Spellbound Crimes is a comic written by James Duran with art by Mariana Meira. A band attempts to make it to their gig on time. This is a supernatural comic with slight drama and a bit of action. The band we’re following is made up of four members: lead singer Nemesia Von Hel, drummer Thorne Wyrmwood, Xochitl De La Muerte on guitar, and Gigi De La Muerte on bass. Their story begins with them waking up and having 1 hour until sound check. After taking a bit of time to get dressed and ready they discover that the van has no gas in it. There is a very light amount of violence here with no blood or gore. The pacing is steady and the tone is like that of a teen TV Show. The intense moments here are due to stress and anger. The dialogue is mainly conversational with a lot of back-and-forth and informational narration. This is a short issue that has an interesting story and stars a unique cast who just want to play music.
The art here is drawn in a modern style and a bit cartoonish with a wide range of colors. The only natural scenery we get are some plants and trees outside the Black Manor. The primary locations are the Black Manor and the Hellhound Bar, with a stop in-between. The backgrounds either show the surroundings or are a solid color. The expression level here is around average as we do get different looks but it can be at a distance. The emotional range consists of annoyance, anger, evil, fear, and happiness. The faces have a decent amount detail and all the different expressions usually come across clearly. The violence here is magical and electric-looking but there isn’t any blood, gore, or gruesome attacks. The action scene is only a couple pages long.
“Is this worth reading?”
Yes, if this is up your alley.
“Would I like this?”
If you like supernatural stories with a focus on music and an all-female cast and that features a bit of drama and violence then this is for you.
“What would this comic’s film rating be?”
PG-13. Violence.
“Could I get a quote from the comic?”
“I chose not to get gas.”
Digital Link(Free): https://ko-fi.com/s/809fbfe783
***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***
Probably Contains Spoilers
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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 12
Violent Pages: 2, for 17% 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 – 1
“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.”
