Review by Ian Keogh

In 2014 Ted Naifeh brought an end to the stories of Courtney Crumrin finding her way in a mystical world with The Final Spell. It’s not as if he hasn’t been busy in the meantime, but seven years later he decided he did have more to say about the Crumrin family and their world, and The Charmed and the Cursed begins a new series.

It was previously established that due to an agreement made with a fairy, Wilberforce Crumrin was to remain in the mystical realm, but he now has a chance to live his life on Earth, passed off as the younger brother to a now slightly older Courtney Crumrin. She is in fact his great grand-niece.

A point always emphasised in the previous series was that magic may be miraculous, but it comes at a price, a warning reinforced to begin The Cursed and the Charmed. Will is uncertain about attending school, so Courtney supplies a charm that will make others like him. Despite that, much is still up to him, and an excruciating early scene shows just how awkward Will is when it comes to basic human contact.

Returning to a world after leaving and closing the gate behind him is fraught with the possibility of failure for Naifeh, but having Will as the central character is a definitive change. Courtney was always grumpy and certain, and so she remains, but Will’s different personality supplies an alternative perspective on a dangerous world. As much as anything The Charmed and the Cursed is about the truth of friendship and what the responsibilities are, and that’s well explored with some surprising touches. The biggest is where the eventual magical help comes from.

Artistically Naifeh is proven quality. He’s always dealt in shadows and while there is colour here, that remains his refuge of choice. Almost everything is rendered in dark shades of blue, green or purple, but his people have more life, and that includes the undead. A vampire features, and Naifeh’s spent time to ensure his design conforms to what’s expected, but still has originality.

Adults may pick up on how the threat is ended, but the foreshadowing isn’t obvious, and this isn’t aimed at adults. Young adult readers will discover a creative, if slightly more downbeat take on a world of magic than Harry Potter, and could do far worse than head back to the original Courtney Crumrin series before continuing with The Lost & the Lonely.