When I heard one of my favourite characters in the Marvel Universe was finally getting her own title, I was very excited.  Scarlet Witch has had a rough time the last few years and it is long past time for her to get back into readers good graces.  This first issue wasn’t a slam dunk to start off on, but I do have high hopes for it.

Wanda can feel that something is not right in New York, besides the every day ‘not right’ of the city, and heads out to seek information from a detective looking into a suspicious murder. He takes Wanda to the crime scene, where she discusses with the detective other similar murders that have taken place.  Wanda discovers that this is the work of a spell that has been cast and goes about to set it right, and that the detective was not simply a means of information, but in fact the means to break the spell.  When she has completed the task, she realizes that there is something far bigger then one spell at work…that all of witchcraft is being tampered with, and that she means to find out who is behind it and put an end to it.

I did enjoy this first issue , but I had two problems with it.  First off, it was a run of the mill murder mystery with a slight magic twist.  Here we have Scarlet Witch setting out to repair witchcraft and this is the jumping off point?  Dead cats and some little hex demon? *YAWN*  I was expecting something a little more earth shattering to set Wanda out on her adventure.  I’m hoping the slow start means there are bigger things to come.  The second problem I had, and this is a big one; YET again, her power set has been changed…over the years no one seems to be to able to settle on what exactly Wanda’s powers are!  Mutant hex bolts?  Maybe….Chaos magic? Sure that works for Avengers: Disassembled –  Wait, chaos magic doesn’t exist…wait, reality altering powers, YEAH that works for House of M….wait no, NOW it’s witchcraft…*sigh* I just wish someone would make up their mind.

James Robinson gives us an alright, if not standard, crime story.  He does give Wanda a good voice, and I do love his interaction between Wanda and Agatha.  The narration does feel a little long winded, and nothing terribly exciting happens.  I loved Vanessa Del Rey’s art in this book.  It had a very contemporary feel for me, and I really enjoyed her style of Wanda.  I have to give a shout out to Jordie Bellaire on the colours as well.  Everything is very dark and toned down and you can feel the ‘not right’ that Wanda mentions; except for Wanda and her splashes of red which very much showed us that this was her book and I liked that.

Overall, no I wasn’t terribly thrilled with this first issue, but I wasn’t totally disappointed either.  I am very excited to see Wanda in her own book and I am looking forward to see where this quest to fix witchcraft takes her next.  I do hope things pick up and things get more original to set this title apart.

Story: James Robinson Art: Vanessa Del Rey
Story: 7 Art: 8 Overall: 7.5 Recommendation: Read