Adorned by Chi review issues 1-4

 Magical girl stories have always held a special place in my heart. I watched Sailor moon religiously as a kid, fell head over heels for W.I.T.C.H. in High school along with watching anime like Madoka Magicka, Shugo Chara, and Magical Girl Rising project.

As a black woman, I always wished I could see myself within the pages and on the screen within the genre I so love. When I discovered Adorned by Chi's Kickstarter back in 2018 I was excited. A 9 issue series set in an Afrofuture Nigeria where 5 college students become heroines (and a hero) to fight a creeping evil. I wasn't able to back the project but for Free Comic Book this year, they released Issues 1 to 4 for free!

The deft writing, amazing art, and human characters won me over instantly.

You have perky, party-loving GoGo who can be a ray of sunshine.

Her twin sister, Kelechi, is a goth after my own heart. With a love of the occult and sassy personality, she's the life of the party.

 Kaira reminds me a lot of Michiru from Sailor Moon. She's very zen and gentle but has a serious edge when others are put in danger.

Emeka is the popular sports star on campus.  He doesn't get much focus on these issues but he's hinted at being important later on.

Last, but certainly not least is Adaeze. She's the leader of the team. It's implied that she suffers from depression and throughout the narrative has crying fits.  It's revealed that they're connected to her power of empathy which allows her to communicate with monsters that attack the campus. She's the only one to realize that they were once normal people.  I love how the series uses this to focus on self-care, as Chi, Adaeze's magical animal companion, gives her real-world applicable tips to deal with stress and emotional burnout.  Even with the heavy undertones, the beautiful and vibrant art pops even in black and white.

The series is a must-read for fans of the magical girl genre, Afrofuturism or people who are just looking for a fun read. Here's the link to where you can buy both the free digital comics and pre-order the soft cover physical release

W.I.T.C.H. Series overview

If there is one series of comics that both defined my childhood and have had a huge impact on me it's W.I.T.C.H..  Spanning 139 issues, this Italian comic series was made in the early 2000's. It even gained enough popularity to get a 2 season TV show. Before the comics came stateside, they were again adapted into 26 middle grade novels that added more depth to the first 2 story arcs of the comics.

I was a huge fan of the series in high school, although I was outside the target audience for the novelizations I devoured them. And once I discovered it based on comics I would hunt for English scans online of the most recent issues. As I got older, life got more complex and I forgot this gem of a comic.

So when I learned that Yen Press got the rights to release the entire series, beyond the first two story arcs I was filled with nostalgia. A quick google image search brought back all my happy memories. So does the series still hold up after 15 years? (Geez, just typing that makes me feel like an old lady).

I'm thinking of doing a retrospective of each major story arc to see if I'm not blinded by my memories.

If you want to read along with me you can find both physical and e-book editions of the first 4 story arcs here. Yen Press W.I.T.C.H. website