The Magic Order (2018), Volume 1

June 28, 2019

The Magic Order has been a responsibility and a boon to the Moonstone dynasty for centuries, secretly protecting humanity from dark beings and dire enchantments. But one of their own, the unstable Madame Albany, is unhappy with the status quo and feels she should have been made the head of the family. Instead, the mantle passed to the eminently more even-keeled Leonard, the aging but popular stage magician and current patriarch. With the Moonstone children scattered--black sheep Cordelia makes a passable career as an escapologist but cannot be counted upon to do the right thing, Regan owns a nightclub and doesn't possess quite the power of his siblings, their best hope, Gabriel, renounced his heritage after his young daughter was killed in a magical mishap--is it possible they can reunite to convince the greatest magician of the age to return to the fold, or will they be felled in Madame Albany's evil extravaganza? VERDICT Treating the magician's heritage like a mob family, Millar (Civil War) and Coipel (Avengers vs. X-Men) deliver a blunt, adult thrill ride with some excellent twisty-twists that will keep even genre veterans guessing as to their resolution.--Douglas Rednour, Georgia State Univ. Libs., Atlanta

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