Scarlet Witch #6 // Review
A space paladin has just fallen through the Last Door. She’s being pursued by the Kree. Wanda wants to help her out. She’s suspicious...she’s been tricked before. Blackjack O’Hare once tried to get the better of her by telling her that he didn’t mean to harm her. Wanda isn’t some two-bit space rabbit mercenary, as the paladin is quick to discover in Scarlet Witch #6. Writer Steve Orlando opens a one-issue adventure for Wanda. The art team of Lorenzo Tammetta and Sara Pichelli conjures the story into the visual with colorist Frank William.
Her name is Ganymede. She is the last survivor of the Archsisterhood--an ancient order that has been combating oppression in intelligent races across the universe for billions of years. The rest of her order had been killed in cryosleep by the Skrulls. To make matters worse, the Kree and the Skrulls have joined forces. Ganymede seeks vengeance, but she can’t do so alone. It’s a bit awkward: Wanda’s son is married to the Kree/Skrull emperor. (Her family tree is...really complicated.) The good news is that with the bonds of marriage being what they are, Wanda has a personal connection to the galactic empire in question.
Orlando mixes action with drama. What at first appears as though it might be a tenuous dramatic, non-action-based solution to the central conflict becomes a remarkably fun adventure. It’s a clever alternation between action and emotional/procedural drama that manages to touch on quite a few different themes. Really, it’s actually quite impressive that Orlando does as much as he is with a simple one-issue revenge story. The whole thing feels remarkably engaging straight through from beginning to end. And in the end, it feels kind of weird that a story with as much going on as it has...only took the space between the covers of a single issue.
Tammetta and Pichelli deliver some delightfully alien visuals to the page. (The Unified Kree/Skrull Archives are casually trippy...gorgeous in their simplicity, really.) Wanda herself comes across as casually powerful with a grand sense of selfless heroism. Her sons have a great presence on the page as well...bearing the weight of one of the most complicated intergalactic conflicts in the history of comics. The action feels particularly sharp thanks to William’s colors. There may not be a whole lot going on in the background when the action starts, but William amplifies the action with radiance and some remarkably vivid color to keep it all moving.
Orlando has been giving Wanda a respectably enjoyable tour of the Marvel Universe through the pages of her own book. It was only a matter of time before Wanda ended up visiting family. She’s going to be getting a visit from a more notable member of her family for issue #7, which should be great fun given Orlando’s distinct writing style. It’s been fun so far. Hopefully, Orlando can keep it interesting on all levels the way he does with issue #6.
