Millar Gives Wizarding World a Kick-Ass Treatment with The Magic Order Volume 2

The Magic Order protects the world from, not so much the things that go bump in the night, but the things that bump into the night and send it shrieking away in terror leaving a town or two full of dessicated bodies in its wake. It's as though writer Mark Millar does to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter what he did to the genre of superheroes: given it a "kick ass" boost.

Ever since Cordelia Moonstone became the head of The Order at the conclusion of the previous volume, things have been getting more hectic, possibly due to the way Cordelia rose to power. And Cordelia's leadership is about to be tested like never before.

A disenfranchised sorcerer and his entire clan decide they've had enough of living in fear of The Order. Viktor Korne works a menial and thankless job, but is in reality the leader of a powerful family, descendents of Soren Korne. His family redefines the term 'chaotic evil,' and together they begin making alliances with other shadow clans to put into motion a scheme that will make The Order powerless and call into their servitude an elder god -- pure Lovecraftian celestial level. Can master escapologist Cordelia Moonstone pull another rabbit from her hat?

The Magic Order is filled with a wide array of colorful characters, each of whom contributes to the story in their own way. You have businessmen and street urchins, pillars of society and recovering addicts -- and they fight side by side against evils that are too big to be seen by normal humans.

Stuart Immonen's artwork in this is absolutely impeccable in most places, although there are some scenes where I'm sure the panels are laid out in a wrong order (it could also just be a glitch in my PDF viewer splitting splash pages, but I tried reading it both ways and I still got a little lost in one place). Regardless, The Magic Order: Volume 2 is an adventure and an experience that you'll be glad you had when reaching the final act.