Michael D Hamersky On Comics Presents 'My Take On': Charmed Issues #15 & 16:  An Ongoing Comic Book Series Based On The TV Show Series (1998 - 2006) Published by Zenescope Entertainment Inc.!

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3588 -  I received a package from Zenescope Entertainment in December with several issues of comic book titles that they currently publish.

Two of the comics that piqued my immediate interest were of the 'Charmed' comic book series, based on the TV show that ran from 1998 - 2006.  Not that I was a 'fan' of the TV series, but I was familiar with the IP (Intellectual Property).  Plus the two covers that came in were eye catching, which prompted me to read those first.

So even though I wasn't truly a fan of the TV show, or knew all that much about what went on during those eight seasons, (hey it was on the CW channel, of which I watched very few TV shows! Shout out to 'Reaper', 'Nikita', and 'Ringer' though!), I thought I would read these two comics first.

So what does this comic book series cover?   I'm copying what I found at the Wikipedia entry for the Charmed TV show, which had a small section on the comic book series.  Please note:  I did not read this first, but only now, when writing up the review blog.

On March 15, 2010, Zenescope Entertainment announced that it had acquired the rights, from Fox Consumer Products, to publish comic books and graphic novels based on Charmed.   Author Paul Ruditis was hired as lead writer of the project with Zenescope's Raven Gregory co-authoring with him for the first three issues. Dave Hoover was hired to do the interior artwork while David Seidman was hired as the series' main cover artist, however many other artists will contribute various variant covers for the series.

The new series takes place roughly "a year and a half" after "Forever Charmed", to allow time for "Piper, Phoebe, and Paige time to have some of those kids we all saw in the flash-forwards during the series finale."  Because "Forever Charmed" provided a "serene happy ending for the characters, not a great set up for continuing their story", Raven and Ruditis "address that on page one of issue one and then shake things up a bit."  Familiar characters will appear in the first few issues, but the writers wish to try to strike a balance that does not alienate potential new readers.  In the first issue we see that each sister is now living happily with their husbands and has entered into motherhood and while magic still plays a role in their lives, they are currently demon free and perusing other endeavours. Piper is hoping to finally open her own restaurant while Phoebe is preparing to return to work as an advice columnist after giving birth to her first daughter, Prue. Paige is still working as a whitelighter but is balancing that job with being a mother of two twin girls. However, the Charmed Ones must soon face up to the fact that their normal happy lives are about to be disturbed by the forces of evil when they discover that all of their past innocents are in danger.

The comic became an instant success with the first issue has sold out of its initial 17,000 copy print run in under three weeks and has mostly received mixed to positive reviews from critics and fans."

Okay, the above is fine, but that was back then, and the issues I read were the October & November 2011 issues.  The comics creators were different, and it was now more than a year later since the series first started...

Yet I found that not only was it relative easy to jump on this story arc, but that I knew my way around the characters and the action pretty quickly.  Which I would have to credit the writer of the 15th issue, Paul Ruditus, for.

The cool artwork on the cover of issue #15 was by David Seidman, was not the same artwork on the interior pages, which was by Dean Kotz.  However, Dean's style of artwork flowed well with the storyline, and was enhanced by the coloring from Michael Spicer.   I ended reading issue #15 wanting to go right into issue #16 that was on hand. 

That issue, #16, also had the same comics creators team, which besides those already named, had lettering by Jim Campbell, art direction by Anthony Spay, and editing by Paul Ruditus and Ralph Tedesco.  These persons produced a good read in my opinion.  And this from a reader who really had minimal knowledge / interest in the television property the comic book series is based on.

My only 'con' on the two issues is that these were both continued issues, with no mention of how many more issues are in the story arc, unless I missed that point in those issues.

Normally, I'm not too keen on jumping in on 'continued stories'.  However this comic creators team pulled it off for me, in that my initial interest on reading these first because of the TV show, was justified.  Both issues kept my interest, with cohesive storyline and artwork.

Thus my comic book grade for the two issues combined together is a VERY FINE / NEAR MINT (VF/NM) 9.0 out of a possible 10.0 comic book grading scale.  Again, I realize that a lot of comic book issues are placed into story arcs of five to six issues each, so as to re-print into Trade paperback format, (TPB).  So if this story arc continues as well as these two issues did, it would be worth publishing in that format.

There is a Facebook Fan Page for Zenescope Entertainment that I suggest you 'Like' to follow this series and become interactive with the creators and others that are following the progress of the series also.  Especially if you are already a fan of this TV show.

You can purchase these two issues via the Zenescope Entertainment web site.

In addition you can see the earlier issues of this comic book series at the GCD database.

As a final reference, here is the link to the Wikipedia entry for the TV Show 'Charmed'..

My thanks to Zenescope Entertainment for bringing this series to my attention, and others that will be review blogged in the weeks to follow!

~Michael D Hamersky On Comics! 

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,588 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

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Note:  My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com, including the book 'Gotham City 14 Miles' that I am shown holding to the left. I'm 1 of 14 essayists in that book! !     

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