Curse Words #1 Review

Curse Words #1

Writer: Charles Soule & Ryan Browne
Artist: Ryan Browne
Colorist: Ryan Browne, Jordan Boyd, & Michael Parkinson
Letterer: Chris Crank, Ryan Browne, & Shawn Depasquale
Publisher: Image Comics

A review by Greg Brothers

It’s a known fact that there are two different kinds of wizards. There are good wizards and there are bad wizards, and but for the occasional wizard that becomes corrupted once a wizard is recruited, they stay their path. So, what happens when a wizard is sent to Earth by an evil, more powerful wizard with the idea to destroy the humans and take over the earth, but through his interactions he decides to switch sides and become a good wizard? Well thanks to Charles Soule and Ryan Browne, that question that’s been keeping you up at night may finally be answered.

Curse Words #1 introduces us to Wizord, sent here by his Master Sizzajee to help prepare the world. For what? That we don’t find out quite yet. After a bit of a rough start on Earth, which involves some outbursts from Wizord, he decides to cast a spell of understanding so he can make sense of what the humans around him are saying. The problems start when Wizord realizes that he likes the humans. While it may seem like it was a good idea, there of course will always have to be consequences for upsetting the all-powerful demon that sent you as his herald to prepare the world for his coming.

Soule and Browne create a fun, quirky, and wonderful story that is filled with interesting characters and questions. While it seems that Wizord has made the choice to spare earth and its inhabitants from the impending doom, there is the question as to why he was sent to Earth to begin with. Beyond that we are left questioning some of the choices that he makes the even after he has seen the good side of Earth. Learning about Earth and all its inhabitants creates some dialogue that provides some truly witty and dark comedy that takes Curse Words #1 to the must buy list. It would have been easy for Soule and Browne to take this book just a little too far and venture into the absurd and corny. However it’s as if they’re wizards themselves the way they spin a tale that is original and fun.

With a book like Curse Words #1 you must have art that can keep up with and enhance the dialogue and that is exactly what the art team does here. We see from the beginning that Wizord is different not only by how he acts, but also how he looks. The well dressed, perfectly groomed wizard with designer glasses completes the concept that this is a different type of wizard in a different type of world. The bright colors of the purples and whites pop off the panels, while little details such as the whiting of Wizord’s eyes when he performs a spell shows the care that the Browne and the rest of the team takes throughout the book.

The Verdict
Buy It! Heck, buy two and give a copy to your friend so they can see how great Curse Words #1 is. The idea of wizards battling over the fate of humankind is not a new idea, but the idea of an evil herald being won over by human nature is one that is not explored often enough. This book has a nice combination of dark comedy and witty dialogue that will keep you thinking and laughing at the same time. The characters are original and well developed even within this first issue. I personally cannot wait to see where this story is going to take us.