W.I.T.C.H.

[The author is listed as “tk” on Amazon, for all W.I.T.C.H. books. Filemaker won’t accept a blank author field. What to do?]

Five average junior-high girls discover their magical powers in this European pop-culture phenomenon. Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia and Hay Lin (the series title comes from their initials) are an ethnically diverse group of friends who share a big secret: They can transform into more physically mature (and trendily costumed) winged forms and summon the powers of the elements to close the “portals” which permit the monstrous inhabitants of Metamoor to threaten the idyllic Fortress of Candracar. While the two stories gathered here feature some demon fighting, the girls more often use their powers to attract the notice of cute boys, get out of chores and pass pop quizzes. Their indistinguishable personalities exhibit the generic shallow pluckiness that passes for “girl power.” While the clunky script appears to have been crafted by a marketing department, the art is slickly professional, with candy shop–pretty colors and a pronounced manga influence. Indeed, there is nothing here that hasn’t already been done more creatively by shoujo manga creators like CLAMP and Takeuchi, but this might serve as a painless introduction to the genre to those put off by black-and-white illustrations and foreign cultural references. Considering the title’s enormous success overseas, and the popularity of the American cartoon adaptation, expect heavy demand.