Sometimes it takes a little time to settle into character. It seemed like Willow was coming off a tad too much action hero in the opener but, in this issue, we get a kinder and gentler Willow. We get our Willow! But, of course, we never lost her. We just needed more time to get a better look at where she’s been and where’s she’s going. Brian Ching’s artwork is spectacular. His style gives you the most energetic Willow we’ve seen so far. At first, that seemed too energetic but it appears that we’re seeing some softening of the edges from the first issue. Look for yourself and you’ll see. I mean, I was right to see a Laura Croft thing going gone. Ching has drawn “Tomb Raider” comics for Image so there you go. Anyway, you can see it as a refreshing change of pace and, for the rest of the issue’s look, hands down, Ching delivers on the “Wonderland” theme.
We start off this issue of Jeff Parker’s script with a larger-than-life, larger-than-football-stadium, creature, all teeth and multi-colored, ready to chomp down on Willow and her demon sidekick, Marrak. Since Willow is now in this new magical realm, her magic mojo is running smoothly. The girl can let fly with casting one spell after another. There’s always the danger that things could still go terribly wrong, but Willow manages to do what she needs to do in confronting this Hyberrax creature.
Willow seems to be on quite a lucky streak in this issue as she coasts through the magical, and quite beautiful, new realm she’s in. This issue is a showcase for Brian Ching’s pencils, Jason Gorder’s inks, as well as Dark Horse mainstay colorist, Michelle Madsen.
Jeff Parker’s script builds its way to something significant in this issue. It has to do with our problem about no magic back on planet Earth. As for the plot, it feels like a few pieces on the ole chessboard have been moved so we’ll have to wait and see how much further along we can get in forthcoming issues. The character development is coming along nicely. Willow feels like she’s rolling right along as she should, given her mighty quest for magic and all the pitfalls that lie ahead.
Willow #2 is out December 5. Visit our friends at Dark Horse Comics.
