2026 REREAD: Time for a Magical GirlTM nostalgia binge!
Yep, I still adore 'W.I.T.C.H', along with 'Winx Club', another Italian Magical GirlTM franchise that came out around the same time in the early 2000s. What yummy treats these were in my schoolgirl days!
Forget 'Pokémon' and 'Digimon' - 'W.I.T.C.H.' and 'Winx Club' was where I was at! Plus 'Sailor Moon', of course.
The first issues of Disney's 'W.I.T.C.H' comics collected in 'W.I.T.C.H.: Part I. Vol. 1 The Twelve Portals' contain mystery, intrigue, darkness, drama, charm, humour, and heart; it's all balanced out well. It's a strong start to the series. Fantasy elements aside, you can tell that the writers and artists must have understood and respected tween and young teen girls.
However, the plot, and the mysteries unravelling and tangling from it, and the side quests, are rather confusing and convoluted, and they don't really get any less so the further we read on. There is a lot going on. It doesn't make much sense, and is a little messy.
But I enjoy the 'W.I.T.C.H.' comics. I resonate with the interesting, endearing, three-dimensional characters. The slice-of-life stuff is the best part.
And like with 'Winx Club', I love the beautiful girl power and friendship (though the girls of 'W.I.T.C.H.' are less male dependent and mean girl-hating).
(Everything in my old review below holds up.)
Final Score: 3.5/5
Original Review:
For my past thoughts on this series - a childhood favourite of mine - read:
My The Power of Five (W.I.T.C.H. Chapter Books, #1) review
My The Power of Friendship (W.I.T.C.H. Graphic Novels, #1) review
So Disney is reprinting the original Italian 'W.I.T.C.H.' comics - with three volumes together in a single trade paperback. I am glad this is happening, for it shows that the franchise has not been forgotten about; it has not received any attention in over a decade, though it isn't even twenty-years-old yet.
'W.I.T.C.H.' (the comics, not the cartoon) is to me what 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' is to the mass cultural landscape. An underrated and charming series about girl power, magic, and friendship - it is lathered and rinsed in them; foamy and bubbly but with added consequences, darkness and sharp violence (for a children's comic) to it as well.
'W.I.T.C.H.: Part I. Vol. 1 The Twelve Portals' is a straightforward beginning of the series, with a huge mystery element clouding and fogging it that is both frustrating (especially if you know everything that's going to happen already) and clever for making the reader want to find out more. Aside from the magical stuff reminiscent of fantasy series of old, what really sells 'W.I.T.C.H.' is the characters - the endearing, multilayered and likeable cast, revolving around five pubescent girls.
Real world struggles for young girls and otherworldly, universe-threatening ones are mirrored and explored - heck, Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin deal with brutish monsters and sorcerers far easier than they do school, family and boy drama, and keeping their friendship alive through so much. The five chosen Guardians of the Veil have each other, which is their greatest strength, never mind the Heart of Kandracar and the powers of water, fire, earth and air. They are pretty ordinary overall, yet they are extraordinary.
After reading this new release, I came to realise that I had talked a lot about 'W.I.T.C.H.''s theme of friendship before, but I haven't touched upon any other relationships the girls have. Specifically, Will's relationship with her mother. Susan wants to spend as much time as possible with her growing daughter, upon arriving in a new town to make a fresh start in their lives. They are loving, supportive friends as well as family, but between adjusting to a new life in Heatherfield and to her sudden duties as a Guardian and leader, Will doesn't have enough time anymore for her mum. She takes her for granted, not noticing the loving attention she gets, not appreciating the kindness and hard work Susan does for her. Add dating Will's school history teacher as the extra rust in the spanner in the works, and the mother and daughter bond seems tragically broken. They drift apart, much to Susan's dismay. But at the end of this volume, on the final page, their relationship, gradually tearing up throughout the comic, starts to repair itself, when mum sets up a candlelit dinner for herself and her complicated girl, rather than for her date. It is incredibly sweet and touching, and the most satisfactory conclusion to any of this volume's subplots. Susan is a nice, funny character in her own right, who has a life outside of care-giving motherhood, which works for the scene's favour, because the reader will want to see the two get along again, hence the vital emotional punch is successful.
Mother and daughter relations need more focus in media - a focus that is positive - and 'W.I.T.C.H.' shows that as well as friendships between girls in the same age group, friendships between mums and daughters are just as real, just as powerful. They contain a magic of their own. Bonus for teaching kids to appreciate their caring parents, and to tell their parents they love them as often as possible!
'W.I.T.C.H.: Part I. Vol. 1 The Twelve Portals' - yes, there are plot holes and things that don't make sense in this graphic novel series (most notably concerning the "traitor" magical girl Elyon and her motivations), but the charm is present. It doesn't fade.
Creative, dramatic, funny and fun, I still love 'W.I.T.C.H.' with all my nostalgic heart.
Final Score: 3.5/5
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