The Montague Twins, Vol. 1 - The Witch's Hand

 Picture it! It's the late 1960s in small town America. Three young teenagers are ready to solve a mystery - two brothers - one with dark hair, the other blonde - and a girl with reddish hair. They just finished finding a lost dog for one of the town's wealthy residents, and although they turned down any reward, they find an envelope with cash in it waiting for them when they arrive home. The cover features a cloaked figure, with the two brothers looking out over an inlet where a lighthouse sends out its warning light.  Think you know who I'm talking about here?  Well, think again!  If you said Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, you would be dead wrong.  Nope - I'm talking about twin brothers Alastair and Pete Montague and their sort-of sister, Charlie Faber. 

 

The Witch's Hand is the first graphic novel in The Montague Twins series of mysteries. And as first books go, this one certainly is a doozy! The story opens innocently enough - Pete Montague arrives home to discover that the family for whom he and his brother found a lost dog has left him and his brother a monetary reward.  Pete, and his brother Alastair ("Al"), whose parents died in an accident, live with their guardian, Professor David Faber, and his wife and daughter, Charlie ("Chuck").  When the Professor sends all three of the teens out for the day, it is to give them a break from solving mysteries in their small New England town of Port Howl.  But, in true teen detective fashion, that "free day" turns into their latest mystery to solve...

 

Author Nathan Page provides readers with an absolutely fantastic supernatural mystery in the tradition of the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. A mysterious lighthouse. A cloaked figure running down the stairs. A missing girl. A strange box. And a most unusual storm that centers just above the lighthouse. Oh, yes, there's also that other cloaked woman who appears to all three teens - Al, Pete, and Chuck - and who appears to have some supernatural powers of her own. What does it mean? Well, it turns out that the sleepy little town of Port Howl is an epicenter of magic, where practitioners have been learning and teaching for generations. The teen detectives are already aware of this, but have stayed silent for years. Now, however, the secret is out, and the Professor asks his apprentice, Rowan, to teach his daughter and the brothers how to properly use the magical powers that they have and to not abuse them while investigating their cases.  It's a nice twist on the typical teen detective story, but it never takes away from Al and Pete (along with Chuck) actually having to use their regular deduction and observational skills to solve the mystery!

Artist Drew Shannon is not necessarily what you'd call your standard comic art. The characters are not necessarily drawn life-like, but at the same time, they are not overly cartoony. In fact, the art reminds me a lot of the art of Michael Cherkas from the old comic book series, The Silent Invasion from the mid 1980s.  (And this, as far as I'm concerned, is quite the compliment!)  Many panels have no background whatsoever, allowing the reader to focus solely on the characters and what they are saying without any distractions; while other panels have some very detailed backgrounds, which set the tone and build on the growing suspense within the story. Shannon definitely knows how to move the story forward through his art, and he is a master with expressions - page 20 is a perfect example, where the final panel, with no words at all, says everything you need to know about Pete!

Put Page and Shannon together, and you've got a perfectly-paced, suspenseful mystery that builds and builds to an explosive conclusion. And what is TRULY genius about the story is that appearances truly can be deceiving - the true villain(s) of the story are not necessarily who you think they are! This makes for a much more interesting and enjoyable read and leaves the reader with a great sense of satisfaction. (Sidebar - there is also the resolution of a very minor subplot in the story that will bring a smile to your face when you read it involving a certain dog...).  And just to add icing to the cake, the story is set in the late 1960s, which means no cell phones, no computers, and no "easy" ways to find facts or search histories of the characters and town available to detectives of today - plus, there are several important events in that time period that play a part in the story (and we will likely see more of these in future volumes as well) and have a subtle affect on the characters.

Fans of comics - fans of mysteries - fans of supernatural - fans of pretty much any genre will thoroughly enjoy this first volume of The Montague Twins, and quite frankly, I don't know how I'm going to wait an entire year (!!!!) for the second volume in the series to come out!

RATING:  10 mystic cleansings out of 10 for bringing a new kind of teen detective into the world and combining two of my favorite things - comics and mysteries! - for what definitely needs to be an award-winning book!