written by Skottie Young
drawn by Humberto Ramos
colored by Edgar Delgado
I'm not the biggest Harry Potter fan. I stopped reading the series after the fifth book, content to just finish the overarching seven-part story by watching the movies, not all of which I even enjoyed. Nor, for that matter, am I the biggest fan of the "magic" corner of the original, printed Marvel Universe. I was always more of a "traditional" superhero fan, and so apart from a handful Doctor Strange trade paperbacks, I don't have much by way of "magic" Marvel stories.
What drew me to Marvel's relatively new book, Strange Academy, therefore, was an interesting creative team in Skottie Young (Rocket Raccoon), and Humberto Ramos (Champions). Also, I have almost invariably enjoyed Humberto Ramos' work whenever he has worked on "kids' team" books like Runaways or Champions. I'm happy to say, my curiosity was satisfied.
As the title suggests, Strange Academy is a school for budding magic wielders, i.e. wizards or sorcerors, in the same way that Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Children (or the Jean Grey school...whatever they're calling it now) is a school for mutants, with one significant difference being that this school accepts students from other worlds like Asgard or Jotunheim, or even other dimensions, like the Dark Dimension. Told mainly from the point of view of Emily Bright (a new character introduced in this series), the first six issues focus mainly on the various students getting together and (of course) getting into some pretty hairy misadventures, often with pretty serious consequences.
Generally, the book, as befits a story about children, is light-hearted in tone, though it does have its moments of darkness, as is also apropos for a story featuring, among others, the son of Dormammu. On that note, I'll run through the cast very quickly, apart from the main character (and reader avatar) Emily Bright, the cast of students who form the book's core group is actually surprisingly big; there's (deep breath) Doyle Dormammu (yes, the son of that Dormammu), fairy Shaylee Moonpeddle, voodoo sorceress Zoe Laveau, twin Asgardian brothers Iric and Alvi Brorson, Frost Giant Guslaug, Despair the Demon from Limbo, Toth from Weirdworld, and "regular" kids Calvin Morse, whose jacket is apparently a magical being attuned only to him, and German Aguilar, who has the magic power to conjure up just about any animal. Of course, the faculty roster is a who's who of magical heavyweights in the Marvel Universe, including Scarlet Witch, Doctor Voodoo, Magik, Damion Hellstrom, Sister Grimm and the Ancient One, to name a few, with Doctor Strange popping up time and again for good measure.
Notwithstanding his surprisingly large cast, Skottie Young navigates his story quite ably, crafting a pretty satisfying romp that spans the first six issues, even as he obviously teases more to come. There are some tropes, sure, but I quite like the way Young gave distinctive voices to each of these young characters. I don't quite appreciate his attempt to flip the bully-hero dynamic, i.e. Dormammu is the sympathetic character while one of the Asgardian twins is a bully, mainly because it feels heavy-handed at times, but on the whole the characters feel authentic and relatable. Also, I know there's a certain tongue-in-cheekery going on here, but I really feel that the alliterative "Doyle Dormammu" feels a bit much. Would the Lord of the Dark Dimension really call his kid "Doyle?"
Another thing I'd like to praise is the choice of location. I really, really liked that the story was set in New Orleans, not because I have any particular affinity for the place but because it was really refreshing that they didn't set it in New York or any other "traditional" superhero hub like a big, bustling metropolitan city. A mystically-concealed mansion in the midst of Big Easy seems just like the right place for powerful young wielders of the mystic arts to truly master their abilities.
Speaking of young characters, this series features Humberto Ramos very much in his element. I know I've been quite vocal about how he was a poor fit for Nick Spencer's sequel to Kraven's Last Hunt over in The Amazing Spider-Man a few years back, but this is the kind of book in which Ramos truly shines; it's like he was born to draw teen team books, whether it's Runaways, Champions or this. It's particularly helpful that all of these kids are original characters, so Ramos doesn't have to deal with the baggage of living up to someone else's designs, even though several of the Strange Academy students have obvious visual ties to the realms from which they hail, whether it's Doyle Dormammu's flaming head or Despair's cloven hooves. Ramos really stamps his signature on these characters and it's really pleasant to behold.
The volume neatly wraps up its story arc, even as it ends on an obvious cliffhanger, but I don't mind; given how much I've enjoyed this series so far, I'm more than willing to indulge Young and Ramos their tropes.
Bring on Volume 2!
8.5/10
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