If one were to read the back cover of “It Takes A Wizard” with the story by Thomas R. Hart and the art by Sean Lam, you’d believe you are about to be immersed in a world of magic and horror, on the journey with a young man with a past and a young woman with an axe of gigantic proportions to grind. Then you actually open the book and discover that the hype the publishers put on the back is a load of bull. It Takes A Wizard has the potential to be a really good series, but the author shoves way too much into a four volume story.

The story revolves around Isaac Silverberg, a young man who has been in prison for five years because of an incident involving real magic that has turned the island of Manhattan into a magical wasteland populated by all the dark creatures that Tolkien personified in a much better way years ago. The other main character is a girl named Hope, whose parents were killed when the magical calamity occurred, and is now a warrior, trained by an elderly priest who took her in, in an attempt to save at least one life that day. Isaac’s mission is to go into Manhattan and retrieve the daughter of a rich man, who was kidnapped by the real wizard that destroyed the island. There are a few foreseeable plot twists, and the end turns out to be an example of an author not knowing what to do at the end, and thus explaining something really badly.

Plot holes aside, the real pleasure of reading It Takes A Wizard is the artwork. Sean Lam is an excellent artist, and you can tell the love and detail that went into every line, into every clean inking. Even the ugliest creature is beautiful in a grotesque way, creating a world that anyone who loves fantasy would want to visit, even if it did mean there was a substantial chance that one might get eaten. In a surprisingly refreshing way, the magic is drawn so that it isn’t obscured by lines meaning to represent the impossible happening in front of our eyes, it just changes, and with it, changes perception of what is going on without making the reader try too hard.

The characters of It Takes A Wizard, are, unfortunately, the true downfall of this series. But perhaps it is because they never had the real time to blossom and grow. The most well-developed character is Hope, with her tragic back story and her balance of tough and sweet. She is not the acidic pessimist one would expect, with her strong religious faith, and it is bracing to watch her fight, knowing she is not going to show herself up with an ego the size of Detroit. Isaac could be interesting, if he was not so trapped in his own mind. The kidnapped woman, Nicole, could also be an interesting discussion of our personal obsession with the super-rich and worthless young women in the media, but that is never explored.

In all, It Takes A Wizard is not a bad read. If you are looking for all style and no substance, or just a fun fantasy story, you will find it here. Just do not come looking for real magic, or something that requires more than minimal thought.