Magnus #2 is a comic written by Frederick J. Littles and Devin Arscott with art by Bruno Abdias and Rom Silva and colors by King Bola. Magnus is dealing with pressure from both the physical and spiritual world in the aftermath of the explosion. This is an issue that calms things down and focuses on Magnus coming to terms with what happened. Magnus is a university student who survived the explosion at Liberty Park and now feels different in a way he can’t explain. He is joined by his friend from school named Shante who attempts to be a shoulder to lean on. We will get appearances from a few other characters that appeared in the last issue. The plot sees Magnus having realistic dreams and nightmares while also getting interrogated by the Federation. There is significant less action this time around with the whole feel of this issue being the “calm before the storm”. There is some violence but it’s nothing crazy or too much. The pacing here is a bit slower than normal due to the talking and overall tone of the story. The dialogue gets deep and gets spiritual at some points. No wordy pages here. This is a issue that settles things down and gives us a closer look at our lead and those around him while giving us an inkling of what is to come.

            The art displayed in this comic looks like a higher-definition version of art from comics in the 70’s. There is a wide range of realistic colors, great use of shadows, and well drawn environments. This story takes place at Magnus’s house and a couple places in his mind. The spiritual places look how one might think they would with a floaty and outer space feel. The expression level here is high as the characters show how they feel which is great when paired with a dialogue-centric story. The faces are full of detail and can change from panel-to-panel. Also would like to note how good the hairstyles look. The action is pretty basic and short with nothing wild taking place.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes.

“Would I like this?”

If you like stories starring black characters in a world where people have superpowers and dealing with battles within oneself and moving between the physical and spiritual world this is for you.

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

PG.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“Of course it does, you forget I’m the leader of our little pack.”

 

Physical Link: https://wiseacre.us/buy-comics/ols/products/magnus-issue-number-1-standard-print

Digital Link: https://wiseacre.us/buy-comics/ols/products/magnus-issue-number-1-standard

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/akoma/magnus/description

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

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 20

Violent Pages: 2, for 10% 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 – 2

“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 – 2

“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 – 1

“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.”