Reviews: The Magic Order 4 & The Ambassadors
From Image Comics
The Ambassadors finishes its first arc, while The Magic Order leads into its final issue with this penultimate part from Image Comics.
The Magic Order 4 #5
Madame Albany is back and determined to not only destroy The Magic Order, but reality itself. She’s taken down the entire Moonstone family and destroyed Moonstone Castle. Now nothing can possibly stand in her way.
by Mark Millar (Author), Dike Ruan (Cover Art, Artist)
This was a clever issue. With the big sibling battle, I really enjoyed how this played out. With the battle in the otherworld, it seems the deck is stacked against Cordelia. The magic battle itself plays well, and I got a real feel of the battles in Disney’s Sword In The Stone or Granny Weatherwax in Equal Rites. The shapeshifting is well-played, using classic magic beings and a violent battle.
The fallout from all of this is well played; while Madame Albany is causing her own form of havoc, it all leads up to this battle in the final issue. Some spoilers are on the horizon, and it will be interesting to see where this leads.
I loved this art, with a lot of magic floating around and some good use of light, fire and ice.
The Ambassadors #6
The Ambassador for Mexico completes the team as they face their first major conflict together and find out the truth behind Choon-He Chung's husband's superhuman upgrade programme and the rich guys around the world who have paid him a fortune for it.
by Mark Millar (Author), Matteo Scalera (Cover Art, Artist)
This is where it all comes together, with all The Ambassadors joining up to help prevent a natural disaster from causing an unnatural one. There is some excellent use of the powers in this issue - showing their strengths and potential difficulties in overcoming their limitations.
Then there is the battle with Choon-He Chung’s husband. He has his own plan, and we get a little look at his and Choon-He Chung’s backstory - how they met and how they split. This was well done, but I’m unsure how much I trust all of this…
There will be more to come in the future.
The art is excellent - the character, fight parts, and locations. This all fits together well and has a smooth ending.
