Charmed (comic book)

Charmed: Season 9
Trade paperback cover of Charmed Volume 1 published by Zenescope Entertainment
Publication information
Publisher	Zenescope Entertainment
Schedule	Monthly
Publication date	June 16, 2010—present
Number of issues	16+
Main character(s)	Piper Halliwell Phoebe Halliwell Paige Matthews
Creative team
Writer(s)	Paul Ruditis Raven Gregory (0-3)
Penciller(s)	Dean Kotz (9, 12, & 14-18) Reno Maniquis (10 and 13) Dave Hoover (0-3) Marcio Abreu (4, 5 and 7) Tess Fowler (6,11 & 19) Carlos Granda (8)
Letterer(s)	Jim Campbell
Colorist(s)	Milen Parvanov (1-4 and 7) John Hunt (5, 6 and 8)

Charmed is comic book that is an officially licensed continuation of the popular The WB television series of the same name, which ended its eight year run in 2006. The series is published monthly by Zenescope Entertainment. The comic book serves as a continuation set eighteen months after the events of the televised show's final episode. The first issue was released on June 16, 2010.

Production

Development

Rumors of a comic series began long before Zenescope made the news official in March 2010.^[1] Speculation had started to appear online ^[2] about the possibility of a comic series much earlier however, largely due to test sketches appearing on the deviantART account of Dave Hoover which featured Holly Marie Combs, Alyssa Milano and Rose McGowan. Speaking on his deviantART page, Hoover said

If everything goes according to plan I'll be working on a "Charmed" comic book based on the hit TV series published by Zenescope Entertainment. To get the job I had to compete with others vying for the same gig, and our task was to do model sheets of the girls showing how we would draw them. The art would be approved by the studio. The odd thing about this was that they supplied no photo reference, so I searched the internet high and low looking for the best possible pictures. Of the three girls, I thought Alyssa Milano would be the easiest to draw, but she turned out to be the hardest. She sort of changed her look more often than the other two, Rose McGowan and Holly Marie Combs.

—Dave Hoover, deviantART, March 13, 2009

However Zenescope did not announce the title until the company had successfully been granted the rights from Fox Consumer Products. Despite this however, the first advertisement for the series featuring the famous triquetra symbol and the tag line "The Girls are Back" written in the series font, appeared in the December 16, 2009 issue of Zenescope comic book Escape From Wonderland #3 ^[3] months before the title had officially been announced.

The first press release from Zenecope Entertainment indicated that Charmed, based on the "ultra-popular" media franchise, would be a natural addition to the publisher's pre-existing "sultry and strong female characters". Editor-in-Chief, Ralph Tedesco, also announced that "the key to this series success is to strike a nice balance in creating a brand new, intriguing storyline for fans of the television show while also not alienating Zenescope and comic book readers who haven't really followed it before".^[4] It was further announced that while the TV series had a difficult time due to casting and budget limitations, the comic creators won’t have those problems, thus fans may finally see the return of popular characters like Prue and Cole.

Writing and format

Author Paul Ruditis ^[5] was hired as lead writer of the series with Zenescope veteran Raven Gregory joining him for the first three issues. Ruditis is familiar with the Charmed universe having already published three tie-in novels, two official episode guides which he co-authored with Diana G. Gallagher and the Charmed Book of Love Spells. Ruditis and Gregory also co-authored a special Issue 0, which acted as a prequel to the story recapping the events of the television series in a style reminiscent to the Book of Shadows as seen on the show.

Artist Dave Hoover was eventually hired to do the interior artwork while David Seidman was hired to design the covers for the comics, although various guest artists have contributed variant covers for each issue thus far including Greg Horn, Al Rio, Tony Shasteen and Mark Sparacio. Dave Hoover left the comic after completing Issue 3. Since then various artists have been hired to do the interior artwork such as Marcio Abreu (4, 5 and 7), Carlos Granda (8), Tess Fowler (6 and 11), Dean Kotz (9, 12, 14 and 15), and Reno Maniquis (10 and 13).

Although the process of writing and receiving studio clearance is much the same as for Charmed novels, Ruditis explains "The big difference now, as you noted, is that with original episodes no longer airing, we have a lot more freedom than we did on the novels". With the Charmed novels, nothing outrageous could happen to fly in the face of established continuity, and stories had to take place 'between' episodes, usually in the first half of a given season; though "The studio still has to approve the direction we take", no longer does "everything ...have to reset by the end. That alone means that nothing is entirely safe." Raven and Ruditis claim they want the series to "grow and evolve" in the new medium, "expand[ing] upon what worked and what didn't work [in order to make it work]". The creators believe it stands out from the Buffy, Angel and Pushing Daisies TV-to-comic adaptations is Charmed's unique focus on family drama dynamics.^[5]

The first issue premiered during San Diego Comic-Con International in July 2010. Initially only 12 issues were contracted by Zenescope, with around five issues comprising one story arc which would be reprinted in graphic novel form. A one-shot issue has also been announced for Issue #6, and another is followed when Issue #13 comes to start the new story arch. In June 2011 Zenescope ordered 12 more issues after issue 14, which increased the total number of contracted Issues from 13 to 26.

Plot

Arc One (Issues 1-5)

Set eighteen-months after Forever Charmed, the sisters are now living happy demon free lives and have each entered into motherhood. Piper has had a third child, a girl named Prudence Melinda and is planning on opening her own restaurant. Phoebe has had her first daughter with Coop named Prue and is preparing to return to work. Paige has had twin girls with Henry Mitchell and is also working as a whitelighter and is seen helping Leo at Magic School with his students. Meanwhile two new warlocks named Neena and Hogan begin implementing a plan to revive one of the sisters' greatest foes.

When Piper and Phoebe attend the funeral of Brittany, the first innocent that they ever saved, they discover that she had mysteriously transformed into an elderly woman just as she was when she fell victim to Javna. Meanwhile Paige visits her latest charge, a high school bully named Brent who is a witch. She shows him one of many entrances to Magic School, and informs him of the 48 hour window in which a new witch must decide if they are to be a good witch or turn to the side of evil. As she leaves, the warlocks Neena and Hogan arrive, leaving him dead outside of the school's entrance. Back at the manor, while searching the Book for clues to Brittany's death, Phoebe receives a powerful premonition which shows her that every single innocent and charge saved by the sisters over the past nine and a half years is in grave danger.

While Piper and Paige attempt to gather as much information about their past innocents current whereabouts, Phoebe finds her empathy power has returned as she conducts the wedding of Romeo & Juliet. Piper and Paige arrive at the home of Tyler Michaels, a teenage firestarter whom they saved from The Source many years ago. They find him under attack from demons who want his blood in order to perform a ritual which involves using the blood of the innocent and the soil of the ancient burial ground in order to revive The Source. Meanwhile Paige receives a new power in the form of an orb shield. The Charmed Ones later gather at the manor where they realize that they must protect their past innocents and go back to fighting evil, however they are unaware that Neena and Hogan's plan to resurrect The Source has been successful.

While Phoebe and Paige stay at the manor to look after the remaining innocents after the magical ones have been sent to Magic School, Piper is out looking at possible restaurants with a female estate agent, struggling to find the perfect spot. However, the newly resurrected Source casts a spell on the innocents under the protection of the Charmed Ones, with help from Hogan, causing them to attack the sisters. Just as Piper finds the perfect place for her restaurant, she is jumped by the estate agent who has fallen under The Source's spell. After fighting her off, and leaving her frozen, Piper speeds home. Meanwhile at the manor, Phoebe and Coop are attacked by the innocents, while Henry, also under the influence of the spell attempts to strangle Paige, who reluctantly knocks him out with a lamp. The four of them then flee to Magic School to formulate their next move. In the underworld, Neena and Hogan watch as The Source prepares to take his vengeance on the sisters, before discussing their own plans in secret. As Piper arrives home she sees the chaos inside the manor, before Phoebe and Paige orb in moments before The Source makes himself known to the sisters and attacks them on the street outside the manor with a huge fireball. As Piper attempts to attack him she discovers that she has a new power, which causes the street to melt while binding onto The Source causing him to get stuck. The sisters leave for Magic School where they are greeted by their husbands. After pondering how The Source has returned, Leo explains that there must always be a "source of evil" as long as evil exists in the world. Piper dismisses that fact saying that they are going to put an end to The Source once and for all.

Arc Two (Issues 6-12)

Arc Two starts off, with Phoebe dealing with Cal Greene and realizing that it has been nearly 10 years since she had that premonition. Miyka, her assistants comes into her office, and they talk about her boyfriend and how Cal Greene is it. Phoebe not trusting him going on a double date seeing if her Empathy power can sense anything good or evil off of him. When she doesn't get anything, she goes researching realizing that Cal hasn't been in the paper in almost a year she goes to Elise. Elise says that Cal isn't in the paper because a woman had come to hear all beaten up saying that Cal did it. The young lady went to the police and they filed charges. A few days later Cal must have gotten to the girl because she wanted out, but the paper was going to print the story. Cal Greene threatened them, not just with lawsuits but with violence. Phoebe freaking out went to Miyka to protect her, when Mikya answers the door, shes crying because she had broken up with Cal. Back at the office all three sisters are there as Phoebe and Mikya set up for the Web show. Phoebe then has a premonition of the woman that Cal killed not being Miyka, but Elise. They rush over to Elise's office finding Cal walking out and Elise beaten. In the end Phoebe tells Elise about their powers and Paige uses her glamouring powers to make it look like Cal beat Elise on live camera.

In the next issue, Piper finds out that Melinda is half whitelighter. When Paige orbs Leo up to the elders to find out why this is, the find that many things have changed. All of the old elders are gone and new ones are put in, including Kyle, because the old elders played with people's lives to much. Kyle explains to Leo and Paige that the old ones wanted the Charmed Ones children to be just as powerful as them. They wanted to create the new power of three. As Piper and Phoebe set up Piper's new restaurant, Melinda begins to orb many various objects, including knives. While all of this is accuring Neena and her new darklighter friend, soon to be named Reenek seek the underworld to destroy a Vampire Queen for some reason. Back in Elder Land, Kyle offers Leo his wings back, but Leo declines saying he wants to teach magic school. At the restaurant Piper figures out that the reason Melinda is acting out is because she still wants her binky. Back at the house, Leo and Piper realize that its going to be tough with him being a mortal.

Publication

Issues

Issue #	Title	Synopsis	Release Date
0	The Sourcebook	This sourcebook serves as a prequel to the comic book series and is a must for fans of the show or anyone who wants to catch up on the Charmed universe.	June 16, 2010
1	Charmed Lives	The Girls are back in town! The Charmed ones return in this brand new fantasy series from Zenescope that picks up where the series left off. Claiming their victory in the battle against evil, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige were free to settle into the future with their husbands and children, destined to live out the happily ever after they had so rightfully earned...or so they thought.	July 21, 2010
2	No Rest For the Wicca	As the charmed ones go about settling into their new lives forces from the underworld prepare to unleash a power that will destroy the sisters once and for all. Meanwhile Paige accepts a new position and learns the hard way that teaching isn't the easiest job...Phoebe and Piper attend the funeral of Brittany, the first innocent they ever saved, only to find that her death may herald the beginning of something terrifying that will endanger the lives of all the innocents and Charmed Ones themselves.	September 1, 2010
3	Innocents Lost	Someone...or something is hunting down the innocents that have been saved by the Charmed Ones and murdering them in cold blood. As Piper, Phoebe and Paige race to save the remaining innocents the forces of the underworld continue to gather the last remaining ingredients that will complete the ritual that will bring back the greatest foe the Charmed ones have ever faced. An enemy so powerful not even the Power of Three may be able to stop it from destroying us all.	October 6, 2010
4	Mortal Enemies	To keep them safe from harm, the Charmed ones bring the remaining innocents back to the manor. But little do they know the Source has returned and cast a spell turning every innocent in the entire city against them...Even as they fight to survive, the Charmed Ones learn that the source has planned his arrival at the perfect time to destroy the power of three once and for all.	December 15, 2010
5	Unnatural Resources	The Charmed Ones face off against an ancient evil with an army of minions that present Piper, Phoebe, and Paige with their greatest challenge ever. These forces of evil are bent on destruction, tearing apart the Halliwell family, and possibly keeping Piper from ever opening her restaurant.	January 19, 2011
6	Morality Bites... Back	Almost a decade ago Phoebe Halliwell saw a future in which she was publicly burned at the stake for killing a mortal that murdered her friend. Now as the time approaches for her premonition to play itself out, what can she do, if anything, to stop it? Phoebe questions whether the events are destined to play out the way she saw them or if enough has changed to save both her friend's life as well as her own. Don't miss this shocking one-shot issue that will have you on the edge of your seat!	February 16, 2011
7	The Heir Up There	Piper is distraught when she finds that her baby daughter has the same orbing power as her part-Whitelighter aunt Paige and worries that it could put her children at risk again as it did when Wyatt was born. Leo decides to make a visit to the Elders for an explanation and is given an intriguing offer but one that would seriously affect his future with Piper. Meanwhile Neena has teamed up with a Darklighter as the two set forth on a Whitelighter killing spree in order to absorb their abilities. Now that she has taken control of the Underworld, Neena has set her sights on the Upper Regions and things are about to heat up!	March 2, 2011
8	Oh, Henry	An Innocent homeless teen in San Francisco falls victim to a stray arrow during the Darklighter's attack on a Whitelighter. The pregnant teen is dead, but Paige manages to save the girl's baby by orbing the child out of the body immediately. Neena finally reveals herself to the Charmed Ones while taking on an Elder directly on the streets of San Francisco. During the battle, Neena sends Piper into the void that she sent the Angel of Destiny in Issue 1. Phoebe and Paige want to stay to fight the stranger and rescue their sister, but Leo forces them to flee.	March 16, 2011
9	The All or Nothing	A family member lost. The Elders under siege. An unstoppable force about to wreak havoc on the world! Leo must reveal an ancient secret to The Charmed Ones about the very source of their craft and the true origins of the magic they possess if they have any chance of defeating their latest threat.	May 25, 2011
10	Three Little Wiccans	With the Power of Three torn asunder, Phoebe and Paige work to bring their family back together. But a tragically ill-advised plan pulls The Charmed Ones further apart and could leave one of the sisters lost forever.	June 8, 2011
11	Last Witch Effort	Alone. Out of options. Out of time. A decision is made that could affect The Power of Three and irrevocably change The Charmed Ones forever. Humanity hangs in the balance in the coming showdown between good and evil.	June 22, 2011
12	The Charmed Offensive	The Charmed Ones and Leo face down impossible challenges in a battle to reclaim the Heavens, conquer the Underworld, and save the Earth. It's a fight that's been brewing since long before the prophecy of The Charmed Ones was foreseen and building since the first issue of the comic book. When this battle ends the Charmed universe may never look the same.	July 27, 2011
13	Piper's Place	Owning a restaurant of her very own has been Piper's dream for years. Now it's finally real. Opening night is a huge success and she's the talk of the town, but the additional workload—along with the magical turmoil of late has taken a toll on her family life. A child's misguided spell has disastrous results as Piper learns whether or not she can truly have it all while she copes with a situation that would leave other moms quaking in their shoes.	September 7, 2011
14	Cupid's Harrow	Coop is on one of the toughest assignments a Cupid can accept and this time it comes with unexpected consequences. When Phoebe sees her husband plagued with questions about the family he never met, she tries to help by researching his past unaware that a mysterious force works against her. As she tries to orchestrate a reunion centuries in the making, she could wind up tearing a family apart.	September 28, 2011
15	Where There's Smoke There's a Firestarter	Trouble comes knocking on Paige's front door when a mysterious fire nearly burns down her house. The nature of the attack suggests a firestarter, but the real answer might not be that simple. Are The Charmed Ones about to face another threat from the past or is the culprit a more recent addition to their lives? A secret that Piper's been keeping might hold the answer to more than just Paige's question or it could lead to a whole new set of problems instead.	October 26, 2011
16	The Heavens Can Wait	The Charmed Ones embark on a quest to help Leo find the answer to the question that has been plaguing him for months. They will need to call on all their powers and the bond they share to protect them from the dangers that await. Meanwhile, Cole takes an important step in his journey for a different kind of answer.	November 23, 2011
17	Family Shatters	A seemingly innocent encounter will have disastrous effects on The Charmed Ones as the final piece of Rennek's plan falls into place. While Leo goes after his old arch nemesis, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige must deal with a visitor from the past that could destroy their future.	December 28th, 2011
18	TBA	Demons have the run of San Francisco, Magic School is in turmoil, and Leo is missing (again)! When personal problems intertwine with magical ones, every member of the Halliwell family is in danger. The Charmed Ones must come together to bring the world back into order while their own magic works to tear it apart.	January 25, 2012
19	Crossed, Triple Crossed.	When a criminal threatens Paige's happy family, she looks to her past to deal with the mortal menace. Conjuring up a detective from one of her favorite noir novels, Paige creates a street smart gumshoe to help set up a sting and take down the hood. But when the fictional private Dick decides he likes life outside the pages, the set up takes a dark and dangerous turn in ... Crossed, Triple-Crossed.	February 22, 2012

Collected editions

The issues are collected into trade paperback by Zenescope Entertainment after each story arc is complete.

Volume	Issues	Credits	Release Date
1	0-5	Writer(s) Paul Ruditis, Raven Gregory Penciller(s) Dave Hoover, Marcio Abreu, Novo Malgapo (bonus story)	February 2, 2011
2	6-12	Writer(s) Paul Ruditis Penciller(s) Tess Fowler, Marcio Abreu, Carlos Granda	September 7, 2011
3	13-19	Writer(s) Paul Ruditis Penciller(s) N/A	January 20, 2012

Reception

Critical reaction was initially mixed for the first issue, with many reviewers complaining about the lack of story. Reviews for Issue #2 in relation to the story have been much more positive with Fandomania awarding the issue 3/5.^[6] However some noted that the issue does a good job at exposing the series to newcomers.^[7] The artwork however has received the most criticism both for the characters likeness' ^[8] and the colouring ^[9] which is deemed distracting by a Newsarama reviewer. Christina Flores of ComicImpact.com goes on to say that the interior art is inconsistent with the character drawings not being as good as those of locations and backgrounds. However, she goes on to say that Ruditis and Gregory open with a strong story and says that Charmed fans will enjoy the issue.^[10] Fan response however has been promising with the first issue selling out of its initial 17,000 copies in the first three weeks, which prompted Zenescope to release a second printing in time for the release of Issue #2.^[11]

Cast reaction

• Alyssa Milano has touched upon the comic series in interviews, talking about how she gave Zenescope her permission to use her likeness for her character.^[12]
• Rose McGowan and Holly Marie Combs have discussed the comics on Twitter, most notably joking about the cover for Issue #2 which pictures the Charmed Ones naked covered only in leaves.^[13]
• Rose McGowan tweeted that she hasn't read the comics yet.^[14]
• Shannen Doherty has declined use of her image as her character Prue, so in all likelihood, she hasn't read the comics, and/or doesn't like them.

References

1. ^ Richard Boom (2010-03-10). "Zenescope Brings Charmed To Comics". Broken Frontier. http://www.brokenfrontier.com/headlines/p/detail/zenescope-brings-charmed-to-comics. Retrieved 2010-09-10. 
2. ^ Richard Boom (2010-03-13). "Zenescope Working on Charmed Comic?". Broken Frontier. http://www.brokenfrontier.com/headlines/p/detail/zenescope-working-on-charmed-comic. Retrieved 2010-09-10. 
3. ^ Escape From Wonderland #3, Zenescope Entertainment, December 16, 2009,
4. ^ Press Release (2010-03-15). "Zenescope Brings Charmed to Comics". Newsarama. http://www.newsarama.com/comics/Zenescope-Charmed-Comics-100315.html. Retrieved 2010-09-10. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Alex Dueben (2010-04-09). "Gregory and Ruditis Are "Charmed". CBR. http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=25651. Retrieved 2010-09-10. 
6. ^ Kimberly Lynn Workman (2010-08-23). "Comic Review: Charmed #2". Fandomania. http://fandomania.com/comic-review-charmed-2/. Retrieved 2010-09-10. 
7. ^ DiRT (2010-07-21). "Zenescope Advance Reviews for 7/21/2010". The Pop Culture Network. http://popculturenetwork.com/article.php?story=20100721054340272. Retrieved 2010-09-10. 
8. ^ Kimberly Lynn Workman (2010-07-19). "Comic Review: Charmed #1". Fandomania. http://fandomania.com/comic-review-charmed-1/. Retrieved 2010-09-10. 
9. ^ by Vanessa Gabriel (2010-07-20). "Charmed #1". Newsarama.com. http://www.newsarama.com/comics/best-shots-advance-reviews-100720.html. Retrieved 2010-09-10. 
10. ^ Christina Flores (2010-07-16). "Advanced Review: Charmed #1". Comic Impact. http://comicimpact.com/2010/07/advanced-review-charmed-1/. Retrieved 2010-09-10. 
11. ^ Edward Kaye (2010-08-11). "ZENESCOPE’S CHARMED ISSUE 1 SELLS OUT". Hypergeek. http://www.hypergeek.ca/2010/08/zenescopes-charmed-issue-1-sells-out.html. Retrieved 2010-09-10. 
12. ^ Matt Raub (2010-04-19). "Interview: Alyssa Milano Talks ‘Romantically Challenged’, ‘Charmed’, ‘Ghostbusters’". The Flick Cast. http://theflickcast.com/2010/04/19/interview-alyssa-milano-talks-romantically-challenged-charmed-ghostbusters/#more-33804. Retrieved 2010-09-10. 
13. ^ Holly Marie Combs (2010-04-24). "Hmm I don't recall doing that scene. Fascinating. Ha!". http://twitter.com/#!/hdonoho/status/12776711732. 
14. ^ Rose McGowan (2010-07-21). "I've never seen one/been sent one Charmed comic book". http://twitter.com/#!/rosemcgowan/status/19097961024. 

External links

• Charmed (comic book) at the Charmed Wiki
• Season 9 at the Charmed Wiki