Charmed #1

As a steadfast lover of Charmed and somebody who has seen every episode and owns most seasons of the show, I had very high expectations for this comic. I am happy to say that they were met and then some. I will admit that I was more than a little wary at first, the show ended on such a perfect note that I didn't think there was really any way to continue without reconning the happy ending, fortunately Paul Ruditis found a way around that. The issue picks up about fifteen months after the show left off (minus the generational flash forward) and the sisters are busy, just not in the way that you'd normally find them. There are no demons, or at least no active demons (or warlocks, for that matter), that is the main part of the show's happy ending that stuck. So, naturally, that leaves them to pursue other activities. One of the bests part is what those activities are and how faithful that they are to the characters that you know and love. Piper is cooking and working on opening up a new restaurant, Paige is helping Leo out at Magic School and Phoebe is getting ready for work. If you know these characters, then you know that these are things that they truly love. There are also some quite interesting additions to the cast. The least interesting of which are Paige's (as of now) unnamed twin girls. Piper finally has the daughter that she's been longing for and if you know a good amount of Charmed trivia, then you get the reference of the name Melinda. For those of you who don't, Melinda Warren was the first in the line of Halliwell witches and one of the few names that not only didn't begin with a P, but also wasn't used again, until now, that is. Phoebe now has a child as well, (whether it is the daughter that she saw in her vision of a Utopian future during the show remains to be seen) who is named Prue. You do not need to be a Charmed aficionado to get the reference, but just in case, Prue was originally the oldest of the three sisters (before Paige, their half-sister came into the picture), she gave her life protecting an innocent. There are references all over the place whether it be the names of the children, Melinda's possible powerset that seems to be plant/earth-based (a possible tip of the hat to Piper's time as a Mother Earth Goddess?), the spell recited from the Book of Shadows when Paige is teaching at Magic School which is taken directly from an episode of the show, or the scene with the three sisters talking where they mention the name Zankou. It is references like these that let you know that Ruditis loves the show, loves it's history and mythology and will continue to write this series in a way that makes you love it even more. I came into this with high expectations and was not disappointed.  
 
The Good 

• The complete and utter faithfulness to the characters and to the history and mythology created by Constance M. Burge 
• All of the awesome references in there. There are references that you have to be a pretty big fan to get and ones that you can understand just from watching a few episodes. 

 
The Bad 

• My only complaint is that the art is just a little bit too cartoonish, which is the only thing keeping this from getting a 5 star rating. Other than that, this was perfection.

 
The Verdict 
If you liked the show, then you should seriously consider picking this up. If you didn't watch the show, you might be a little lost, but you'll still enjoy it.