Magic The Gathering: Chandra #1 – IDW Publishing
Written by Vita Ayala
Art by Harvey Tolibao
Art Assistance by Tristan Jurolan
Colors by Joana Lafuente
Letters by Christa Miesner
Cover by Ken Lashley & Matt Herms
I’m sure you have a routine of going to your local comic book shop at least once a week. I’ll admit, I didn’t always make it on Wednesdays. There were times that I would go on a Friday or Saturday, and it was always PACKED. I would come to find out that it was in large part due to Magic The Gathering. Players would pack the tables with their decks and binders to battle for supremacy. That’s when I found out how big the game really was. When I found out that IDW would be bringing these stories and characters to comics, I decided to jump right in. Let’s talk about Chandra.
While I will not give you all of the details of who she is, Chandra is a Planeswalker with the power of fire who just wants to help as many people as she can. We get to see her doing her thing a lot in this issue, and it will definitely keep you interested. She also has a very vibrant personality, which makes her very likeable and easy to root for. When she returns from her adventures, there is someone waiting for her. Good friends and family will worry about you, even if you think there is nothing to worry about. In a way, we do get to see if those concerns were warranted or not in the last part of this issue. That leads to a familiar character revealing themselves in the final page that should make things very interesting for Issue 2.
As someone who wasn’t completely familiar with the characters and story of Magic The Gathering, I was a bit concerned going in to this book. Those fears were immediately put to rest, as Vita Ayala does an amazing job setting the scene and letting the reader know exactly what is going on. If you’re a casual, or even new fan, you will definitely be able to enjoy this book. Vita gives you plenty of time to get invested in Chandra, and gives her a charm very similar to what you might find similar to a certain hero of Themyscira. Any time you’re dealing with abilities like Chandra’s, you need to have a good art team. This group did not disappoint, with vibrant and impact colors surrounding the extremely detailed inks. This whole creative team makes transferring these characters from the table to the page look easy, and that may have been what impressed me the most. This was a very enjoyable fantasy adventure that I feel like I could read 50 issues of. More, please!
RATING: PULL / BUY