Review: Mage – The Hero Defined

…by Matt Wagner, published by Image Comics. This compilation collects the second volume of Wagner’s Mage comic, which ran from 1997 for fifteen issues. The first volume was published back in the late 80s. I’ve been meaning to pick this title up for years and finally got around to it. I’m glad I did.

Mage is a contemporary urban fantasy centered on Kevin Matchstick, who also happens to be an avatar or manifestation of the Pendragon in our times. Kevin wanders around looking for proto-baddies like trolls, harpies, and manitous. He uses his mystical baseball bat (a modern-day Excalibur) to thump them and the help of other avatar pals, such as Joe Phat the Coyote and Kirby the Olympian.

Fedora Day

With today’s opening of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, we are now in active spoiler-and-snarky-review-avoidance mode since we won’t actually be attending the movie until Saturday.  So don’t even try it.  I kind of wanted to go opening night, but it’s turned into an actual family outing, which should be cool.

Celebrated Fedora Day by wearing mine and taking the afternoon off from work.  No work tomorrow either.  Will watch The Temple of Doom tonight and The Last Crusade tomorrow, and also the History Channel’s special on the historical inspiration for the Indy movies I recorded earlier in the week.

Also looking forward to just sitting down and reading.  I picked up the comics trade paperback, Mage: The Hero Defined–something I’ve been wanting to read for some time.  Yes, it’s all about the heroes this weekend…