A new publisher arrives in the world of comics and Black River redistributes the cards by proposing the adaptation of the card game Magic: The Gathering. Discover our strategy to dominate the multiverse by reading the chronicle on this first volume.
Multiverse of fantasy
This book marks a new relaunch in France of the Magic: The Gathering franchise. It is therefore necessary to offer a gateway to new readers, including those who know nothing about the card game. The first volume of Magic: The Gathering succeeds with a discovery in several stages.
The first chapter explains how Magic works. The world is not unique but there are several dimensions. Planeswalkers are scientists using magic to travel the multiverse. They live in the city of Ravnica in the heart of the multiverse. A double page in episode three presents the vastness of the city organized in different guilds. They bring together a profession but then forge the character of its members. We then meet three masters who have suffered at the same time an assassination attempt.
Indeed, Magic: The Gathering is also an action series thanks to the many twists proposed by the screenwriter Jed Mackay. The attacks on the masters reveal secrets that upset the fragile balance between the guilds and therefore the entire dimension. Despite their profound differences, three masters will have to collaborate to find those responsible for the attacks. As in any good thriller, the culprit will be surprising. In the meantime, the three amateur investigators are following different leads to visit the entire city. In the final episode, the horizon widens even further as the main characters travel through several universes to solve the mystery. But, unlike Miss Marples, they have magic.
A multicultural multiverse
The universe of Magic: The Gathering being multiple, it can be seen as a praise of diversity. The city of Ravnica hosts architectures from all over the world and the social organization reflects the coming together of different communities. Ten guilds from different cultures coexist and live in peace around a pact. At the higher level, a common council rules the city with a master reincarnated in the body of a dragon as arbiter.
Each Planeswalkers sees the border crossing universes differently depending on their culture and individualism. The central trio of this first volume illustrates these differences : Kaya known as the ghost-assassin is a black banker. Ral Zarek nicknamed the heart of the storm is an ivory-skinned scientist and Vraska, ruler of the oppressed, is a killer with the body of a monster. One of the masters is part of the LGBT community and the majority of the main characters are women just like the archangels. Despite their differences, they work together and their complementarity will be the key to solving the riddle.
The universe of Magic: The Gathering more interesting than the plot that moves too slowly despite many twists and turns. This universe draws on heroic fantasy. To commit suicide, a killer does not resort to poison but pronounces a magic spell. The screenwriter uses strange names and ambitious nicknames. The hall of the hospitallers of the frozen heart illustrates the structure of this universe. Magic: The Gathering is initially inspired by a real medieval monastic order and then reinterprets it: these knights become healers with natural and magical practices. Elsewhere, the inspiration is more ancient like a monster in power from the Gorgon. Finally, allusions to contemporary geek culture are numerous: wild zombies are looking for corpses to reproduce.
The drawing of Ig Guara brilliantly ensures all these mixtures in a destructured layout. He makes us discover the immensity of the city in huge full pages without gutter. Alas, some pages seem sloppy by an inking not very visible.
If you have always wanted to discover the limitless multiverse of Magic: The Gathering this first volume is a very good gateway by a very fast reading. At the end of the volume, a team has formed and the interactions between them become interesting. This trio makes you want to go further.
You can find the first series at HiComics with Chandra or a heroic fantasy series with The 5 Earths.
