Sonic City Witch #2
Having fun in a world of magic and mechs.
Hi Everyone, this is Dan.
Yes, it has been a while hasn't it? I haven't disappeared I just have been running into difficulties balancing work and personal life with finding time to do reviews.
Anyhow, enough of the excuses, let's get into the topic at hand. I did a review on the first issue of Sonic City Witch a while back. I think it's probably one of my least favorite video reviews in terms of quality because it was both excessively long and I think I ended up shilling the comic more than reviewing. That being said, my opinion of the first issue still remains the same: I thought it was excellent opening act and that Dannphan (the writer and creator), was doing basically all the right things for a new independent creator in my view. The second issue continues building on this great foundation though the art begins to show some limitations in this issue.
To recap quickly; Sonic City Witch is a Sci-Fi Fantasy fusion story set in a cyberpunk setting where both cyborgs and technology co-exist with warlocks and magic. Generally speaking, technology dominates over magic and there is a perceived disparity in power and influence of it over the "older" magic. We follow the story of Hazel, a young witch who is having a difficult time adapting to a world of augmented human and massive urban sprawl. Events transpire and she is pushed into action to help save the city from a plot by terrorist mages who wish to wage war on all augmented and non-magic humans.
Issue two drops us into the aftermath of the events of issue one; with Hazel being invited to join a police task force to stop the terrorists. We are introduced to Silverman, who was shown in the a flash back last issue. Silverman visually and personality-wise is a bit of a Cable rip-off but, since Cable is a cool ass character that doesn't really hurt this book. They team up for the rest of this book, tackling a police stand off and then an assault on the headquarters of the baddies. The issue ends with a pretty sweet fight that looks like it could of come out of a quality adult Manga.
I won't go further into the plot details as to not ruin it for people thinking of checking it out but, I will say this was an enjoyable read. Hazel hasn't really grown on me as much as I hoped but, I am enjoying the Silverman character. While the badass veteran cop is not anything original, I was surprised at how competently Dannphan pulled off the writing in this issue. The "Kiano" character is bit more hit and miss for me but, I felt Dannphan did a better job fleshing him out in this issue. The villain Odyssey is still a bit of a mystery and I feel needs more development but, he is supplemented in the villainy department by the evil Witch Twins.
Once again, Dannphan is doing a great job making every issue feel like it is moving forward and giving you a lot of action. It's a real shame these books aren't published in physical form. I can see how that would not be financially feasible but, I actually do think these would be excellent as floppies. I suspect they will be collected when all issues finished, colored, and published in the annoying perfect bound format that all indie comics seem to be doing nowadays. The only solace I take is that there won't be any loss in quality as there isn't any double page spreads that I noticed.
Speaking of the art, I think it's important to mention that I while I enjoy Alex Lopez's figure drawing and expressions, I think he needs to work a bit more on his backgrounds and the impact of his motion art. There are several panels that feel a bit bare, especially in black and white. Additionally, I think some of the action panels could have had a little more impact but, some of that might be my personal preference. Overall, I still like his art and I look forward to seeing what color can do for this series.
This issue of Sonic City Witch is definitely a recommend from me and with the price still at $1.99 in this economy I think it's a no brainer for any independent comic fan. Now only if we could get more JoJo references in the next issue.
Thanks for reading, I will see you … next time!