“Disney Villains: Maleficent” Vol 2 Issue 3 “The Soldier” – Comic Book Review

Disney Villains: Maleficent volume 2 issue 3, titled ‘The Soldier’, continued depicting the Mistress of Darkness as an iconic power-hungry sorceress as she collected the tools required to unlock even more power.

While certain storytellers are focused on redeeming villains from childhood tales (not always to a positive reception), the current Maleficent comic book stands out as a fresh offering that allows the titular character to be the menace she’s supposed to be. I just can’t get enough of her personality, especially her willingness to threaten anyone, living or dead, the moment they present an inconvenience. Writer Paulina Ganucheau continues to do an interesting job of fleshing out Maleficent as a dark being.

Having journeyed to the world of Fae and resurrecting a fallen soldier, chapter 3 had the Mistress of Evil deal with an unforeseen annoyance. She really thought the undead soldier would be willing to hand over his sword the moment she asked for it. However, the armored skeleton had other plans. I liked how he basically rolled his nonexistent eyes at Maleficent’s threat. The soldier was already dead. There wasn’t much she could do to force him to give her the iron sword she was looking for.

Even though Maleficent is very powerful, she’s not necessarily a necromancer. At least not at this point in her story. Otherwise, she could have forced the soldier to do her bidding instead of offering a deal. So, yeah, wanting to go on one final adventure, the skeleton wanted to accompany Maleficent to a castle imprisoning a dragon. He agreed to give her his sword afterward.

With how the story was visualized by Theo Stultz, I do think there’s a lot more to the soldier than what Maleficent is aware of. A banner, which I assume was related to the dead fighter, had an image of a dragon. The sigil on his breastplate was also used to gain access to a magically sealed castle. This particular brand of ancient magic was so potent that Maleficent couldn’t easily dispel it, nor could the twin spirits.

While walking through the empty castle, the skeleton man appeared to be quite familiar with the palace. I’m theorizing he was either a Prince or somehow related to the royal family. The group stopped in front of two giant doors that apparently housed a dragon. I’m quite excited about Maleficent unlocking the doors and facing off against a dragon. The journey asked for dragon’s tears. So, I’m not sure if Maleficent will make the dragon cry or not after their battle. I still think the tears are likely linked to the Mistress of Evil. We know she can transform into a dragon herself. Perhaps something will lead her to shed a tear in her dragon form? Hmmm.

I don’t trust the skeleton. I mean, I know he’s not a villain like Maleficent. I’m just saying that he seems to be up to something. It’s as if he led Maleficent into a trap. We don’t know what led to the castle being abandoned or what led to the dragon being caged. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it all linked back to Maleficent somehow.

Who would have thought a solo miniseries about Maleficent (of all the Disney characters out there) would have been so invested? But here we are.

Before I conclude my review, I have to bring up a particular panel. The crew’s supposed to make their way through a maze. However, Maleficent being Maleficent, decided to simply bypass the entire maze by zooming over it while standing on a piece of levitating rock. I couldn’t help but laugh!

Have you read Disney Villains: Maleficent volume 2 issue 3? What did you think of it?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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