Pocus Hocus #2 is a comic written by Allen Dunford & Will Radford with art by Brian Balondo with colors by Jasen Smith. The demon returns to Pocus to discuss an important development. This is a supernatural comic with comedy and violence that stars a magician. The magician is Pocus Hocus, he sold his soul for true magic power a while ago but he now finds himself just going through the motions. The unnamed demon he sold his soul to is very large and violent with a gambling addiction. Pocus also has an assistant named Emily. The story begins with Pocus receiving a visit from the demon at his house. The demon recounts what led him there and it all starts at a poker table where things don’t go well for him. This takes place sometime between 1900 and 1950 in what seems to be the UK. The violence here is very bloody and gory with body parts coming apart. The pacing is steady with a humorous and serious tone. There are multiple intense moments due to danger, surprise, and violence. The dialogue here is conversational with a lot of aggression and decent back-and-forth. There are no word-heavy pages here. This is an issue that has some interesting developments while shining a spotlight on some of the other characters.

            The art here is very detailed and has a classic feel with heavy shading and lighting. This is in black-and-white except for when the supernatural is involved, in which case it there is bright, usually vibrant colors. There is only one shot of natural scenery as this takes place entirely inside buildings. The primary location is Pocus’ house which has multiple stories and is grand, with the rest of the scenes taking place in either the theater or in Hell. The backgrounds more often than not show the surroundings but on occasion they will be a heavily shaded gradient colors. The expression level here is a tick below average as these characters rarely move off their initial look. The emotional range here consists of anger, disappointment, sadness, and sinister happiness. The faces have a good amount of detail and show all the different expressions well. The magical effects can be many different colors and catch the eye when they appear. The violence here is brutal and bloody with a large amount of gore and limb separation. The action scenes flow well and have a high amount of panels.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes.

“Would I like this?”

If you like supernatural stories with comedic elements that star a magician, his assistant, and a demon while taking place in the early 1900’s and featuring violence then this is for you.

“What would this comic’s film rating be?”

R. Violence, gore.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“You are not dragging me into this.”

 

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/allenandwill/pocus-hocus-1-2-a-dark-humorous-comic-series/description

***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 26

Violent Pages: 4, for 15% of the comic

Sexy Pages: 0, for 0% of the comic

 

**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**

 

Violence Level – 3

“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”

“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”

“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”

“This was a tournament arc.”

“All my life I had to fight.”

 

Gore Level – 4

“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”

“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”

“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”

“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”

“This is a slaughterhouse.”

 

Death Level – 3

“And everybody lived happily ever after.”

“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”

“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”

“Yeah this was a tragedy.”

“Think Gettysburg.”

 

Porn Level – 1

“Everybody kept their clothes on.”

“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”

“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”

“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”

“Oh. This is porn.”