Rise of the Magi #4 Review

What will Asa do now that he’s lost his piece of the Orb? Read on to find out.

The official description from Top Cow:

Asa Stonethrow’s uneasy alliance of magic wielding criminals is beginning to unravel and trust becomes harder and harder to come by as the line between reality and illusion blurs. Asa is determined to fight the good fight, but is he really fighting the war he sees? Back in his home world of Rune, magic has laws and codes of honor; on Earth no such guides exist. While fighting for his life, Asa learns the terrible lesson that when pitted against the overpowering strength of chaos, order has little or no chance of victory.

Rise of the Magi has been one of my favourite new series as of late, and as it reaches the penultimate issue of it’s first arc we see how magic is spread throughout the Earth more than we know. Though the issue lacks in the overall intensity of the first three, the build-up and dialogue really captured my attention, with the final page once again having me eager to read on.

Marc Silvestri has been fleshing out one hell of a story throughout Rise of the Magi, as though this issue failed to captivate me at the same level as the previous issues, it was still intriguing, and well worth reading. The thing I loved most about Silvestri’s script in this issue was the dialogue, as with little plot wise to entice me, it was nice to see these characters bond, and show comradeship. I also enjoyed how Silvestri opened the issue with the evil Commander Gore, with his development having me curious as to how he’ll fit into the conclusion of the first arc.

The artwork in this issue is once again handled by Sumeyye Kesgin and Tina Valentino, and I have to say the similarity is that uncanny that you could easily mistake it for the same artist. Having shown a rougher style in last issue, Valentino neatens things up here, with it being that similar to Kesgin’s art that it’s hard to tell which is which. Bar this the illustrations as a whole were very dynamic and fun, giving a lively atmosphere to this calmer issue. Rounding things off we get colours from Betsy Gonia, with her sharp vivid palette yet again giving great tone.

Rise of the Magi #4 may be the poorest issue in the series so far. But this just goes to show you how good the series is as a whole, as it still comes recommended.