Gob Bluth is why I can’t take magicians in fiction seriously anymore - in the best possible way, because Arrested Development is too damn funny! But y’know what? Surprisingly, The Magic Order #1 wasn’t abracada-bad. Even more shocking - this was written by Hack Millar! Quite the trick indeed.
So, despite thinking this was going to be a blatant copy of those pitiful magic/heist Now You See Me movies (years of reading Millar’s derivative output has conditioned me to expect the worst), The Magic Order is actually The Godfather - with added sequins and wands. “Good” magicians are being assassinated by a dude who looks like Guy Davis’ The Marquis while dreary family drama plays out amongst The Magic Order.
The murders are what interested me the most. The Marquis dude is creepy and visually striking, the killings are exciting and that last one is particularly imaginative and haunting. I quite liked the introduction of Cordelia Moonstone, the wayward escapist daughter, though the whole Moonstone family situation, as well as the “protectors of the world” flashback, felt like an uninspired rehash of Jupiter’s Legacy.
I couldn’t have cared less about Gabriel Moonstone’s cheesy melodramatic backstory, the bad guys who showed up at the funeral were hammy as hell and seeing the different sides squaring off made me unintentionally laugh as it reminded me of the South Park psychics’ battles. I appreciate Olivier Coipel’s skilful art but I’m not hugely taken with it, though Dave Stewart’s painted colours are really something.
Well, well – a half-decent Mark Millar comic at long last! Hopefully the rest of the title (and forthcoming Netflix adaptation) continues in this vein – or, dare I say it, gets better – but for now The Magic Order #1 is an auspicious beginning for this new series.
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