Scarlet Witch (2023) Issue 9 Review

Covers

The main cover by artist Russell Dauterman is a mostly nice collage, but the use of Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto does confuse things. Also the depictions of mid-1990s Wanda Maximoff and Joseph/Magneto’s Clone have broken back poses.

Artists Jen Bartel, Ernanda Souza, and Tiago Da Silva are each responsible for a respective variant cover. Though they range in style, and are rather pointless cash grabs, all display high levels of artistry.

Main Story

Writer Steve Orlando arguably introduces the villain to the hero in a rushed way. Meaning any build-up to make the villain seem like a threat just does not seem to be there. Steve Orlando also is overly verbose in this issue which is obvious despite the valiant effort of letterer Cory Petit. Thus, even with good placement and sizing of the text it obscures way too much of the visuals by colorist Frank William and artists Lorenzo Tammetta and Sara Pichelli. Speaking of which, the colors and art are debatably high to medium quality depending on the page or panel in question.

Back-Up Story

Writer Juan Ponce does good work despite doing a by the numbers script. Artist Ig Guarra needs to work on consistency, minimalism, and page composition. Colorist Triona Farrell does a great job with differing skin pigmentations. Cory Petit does a decent job with suggesting timing via the placement of the word balloons. Overall this is a serviceable back-up story.

Two steps above barely recommended status.