Fate: The Winx Saga Vol. 2

A fairy and her friends battle an army led by a former comrade in Cuartero-Briggs’ YA graphic novel, one in a series.

Bloom Peters, a teenage fairy, could not have returned from her exile in the Realm of Darkness at a more contentious time: A corrupted Stella (Bloom’s erstwhile friend) is leading a red-eyed animal army against the Winx crew of fairies and all their friends. (If that wasn’t bad enough, Stella is leading the attack masquerading as Bloom). Bloom’s friends are already miffed at her for pulling a disappearing act, but they can sure use her help fending off the wolves, tigers, and a nasty pterodactyl let loose upon their school. (They don’t know that poor Bloom had to relinquish her mighty Dragon Flame in order to make her way out of the aforementioned Realm of Darkness.) Bloom is carrying around a ton of guilt and remorse as she valiantly looks for a way to defeat the evil forces; she’s also got a lively romance with classmate Sky to navigate. It’s a lot for any teenager—magical fairy or not. The play of action across illustrator Peri’s panels is smooth and propulsive, easily conveying the flow of the story. Splash pages emphasizing big reveals or especially dramatic events are deployed to good effect. The art itself is clean and expressive, with a “cartoony” feel appropriate for the target audience. Also appropriate for the age range is the teenage drama and romance liberally mixed in with the threatening menace. The dialogue is consistently strong and reflective of teen sensibilities and humor: “Oh, good, now I’m going mad” a character named Musa tells her ghostly paramour. “And here I thought that’s just what you do to me,” he replies. Another ally quips, “I dream of a day when I understand what in Zeus’s name is going on with you Winx girls.” The creative team behind the teen fairies never leaves the reader confused, despite the frantic pace of the narrative; they even include a mini-primer on making comics for readers whose own creativity has been ignited by the fiery proceedings.

Entertaining and upbeat fantasy fare.