Mage: The Hero Discovered, Vol. 1

by Matt Wagner

Collects issues #1-4!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics

118 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 9, 2009

About the author

Matt Wagner is an American comic book writer and artist. In addition to his creator-owned series' Mage and Grendel, he has also worked on comics featuring The Demon and Batman as well as such titles as Sandman Mystery Theatre and Trinity, a DC Comics limited series featuring Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman.

Reviews

[Artemy]

3.5 stars

Mage: The Hero Discovered is a 1984 comic written and drawn by Matt Wagner, and it's about a guy called Kevin Matchstick, who suddenly gets magical powers and finds out that he is the chosen one and he must save the world from some bald evil dudes.

For a 1984 comic, a lot of things about Mage still hold up pretty well. It's not overly wordy, it has a nice balance of exposition to action and the artwork, layout and paneling are all solid. Unfortunately, I can't say the same about the dialogues, which often come off as quite corny and silly. Nothing about the story itself stands out nowadays, too. In the eighties, a comic like that, which didn't come from Marvel or DC, would have probably been really exciting, and I totally understand that — but nowadays it reads as just another generic superhero origin.

Still, I can't help but appreciate what Wagner is doing here. Mage has colourful characters, confident storytelling and great art, and although the story itself isn't quite up to par, it's still a perfectly readable and enjoyable book. Which is something I can't say about many modern comics, not to mention most of the stuff from the eighties. (I mean, have you read Dark Knight Returns lately? Yeeesh. I would take Mage over Frank Miller any day of the week).

Thanks to Chad for the recommendation!

[Adrian G.]

Read it in preparation of Scion game

Just like they say in the book: Scion seems mostly based off Mage. Matchstick is effectively a Scion, though it doesn't seem it's because one of his parents was any one God. Edsel's bat is practically a Birthright. Mirth is a powerful Guide of some sort that helps him understand his power. The grackleflints and their boss are very Titanspawn and Titan shaoed. And the standard story of a Scion game closely follows this one. A must read for Storytellers of that system!

[Mhorg]

The beginning...

...of Matt Wagner's career. I read some of these when they were first collected and knew, even though the art was a little rough, Matt was on to bigger things. Years later - fables, one of the best vertigo comics. This is a fine beginning.

[Logan Polk]

First time delving into Wagner’s Mage world. Very of its time but still pretty fun

[Kevin]

I had been sitting on this for a very long time. I think that was a mistake as I don't feel that it stands the test of time for today's comics. It is very dated and not as good as I hoped it would be.

[Paul]

This is where it all starts; the adventures, trials and discoveries of Kevin Matchstick. This is a wonderful volume because we see Matt Wagner adjusting from storytelling in black and white of Grendel to the full color storytelling of Mage. The decisions of positive and negative space found in black and white begin to erode as Matt realizes how color can be applied to Mage. These four volumes make up a seminal work from a masterful storyteller.