As is readily apparent from the cover art, this book could be alternatively titled Mystical Midriffs. Writer Brian Patrick Walsh offers up a rather hum-drum, stereotypical supernatural/super-hero plot that assumes the reader is going to be familiar with the extremely obscure heroines. It's a shame the plot is weak and the importance of sex appeal is so obvious, because under that, there's some strong characterization and some richly detailed and realistic artwork. There's some definite talent at work here, but it merits work on a much stronger and more original premise than this one.
A rare and ancient book is dusted off in the basement of the New York Public Library, and it sets into motion events that threaten all of existence. The menace linked to the book must be contained, and Dr. Strange, Earth's sorceror supreme, assembles a team of three skilled female mystics to help him. The first is his own student, Topaz, and the other is a powerful magic-used from Florida by the name of Jennifer Kale. And the third... well, reaching her requires a little more than a good long-distance plan.
One thing is clear about this book: it's main draw is sexuality. This is all about the shapely curves of the young heroines, as the cover and interior art demonstrates. I don't blame Deodato for this; he's just headed where he's pointed. It's a shame, though, because there's some wonderfully strong and rich artwork to be found here. At times, it's photo-realistic, but it's always dark and flowing as well, which reinforces the supernatural quality of the plot and characters. Some of the panels put me in mind of the legendary Gene Colan's dark and effectively hazy style.
DC's Vertigo imprint has played around with the notion of three witches with some success as a result of Neil Gaiman's incorporation of a triumverate of horror-comic "hostesses" from the 1970s in his landmark Sandman series. In those comics, we see the Maiden, the Mother and the Crone. Here, all three are "maidens;" well, they're sexpots, really, but they fall into three categories as well. We get the innocent one, the spunky one and the evil bitch from Hell... and that's all we get here. Just as lacking in depth is the generic plot about a mission to cage an other-dimensional monster in a mystical artifact.
The only character who's fleshed out at all is Andy Kale. I really wanted to learn more about him and what made him such a lver of rare books. I fear we won't be getting any more, though, as he's really just the story's catalyst.
