“Wiccan – Witches’ Road” Issue 4 – Comic Book Review

Wiccan Witches Road Issue 4 continued to explore Billy’s emotional state concerning losing his connection with the Demiurge as his current adventure neared its conclusion.

From writer Wyatt Kennedy and artists Andy Periera (pencils) and Jim Campbell (colors), the fourth issue of Wiccan Witches Road had Billy running out of time to get back to Baba Yaga’s cabin and rescue Kid Demiurge from the “Mother of All Witches”. And while the young superhero was able to accomplish most of his objectives (which I’ll get to in a bit), a major revelation involved the existence of Kid Demiurge and Billy’s inability to cast magic.

I wasn’t expecting said reveal to be shared at the beginning of the chapter, but, narratively, it worked. Turns out that Billy had decided to excise his connection with the Demiurge after Teddy brought up Billy’s unwillingness to help those in need during the Imperial War. Even though Teddy’s words were harsh, I could understand where they were coming from.

Billy’s dilemma can be seen in a bunch of OP characters across the Marvel Comics Universe. Powerful beings, more specifically reality warpers, tend to shoulder a lot of emotional trauma, especially when operating as superheroes. Why can’t Billy simply use his gifts to stop tragedies from occurring in the first place? Why can’t he prevent certain people from harboring hateful thoughts that lead to war and loss of innocent lives down the line?

These aren’t new questions being posed in the comic book genre, but as a fan of the lead character, it’s still nice to see Billy being forced to make certain decisions when faced with such notions. Even though he’s destined to be a God-like being capable of rewriting the laws of magic and the multiverse, Billy held tightly to his humanity, and that meant not taking everything into his own hands. Problems can’t (and shouldn’t) be fixed by a flick of a wand, or, in Billy’s case, a couple of spoken words. Billy casually using his powers to rewrite reality as he saw fit would make him no better than the many antagonists and dark entities he’s worked so hard to save others from.

However, continuing to follow the right path, which also included not bringing people back from the dead, was accompanied by its fair share of emotional weight. That’s why it made sense to see Billy not wanting to continue bearing his destiny any longer. He didn’t want to become the Demiurge at all, and thus, he made that come true for himself, leading to his disconnection with his powers and the existence of the current version of Kid Demiurge, who was primed for a new host.

I liked Billy bringing up his decision to Teddy and even stating how hurt he had been when Teddy used Billy’s refusal to use his powers to warp reality to stop war and death. Yay for Teddy for taking accountability for his harsh words, even though he didn’t really mean them. Sometimes you need to apologize for the words you used because, regardless of your intentions, they still ended up hurting the people you care about. This was a conversation that needed to happen between such a long-lasting married couple. Teddy understood that asking Billy to basically take away people’s free will wasn’t the right move, but it was still natural for Teddy to wonder about a “what if” type scenario. Heck! Even I would have brought up said concerns if I had a reality-warper friend in my life and things went wrong around us.

With the duo having had such a talk, things took a turn for the better when Wanda and Storm finally showed up to lend a hand. Billy reconnecting with Wanda after reaching Earth made for a nice moment between the two magic users. Due to Billy wanting to take Baba Yaga and Morgan by surprise, I’m excited to see the role Wanda and Storm will play in the finale to help Billy. Magical battles were tricky, and victory didn’t always go to the most powerful witch or wizard. But knowing Wanda, I highly doubt Baba Yaga and Morgan will have anything up their sleeves to best the new Sorcerer Supreme. Also, Storm is Storm. In short, Baba Yaga doesn’t have enough aura to face the Weather Goddess.

Of course, Billy, Teddy, and Tommy (Yay, he showed up, too!) were a different story. Those younglings still had a lot to learn when it came to playing heroes and sneaking up on someone like Baba Yaga. With both Tommy and Billy captured, it’s up to Teddy to save them or at least buy enough time for Wanda and Storm to drop in.

Did you read Wiccan Witches’ Road issue 4? 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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