Scott's Take: Scarlet Witch: Vol. 1: The Last Door by Steve Orlando

 

Scarlet Witch: Vol. 1: The Last Door by Steve Orlando is a new series where the Scarlet Witch has moved to a new town. She has opened up a shop to help people with their problems by way of magical items she sells such as potion, elixirs, and more. There is also some sort of teleportation door affixed to her shop that allows people from all over the world with nowhere else to go to arrive at her shop so that she can help them in addition to her local walk-in customers.

 

Each issue in this collected volume introduces a new supporting character with a new problem or a new guest star. The final issue is mostly a setup for the Contest of Champions Event. As those of us who have read other series already know, and Wanda does not, her former mentor, Agatha, has gone evil. So, the fact that Agatha is visiting in the last issue of the volume is not just because, supposedly, Agatha is worried about her former protégé.

 

The guest stars are drawn from Wanda’s complicated family tree are featured for an issue here and there and are moved on with nothing more said about them. Wanda faces villains that are powerful in their own right, but would not seem to be much of a challenge for her if she was not holding back. She is, in different ways, for the reasons that come clear during the read and does casually performing massive spells.

 

There is humor, action, and drama in interesting storylines accompanied by pretty art. This series is continued with Volume 2: The Magnum Opus.

 

Sometime after that book is released, the series is scheduled to be relaunched as Quicksliver and The Scarlet Witch. This is planned to be a buddy cop style series dealing with Magneto’s death. Before he died, Magneto sent a letter to Wanda that was supposed to read by his children, Wanda and Pietro (Quicksilver), after his death. But, Wanda burned it before Pietro was able to read it. Pietro is peeved about this and there are consequences. This upcoming series is undercut in some ways by Marvel and their marketing choices since we already know sometime next year Magneto will be resurrected. It’s hard to mourn a character when Marvel has already announced his return.

 

My reading copy came by way of the Hoopla App and the Dallas Public Library System.

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2023