Vision and the Scarlet Witch #9

This issue is a team-up. But not of superheroes. It's a joining of 2 holidays! The main holiday event is Mardi Gras, which in itself is a rarity in comics. I don't have such an issue in my collection and I can't even recall a single Mardi Gras special ever being published. Vision and Wanda's new neighbors, the professional magician duo of Illusion and Glamour, have invited the former Avengers to accompany them to the Big Easy where they are scheduled to perform during the Fat Tuesday festivities. This vacation doubles for the expectant parents as a pre-baby romantic getaway as Valentine's Day is happening at the same time as Mardi Gras. 

As for Valentines Day set comics, they're rarer than a Halloween or Christmas special. But compared to Mardi Gras books, I've got a glut of them in my collection.

While Vision and the Scarlet Witch enjoy the oddities of Mardi Gras, it's revealed that Illusion and Glamour are not just traveling magicians, but super-powered cat burglars who fund their luxurious lifestyle with thefts planned around their touring schedule. They're in New Orleans in hopes of pulling a heist involving a valuable jewel.

Also with their eyes set on the jewel is the Norse villainess, the Enchantress. She somehow manages to pull the Vision under her thrall with the task of stealing the jewel for her. Now why the Enchantress couldn't steal the bauble herself, what with her Asgardian powers is about as beyond me as to how can an android man become the love slave of the Enchantress? She mentions something about pheromones influencing the Vision and well, how can androids be influenced by human chemical compounds when they also comment in this book how they don't need to eat or drink? Well, both head scratchers do occur in this book and by stories end, there's a scene where Vizh in in between both his wife and new love and the two ladies are becoming at him like a pair of masters trying to prove who is the true owner of a stray dog. 

The main story had some implausibles. Really, the addition of the Enchantress to this double holiday themed story was unnecessary based on how she could just steal the jewel herself. This plot issue is irregardless of the fact that her powers of seduction are useless over the female owner of the stone. Are you telling me that Enchantress lacks the ability to magically break into a safe?

I thought the revelation that Illusion and Glamour are traveling thieves under the guise of famous show biz magicians was the best part of this book. I wonder how this reveal is gonna be handled through the last 4 issues of this miniseries. Will it even be addressed? I'm really interested in learning more about these 2 characters because thing just got interesting!!!

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Flashpoint: Secret Seven #2

   Shade, the Changing Man recruits another wayward member of the Secret Seven. This time, it's Amethyst, hero of the Gemworld, that has been magically summoned. Only now she's a 12-year old girl trapped in a 20-something's body and she's wary of the good intentions of Shade. She's even more distrustful of Shade's new mistress, the formerly evil (or so she says) Enchantress!

    Meanwhile, another former member of the Secret Seven has decided to expose the rest of the team to the world. Only, there's one little problem- the magician calling for a press conference, Abra Kadabra, has never been a member of the Secret Seven before. What sinister plan does he have up his sleeve and how do sorceresses Zatanna and Raven fit into this all-encompassing mystery?

   I'm still not 100% sold on this Flashpoint tie-in. This issue was way better than the premier issue. But things are so convoluted with mystery and with new players being added to the mix at a frantic pace, that I'm not convinced that series creator Peter Milligan (2000 A.D.) can wrap this up in the 20 or so pages of issue #3. 

    I love the artwork in this series, however. It's by one of my all-time favs, George Perez (Wonder Woman). The drawings are clean, it's classic and every panel adds that touch of whimsy that all of DC's magic related titles should have.
  
   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Flashpoint: Secret Seven #1

    Imagine that you are the only surviving member of a group of superheroes with supernatural powers. You are to blame for their murders and you find yourself on the lamb. You jump at every shadow, expecting it to be the local authorities who have specific instructions: "Use deadly force!" Making your plight even worse is that you're hallucinating visions of your fallen allies everywhere you go.
    So when an alluring Enchantress comes to you for assistance in helping her overcome her dark side, what do you do? Trust that this mystic is who she says she is? Or treat her like another delusion or threat in disguise and run for your life?
     Thus begins the opening chapter of Secret Seven. I wish I could expound more on this Flashpoint tie-in, but I am not very familiar with the main character of this comic: Shade, The Changing Man.
     What I know about Shade probably couldn't fill a fortune cookie. I know that he was a creation of the great Steve Ditko for DC in the 70s and that the Shade comic didn't last very long. I also know that their was a couple of Shade comics series in the 90s but if they are about the same character- dunno. That's really all I know about Shade...
       So when Shade is kidnapped by creatures that claim to be the same race as him and that they believe that his malfunctioning 'vest' may be behind the death of his cohorts, I can't tell you if that's accurate to the Ditko version or not. 
       The Shadowpact and Suicide Squad sometime member, Enchantress is a slightly different story. I remember reading her origin in the pages of something like Secret Origins or House of Mystery. The Flashpoint version of her in this book that involves a beautiful woman going to a costume party at a castle and being transformed into an evil witch is pretty spot on to the DC Universe version. But other than that, there's not much else on her I can allude to either, since her role in this issue is very limited.
       Of the dozen or so issues of Flashpoint related works that I have read, this is perhaps the weakest. I'm sure much of it has to do with my lack of a priori knowledge of Shade or if this just wasn't my thing. Getting my hands on a copy of a issue of either Shade series isn't really something I'm interested in pursuing. But in order to be more prepared for issue #2 of Secret Seven, I think I will at least research the character online. (It might even boost my rating for this issue or at least the next one, as well being able to make some better connection with the character.)

    Worth Consuming

    Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.