Power Hour: Rise of the Witch #1 is a comic written by Dolan Waddick & Shawn Hudachko with art Aurelio Mazzara and colors by Raúl Manríquez. A witch uses a book to create potions that grant her the power to enact revenge. This is a supernatural and science fiction comic that gives us a much earlier look at the book made prominent in Power Hour. The leading lady for this tale is an unnamed witch called “The Witch of the Wildwood” in the Middle Ages who has been hurt in many ways by the nearby village which has resulted in her seeking retribution. Also in this issue is Jennifer, the college student from Power hour who discovered this same book in the present day and started using it herself. Things begin with a look at the witch admiring the book before shifting to Jennifer discovering it on a pedestal. The story is told in a back-and-forth format with each turn of the page switching to the other character. The themes here are revenge and discovery for the witch and Jennifer respectively. The action here is very gory with corresponding pools of blood. The pacing is a bit fast due to the constant switching of the characters and the tone is serious with the witch is present but more lighthearted and adventurous for Jennifer. They both have plenty of intense moments. The dialogue here is more narration than spoken words, with the witch having a sinister tone. No word-heavy pages here. This is a comic that shows us the usage of a powerful book in an intriguing story with two characters that have very different goals.

            The art here is slightly cartoonish with that slight sharpness seen in some animation. The colors have a darker tone when focused on the witch with the brightness coming in with Jennifer. There is also a nice focus on the lighting. For scenery we have a forest in both times but Jennifer has tall buildings whereas the witch has stone walls. The witch’s story starts in her humble abode before moving to the village and Jennifer’s starts in her lab before moving around to various parts of the city. The backgrounds are split between actually showing the scene or being filled with a color gradient and occasionally action lines. The expression level here is high especially from the witch as she is very into everything she is doing. The range of emotions on her end is sinister with evil looks and while Jennifer’s are happier with a sense of adventure. The faces are well-drawn with a good amount of detail so that every look comes across clearly. Some of the effects here can be bright and electric. Many of the panel and scene setups are almost identical from page-to-page with a difference in expression and action. The violence here is very gory with extra blood and some gruesome moments. The action scenes flow well and tend to involve many panels.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes.

“Would I like this?”

If you like supernatural and science fiction stories starring women with plenty of violence and adventure with revenge themes then this is for you.

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

R. Violence, gore.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“But powerless I no longer remain.”

 

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/powerhour/power-hour-rise-of-the-witch/description

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

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 22

Violent Pages: 7, for 32% of the comic

Sexy Pages: 1, for 5% 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 – 5

“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.”