Written by: James Robinson
Art by: Vanesa Del Rey
Publisher: Marvel
It’s no secret that Wanda Maximoff, A.K.A. Scarlet Witch has had a troubled, emotional history in the main Marvel Universe. She’s crippled the Avengers and Mutants alike with her reality altering powers. This new series starring the former Avenger seems to be aware of this troubled past of hers, and attempts to create a new, engaging world and history around her to capture the readers of the All-New, All-Different Marvel Universe. In regards to that, it’s worth delving deep into this debut issue to see how good of a job Robinson and Del Rey do with this character.
The opening scenes in this issue do a fairly good job at setting up the main conflict for the rest of the arc. Scarlet Witch, after leaving the Avengers, has taken up solving mysteries in New York with her dynamic intelligence and magical abilities. During an investigation, she feels that the magical power around her is changing for the worse, and she sets off an a mission to discover the source of the problem. Robinson’s writing is fairly straightforward, yet well written for what it’s trying to accomplish. Although, from the start, I found it may be difficult to interpret the relationship between Wanda and her mentor, Agatha. Newer readers might not fully grasp their relationship, despite a few throwaway lines giving some details about their past. Otherwise, new readers, whether they were excited by Scarlet Witch in her appearance in Avengers: Age of Ultron or were attracted by the cover or interiors of the book, will have a fun introduction to Wanda’s powers, without being too overwhelmed by her near catastrophic abilities experienced readers may know she possess.
Speaking of the art, aside from David Aja’s striking cover, Del Rey I found to be a little inconsistent in quality. The faces in particular, depending on the panel, would look better than others throughout the book. Some of the venues look a bit generic, but I would more attribute that to the style of the book and it’s scope more than anything. Visually, my favorite page depicts New York at night with colorful auras all throughout the city, with Agatha and Wanda looking out, and it perfectly matched the tone and scope of the series this issue tries to set. The panel layouts throughout the issue make sense, and it flows easily. However, I felt that when the action turned up in the latter half of the issue, despite the intuitiveness of the layout, the art made it hard to decipher exactly what was happening to Wanda and her adversary. It was all visually appealing, but not being able to interpret the action fluently does a disservice to Del Rey’s own abilities, which clearly show in the book.
Despite my relatively minor gripes, I found that this debut issue of Scarlet Witch’s All-New, All-Different series was a delectable, if short lived taste of what is to come in the future. There wasn’t much character building in the issue, but given Wanda’s history, I have hopes her character will be fleshed out in future installments. It’s also worth noting the biblical quote that opens the book, and the ominousness it may hold for our heroine. At the very least, I am excited for the dastardly things that may come in the future.
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