The Last Witch Issue 2
‘Black Annis’
Written by Conor Mccreery
Illustrated by V.V. Glass
BOOM! Studios
Synopsis
We find Saoirse where she left us in the last chapter, looking for her younger brother Brahm after they found an abandoned witch’s tower and he disappeared…only the tower is not as abandoned as they thought. Now there are secrets unravelling about Saoirse’s mark on her arm, about the true nature of her grandmother, and about what the witches are and their sinister plot that is suddenly a lot bigger than a simple spell and abandoned tower.
Review
The Last Witch #2 is a sharp contrast to our first issue. Suddenly, we are thrown into darkness and themes that threw me for a loop. I was once again happy to see the illustrations done by V.V. Glass, with the Witch named Black Annis being a particular highlight. We also see some beautiful panels featuring our protagonist, Saoirse, and her newfound abilities.
Where I commented in the first issue that there was also lots of exposition dialogue describing character histories which was a lot to absorb, in this issue it is welcomed and necessary because we are suddenly being thrown into ancient histories about legends and almost otherworldly beings. I would go as far as to compare it to the Percy Jackson book series, which also has a foreboding antagonist that remains hidden for the first few installments.
This is the same with a character that we only know as ‘The Faerie King (…) The Eater of the World’.
This new antagonist, as well as the still unseen Cailleach and her witch minions, has definitely cemented itself as one of my anticipations for future reads of this series. I eagerly await more incredible character designs, with the Witch in this chapter looking almost like a serpent crossed with a scarecrow, very creepy and enticing! Plus, the imagery and themes was almost enough to knock me from my seat, I won’t give away too much but it involves a burnt and well-cooked, ahem, individual.
Writer Conor Mcreery is still doing very interesting story-telling in the setting that he has chosen, despite the fact that Saoirse still has cliche tropes that we see in a lot of fantasy stories, this time falling into a ‘chosen one’ trope where she is the only one who can stop the looming threat but also does not wish to be the ‘chosen one’. However, Mcreery once again diverts it by having our protagonist becoming the thing that she despises, which is less common, especially in Western Media. Saoirse’s relationship with her younger brother Brahm is also once again a highlight. Their relationship is almost stressful to read, as we are hoping as readers that nothing happens to separate them, especially now that we know that Mcreery does not pull any punches in fates and outcomes of certain characters (some of which were a bit rushed in this chapter to push our main story forward).
The cliffhanger at the end was once again frustrating in the best king of way. I already want more! Now that some of my questions have been answered in this chapter, there are more questions that I have to ask. Why did this chapter end with a mystery bird? Is this creature on the side of our hero or our villain? At least this time I did not finish the issue fearing for a child’s life that I had grown quite attached to, now I am anticipating what comes next. Saoirse has become more compelling, which I commented on wishing to see in my review of the first issue, so now I look forward to seeing her struggles not only with real life monsters but also her own inner demons, and coming to terms with what she truly is and her dark family history.
This issue ended too quickly, or perhaps I was reading too fast for my own good, and I would no longer call this a simple story, and instead would call it a dark yet fun read full of twists and turns at every corner.
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