Magik & Colossus #4: Lada & Koschei

Using two characters or plot beats to mirror one another is a writing tool that Ashley Allen has been using back and forth in almost all four issues of Magik & Colossus so far, and somehow it keeps getting used in increasingly interesting ways.

Magik’s continuing characterization as a rebellious, free-spirited badass is one of the story’s many highlights. Everything she says and does is mirrored by Colossus, who is stoic and rigid, clinging to a past that doesn’t really exist, which fits given his steel skin.

The way Ashley Allen subtly ties the dynamic between Magik and Colossus to that of Lada and Koschei, once again as a “mirror,” using these two opposites to show the value of one is an impressive narrative technique.

Germán Peralta draws so many intricate details into the various pages of issue #4, such as the woodwork on the railings of Koschei’s and Lada’s estate or the different symbols of magical spells that are tossed around quite a bit in this issue. No two pages are quite the same, as panel arrangement is shifted around with every page. The issue uses black gutters instead of the traditional white space between the panels to reinforce the nighttime setting and the tone of the storyline.

Arthur Hesli’s colors are smooth across the entire issue, even going as far as considering things most readers, including myself, would never even think of. Colossus’ arms shining in the moonlight, for example, or the simple glow of a magical outline around Magik that seems to shift the visual textures of her entire design.