Comic Review: Tommy Gun Wizards #1 & #2

Tommy Gun Wizards #1 & #2

Dark Horse

Writer: Christian Ward

Art: Sami Kivela, Christian Ward & Dee Cunnife

Okay, so when I found out there was a comic from Dark Horse called Tommy Gun Wizards and that I was on the right schedule to be able to review it in advance, I leaped at it. It’s called Tommy Gun Wizards. It’s mobsters in 1930s with magic. What else could I ever want?

The story follows Eliot Ness and his team of Untouchables in the police force who are assigned to end the illegal Lick sales. In this world, the prohibition era in the US wasn’t about alcohol but about the consume of the substance called Lick, which gives its consumer magical abilities. And with that weird and beautiful combination, we have a whole new set of luxury, violent and secret elements that always come up in stories like these. On top of that, we can add the extra four pages at the end of both issues that explore the origin of the magic in Lick which is telling its story little by little.

Ward’s conduction of the story is pristine. Considering how many new elements he’s mixed with known and established ones he could’ve led with a straight-up exposition page explaining all the differences. But that would easily break the illusion for the reader and diminish the experience. What he does, instead, is adopt a drug discussion that has been present ever since the 1930’s if not earlier and use that to make clear what kind of impact the use and sales of Lick has had in the community in those times. By doing so, he also manages to introduce his main characters, the police officers, in a drug bust, alternating to a role-call later. This all immediately clarifies what Lick is, what it does and why it may be harmful to society. All that without losing the stories momentum.
The magic present is as awesome as the plot itself. That kind of magic that appears to have clear rules behind it, but those are flexible and varied enough so we can get many types of spells and enchantments.

Such a spectacular story couldn’t have bad art. The project just wouldn’t be approved. That is to say, the penciling and coloring in this book are mesmerizing. The facial expression reflects perfectly the characters’ feelings and thoughts as they should, without looking exaggerated in any matter. The page composition is used boldly to reflect the scenes’ theme and feel as well.
The colors used in Tommy Gun Wizards are equally as wonderful and vary even among similar elements (fire in an environment A in issue #1 has a different color than a fire in a different environment in issue #2). The lighting is accurate and emanates from the magical elements with such conviction it contributes to making the whole scene more believable, even though there’s a guy throwing fireballs in it.

I loved this comic, from the plot to its characters and world construction. I hope it lasts for as long as the creative team needs it to because both issues were incredibly nice to read every single page of the way.

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