Review by Ian Keogh
The Magic Order unites members of five families to protect the world from mystical threats. That world is much like our own, so perhaps it is. Book One detailed ructions in the Moonstone dynasty, and ended with Cordelia now head of her family. There are threats, though, previously kept in check who consider change to be an opportunity. There’s a device called the Stone of Thoth able to breach space and time, so dangerous it’s been broken into four pieces, each of which has been hidden to ensure it’s never used again. Early in Book Two one piece is recovered, the thief sending a very public message.
Also new is Francis King, former boyfriend of Cordelia who led an equally dissolute lifestyle with greater consequences. He’s spent the past two years in rehab, and returns supposedly clean with his demons absent to play a pivotal role here.
Stuart Immonen picks up the art and is heavy on referenced detail. He ensures residents of the featured cities will be able to recognise landmarks rather than just drawing generic places, and puts the same work into defining the cast. Many artists avoid tattooed characters because it’s a complete pain making them look consistent from panel to panel, but Immonen has no worries on that score, and he also brings decades of polished storytelling clarity.
That being the case, it’s a shame it’s all in service of an ordinary plot. Mark Millar returns the magical gangster chic, this time giving a large role to a London mobster just made to be played by Ray Winstone, but he’s the only real standout in what for Millar is a very rare, almost totally predictable story. A few good moments occur, several very cruel, but most of Millar’s best ideas are in passing, such as the repurposing of the city in a bottle idea from Superman. For all that, though, there is some effective misdirection in the penultimate chapter, disorienting any reader who’s pre-empted the plot, but it’s momentary and what a fair amount of readers will have already figured out comes to pass. The art is great, but let’s hope for better from Millar in Book Three.
