably feel that she should be because she will have done so much more with her life and her magic.
There is one scene in this book that if you are squeamish you may not want to pick this up, but overall this book felt a little less dark. It felt more like a mystery that you were trying to figure out before the final page and less like you were trying to hide under the blankets. Now do not get me wrong there is still some of that hiding under the blanket feeling that makes the Crumrin books enjoyable as scary stories as well, but it better assimilated into the overall story. If you love comic books/graphic novels this is definitely a series you should give a chance because it is not only an interesting read, but one that adds greatly to the library of wonderfully written comic books currently published. If you only read the big two I would say step out of your comfort zone!! You will not be disappointed.
Until next time... Stay Optimistic!!!
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