“Wiccan – Witches’ Road” Issue 5 – Comic Book Review

From writer Wyatt Kennedy and artists Andy Pereira and Bryan Valenza, Wiccan – Witches’ Road issue 5 brought the ministory to a predictable conclusion while setting the stage for Billy and Teddy’s next adventure.

With Billy, Tommy, and Teddy making their way back into Baba Yaga’s cabin in the previous chapter and things taking a turn for the worse, the final issue of Wiccan – Witches’ Road was all about giving the supporting cast something to do before Billy took the spotlight to defeat Baba Yaga.

Kate Bishop was added to the board in the latest installment. And while her inclusion made sense considering her history with the rest of the young cast, I have to say, her appearance didn’t really matter much to the overall narrative. Kate didn’t come up with an amazing strategy or anything to help defeat Baba Yaga. Her popping in was merely a cameo to appease certain fans and offer a mini Young Avengers reunion.

Similar to Kate, while I was initially excited about Storm being part of Wiccan – Witches’ Road, I have to say that Ororo’s addition was also just a marketing strategy to attract Storm fans to the minibook. You could take Ororo out of the story, and frankly, nothing would change. Heck! Baba Yaga didn’t even make a sly remark toward the mutant Descendant of Oshtur joining the party to support Wanda and her boys. Also, we didn’t get to see much of Ororo’s opinions about the weather anomalies related to Billy splitting from the Demiurge.

I really assumed Storm being the current story was building toward some kind of final team attack involving the magical synergy between Ororo, Wanda, and Billy against Baba Yaga. But nopes, Ororo simply summoned a couple of lightning bolts during the action panels.

To be fair, I did laugh at Ororo asking Wanda to put an end to the second-rate witch, aka Baba Yaga. But then again, Miss Mamas could have at least tried to throw a powerful lightning bolt at the gigantic Baba Yaga herself, especially when we know that Ororo’s lightning can impact magical beings when necessary.

As for Teddy, he served a role in rescuing Billy from Baba Yaga and encouraging Morgan Le Fay to extend an assisting hand. Yes, to Teddy for realizing that the best way to get Morgan to do what he wanted was by appealing to her petty nature instead of trying to make her listen to a speech about doing the right thing.

With Billy needing to reunite with Kid Demiurge to put an end to the current chaos, their reunion played out as expected. It was obvious that the childhood friend Billy remembered was the Demiurge. Apparantly, Kid Billy had been so lonely growing up that the Demiurge (who was a part of Billy’s existence) couldn’t help but manifest himself to keep Kid Billy company.

Billy and the Demiurge being a single entity gave me Jean Grey and Phoenix vibes. But then again, considering how retcon-heavy the Jean Grey/Phoenix dynamic has been over the decades, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Billy/Demiurge dynamic also gets treated similarly, depending on who’s writing them.

After defeating Baba Yaga and taking her magic away, Billy decided to leave Morgan Le Fay be, for now. I would like for Billy to go on a journey involving dark magic because of Morgan Le Fay, but I won’t be holding my breath for another Wiccan solo anytime soon, especially because you can tell the sales for this mini haven’t been great.

As for what has been confirmed, Billy decided to take control of Baba Yaga’s cabin, for some reason, and will be hosting his and Teddy’s wedding anniversary party in the upcoming Wiccan and Hulking: Raid of Ultron issue 1 in May of this year.

Did you reach Wiccan – Witches’ Road issue 5? 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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