PROJECT MAGUS #1 advance review - One to watch

(Reviewed by Melody Werner)
Project Magus is an upcoming comic that recently wrapped up its Kickstarter campaign successfully, written by Nicholas Garcia and illustrated by Philip Bell. It's a military series with a superhuman bend, which I learned of through the r/ComicBookCollabs subreddit. After chatting with its writer, I was provided a copy for review and interviewed Nicholas (alternatively can be read on our MeWe or Discord). This is my honest review of what I read, but you can take that how you will.


The art in this debut is fantastic, with (mostly) monochromatic painterly artwork which slightly reminds of Benedick Bana's work on Dark Moon. It has solid visual storytelling chops with minimal confusion. Sometimes black & white comics can fall down the pit of not knowing which character is which, but each one in Project Magus is individually distinct so you don't have moments where you're saying to yourself "Okay, which character just died?" or who punched who, or whatever else. The action scenes are dynamic with neat panel layouts which succeed at leaping off the page while remaining effective in conveying what's happening to whom. There are some pages which offer more in the way of color, and they pop with vibrance whilst also adding to the storytelling in a way that is intuitive and interesting.


Where Project Magus falters in the version I read, are some issues with the lettering. Nicholas is well aware of all these problems, but I am reviewing this version of the comic so I gotta talk about these in the unlikely event they aren't addressed by the time you're able to read it for yourself. There are a couple of especially glaring typos here and there which immediately take you out of any immersion you may have. The speech bubbles are a hair too small in a way that is discernably janky, done to show off more of Bell's artistry but it doesn't really hit that sweet spot in terms of being easy to read and allowing you to appreciate the artwork. That all said, I can see where Nicholas was coming from when that decision was made and I think plenty of folks would like to see an unlettered version of the issue. Sounds like something that would be a neat Kickstarter reward, hmmm....

(Nicholas has since pinged me back saying that the typos have already been fixed, so that gripe should be squashed)

The story in Project Magus #1 is fairly light, devoting more time to providing an action-packed spectacle. But that action-packed spectacle is well-executed, and draws you into it with brisk pacing and a few cards up its sleeve. This isn't too heavy on exposition whatsoever, and it gels with what they're going for here. The character moments are brief and we only see some hints for who each character is, but there are seeds planted. The dialogue is similarly swift, and helps to keep things from feeling too bogged down--a cardinal sin for a comic looking to do what Project Magus does so well.


If you want a cool ass action comic, you ought to strap yourself in for Project Magus. This is some damn good comicking. I'm intrigued to see where this goes, and if you're an indie comics aficionado you probably will be too. Project Magus #1 gets a 4.5/5 from me.

Awesome

Summary:
Phenomenal artwork, full-throttle pacing, and much promise lead to Project Magus being an inspired debut that could very easily be a nice little indie comics sensation in the same way as Atomic Robo or Lady Mechanika. Check this one out when it hits Kickstarter.

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