Courtney Crumrin and the Coven of Mystics

Synopsis: This collects issues 1-4 of the recent Oni Press series Courtney Crumrin and the Coven of Mystics.

Courtney has a brush with a hobgoblin named Tommy Rawhead, the worst hobgoblin of all. In turn, this reveals that there is a coven of mystics with several branches, including judicial, legal and executive. Courtney's uncle Aloysius is asked to help with the demon and cuts off its head.

Courtney, after being transformed into a cat then attends a council of cats, and watches as a ritual to select a new leader is undertaken. She befriends and saves the life of a creature named Skarrow, who's being hunted by other witches in the forest.

Skarrow comes to live with Courtney and Aloysius; however, it's discovered that he is being hunted because he is accused of casting a spell against another witch, Madame Harken. The other witches want to put Skarrow on trial and execute him, but Aloysius protects him. Courtney breaks into Radley Hall to steal the head of Tommy Rawhead.

Courtney journeys to the Underworld to get some supplies, and runs into the Prince of the underworld. He tells her that Skarrow is actually his son, and that he knows about the upcoming trial. Courtney manages to raise the spirit of Tommy Rawhead, and attempts to find out who summoned him initially. The council convenes Skarrow's trial, and Courtney finally figures out who summoned Rawhead: councilman Wrathum. The council finally decides that Skarrow must be turned over to them, and Courtney rushes home to release Skarrow. However, Skarrow is caught in the woods and killed.

Shortly after Skarrow's death, Madame Harken breaks away from the spell and agrees to marry councilman Wrathum. Courtney manages to trick both of them into coming to the marl pit, where she leaves Wrathum to the mercies of Tommy Rawhead.

Good Stuff: I've been a big fan of the Courtney Crumrin series since the prior series, Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things. She's a good character: young and aggressive, but at the same time capable of great vulnerability, rash behavior, and all the other foibles of being a 12-year-old girl.

There were a lot of nice things to enjoy here: particularly appealing was the relationship between Courtney and Calipurnia, her teacher, as well as her adventures with the cats. Lots of really nice stuff, and I was surprised and somewhat gratified by the ending, although I know that this will come back to haunt her at some point.

Not so Good Stuff: Not much in terms of negatives here. The tone of the stories is a little darker and more serious than the previous series, but I don't particularly think that's necessarily a bad thing.

I give this book 9/10.

One of the things I particularly like about this series is that I do think it's quite kid-friendly. Some of the subject matter may need explaining, but ultimately I would recommend this series for 8-12 year-olds.