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Terry Hooper-Scharf

Monday 25 January 2021

Hexagon Comics: THE ENCHANTERS #1


by Jean-Marc Lofficier, Gabriel Mayorga & Roberto Castro, cover by Gabriel Mayorga.

B&W

88pp

US comic size

perfect bound

$12.95

If you cannot find the book on Amazon UK then contact Jean-Marc to order at: jmlofficier@yahoo.com

Enter the ENCHANTERS, composed of SIBILLA, heir of Cagliostro, the powerful Lakota shaman OZARK, KELand THE METAL MAN, from the distant world of New Camelot, created by the Goddesses of Love and Hate...

The latter, the evil ARUNA, once banished from our planet by the powers of Birrell, the Druid Supreme, is trying to return, aided by her servant, the sinister magus MEPHIS.


Obeying her commands, the diabolical Magus has summoned and enslaved four members of the HEXAGON GROUP... MOZAM, RÂ, the DARK FLYER and LYS BLACK which are thus, in spite of themselves, forced to confront the powers of the ENCHANTERS...

Faced with the ENCHANTERS, will the four members of HEXAGON find a way to free themselves from the demonic influence of ARUNA, or will they succumb in battle?

Can the ENCHANTERS prevent the return of the goddess ARUNA in this epic tale brilliantly illustrated by Gabriel Mayorga and Roberto Castro?



When Jean-Marc Lofficier asked whether I'd like to see some of the new English language editions from his Hexagon comics I hesitated (about 1.3 seconds in fact). You may well think that if these characters have a fifty year old history it will be a nightmare to know who is who or does what. I know something about the characters but even I was wondering whether I might have to start looking things up.

No worries.

The character are introduced and even origins given and it was all done so smoothly that it was enjoyable and never distracted from the story itself. What did it remind me of? The great type of stories that Marvel Comics produced in the Silver and Bronze ages.  Gabriel Mayorga's cover has that kind of vibe to it and his work inside on chapter 1 cannot be faulted. Unlike a lot of current Marvel books I did not have to look at pages or panels twice to see what the hell was going on. The pages are clean and uncluttered. Easy on the eyes and help the story flow.

Roberto Castro's art for chapter 2 is a style change but it works and I love it. If I could afford to pay artists then this ios one of the styles I would go for. Lovely.

The one thing with black and white artwork is that you get to see the details that colour tends to swamp out -DC Showcase The All Star Squadron is an example: I knew the art was good (I have a complete run) but when I saw it in b&w it looked far better. Mayorga and Castro are both wonderful artists.

The story by Lofficier is what you might expect: a great yarn with good characterisation and steadily paced action. I read this book at 01:00 hrs and all morning I was going back over the story in my mind and looking at the art again....seriously, if you want a good read and good art as well as something that seems fresh I recommend this book highly (I don't tend to do this very often).

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