Hex Wives #6 // Review
After nearly half a year of build-up, a group of amnesiac witches finally realize that they’ve been living a quiet suburban lie. There’s little doubt that it’s time for some heavy-duty revenge courtesy of the sixth issue of Hex Wives. Writer Ben Blacker delivers a story drawn by Mirka Andolfo with colors by Marissa Louise. It’s been kind of a difficult run for the series thus far. The first five issues have featured a thoroughly likable ensemble of witches lied to and forced into a life that wasn’t really theirs. Finally, they get to cut loose and really embrace their power in a horrifyingly enjoyable issue-length celebration of revenge.
The mother of the coven has been let loose from her prison deep within a quaint, little suburban house. Understandably upset, she turns into a monstrous black werewolf and chomps the head off of a man who just ran out of bullets trying to get rid of her. Things get ugly from there but in a remarkably witty way. There is blood and quite a lot of death. Homicide utilizing the most adorable kitten imaginable. And there’s fire. Lots. of fire.
Blacker’s significant accomplishment here is maintaining a fun, festive atmosphere of violent revenge at the end of the series’ first half year. An entire issue featuring little more than powerful women enacting vengeance could feel silly and repetitious, but Blacker does a good job of keeping it interesting. The fun is amplified by the fact that many of the men who were assigned to pose as these women’s husbands. Blacker allows bits of interpersonal complexity into the narrative that keep the men marginally likable, thus avoiding an overly simplistic explosion of energy for the heroines. The complexity also allows for hilarious exchanges between the witches and the men who have been lying to them for years.
With all the blood and fire, there’s a sharp visual disconnect between this issue and the muted peace of the rest of the series. In this final issue of the series’ opening, Mirka Andolfo maintains the same overall look for this issue that had been present throughout the series. The witches gleeful awakening to their real power is grounded in the pleasant suburban atmosphere that has served as a foundation for the whole series thus far. There are some remarkably vivid visuals here. (The kitten attack is particularly striking. Andolfo manages a sequence as grizzly and disturbing as it is cute and adorable.) In a series that has been so pleasantly sedated with its color to this point, Marissa Louise is finally allowed to let loose and really explore the reds and purples and yellows that accompany magical power, fire, and bloodshed.
It’s a satisfying wrap-up to the initial six issues. At the outset of the series back in October, Blacker and Andolfo said they wanted to keep doing the series indefinitely. There are so many places the story could go from here, and there are quite a few mysteries revealed in the sixth issue for Blacker and Andolfo to uncover. The ensemble of witches has been introduced. From here it could get really interesting.
