Bewitched Bullets

by Christian Ward, Sami Kivelea (Contributor), Dee Cunniffe (Contributor)

Eliot Ness and his team of Untouchables work overtime taking on dangerous criminals that hide in the seedy underbelly of 1930s Chicago.

Except in this world, Al Capone isn't dealing in alcohol, but in magic. With Lick, a drug that grants magical powers to anyone who ingests it, mobsters become wizards, ordinary men become monsters, and darker secrets than Ness can imagine lie at the heart of it all.

A new genre-bending comic series from Christian Ward, co-creator of the acclaimed sci-fi epic ODY-C. Drawn by Sami Kivel&aauml; (Abbott), with backup stories written and drawn by Christian Ward. Featuring a sketchbook section and pinups by Declan Shalvey, Ian Bertram, Tula Lotay, and more.

Collects Tommy Gun Wizards #1-#4.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fantasy, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book, Magic

Unknown Binding

First published March 24, 2020

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's The Untouchables with magic replacing booze during prohibition. There's some neat concepts here. It left a bit lacking in its execution though. I didn't always get what was happening. Especially when it deals with magic, sometimes you need to do more than let the art do the talking and explain what's occurring. That's where I was often lost here. I think expanding the story from 4 to 6 issues would have also helped to flesh out the story. Things moved very fast and not always intuitively. I do find it interesting they changed the name for the trade from Tommy Gun Wizards to Machine Gun Wizards. Tommy Gun Wizards is a much better name and more evocative of the era.

Received a review copy from Dark Horse and Edelweiss. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.

[Valéria. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christian Ward je u mňa v top 3 artistov, vlastne je momentálne na samom vrchu a tak som mu dala šancu aj ako niekomu, kto si niečo napíše. V tomto, ešte nedávno inak pomenovanom komikse (Tommy Gun Wizards), dostaneme drsných chlapov s búchačkami, drogy, monštrá a mágiu. A v celkom zaujímavom spojení. Niektoré veci mi prišli, že nemajú zmysel, niektoré som vôbec nechápala a boli nedostatočne opísané, resp. iba artom a naozaj to nestačilo. Čo je druhá vec - kresba. Verím tomu, že to bol hlavný faktor, prečo som si to neužívala toľko, koľko som od toho čakala. Prišla mi nudná, ničím nezaujímavá, ksichty ako keby vypadli z komiksu o sestričkách z nemocnice ktorý doma mám a hanbím sa zaň. Každopádne, príbeh super, bavilo ma to a určite dám Wardovi šancu aj pri iných veciach, čo si napíše, ale nech si to aj kreslí..
Príbeh: 4/5
Kresba: 3/5

[A Fan of Comics · Rating 4 out of 5]

More fun than I was expecting.

Tommy gun wizards, or more recently, Machine gun Wizards was actually better than I thought! The name may sound a little cheesey and some might not like the idea but I thought it was done really well.
Al Capone teams up with some real bad guys to try to take control of the city. What he doesn't know is the wizards have a few plans of their own. Meanwhile, the police are doing their own experimenting with magic. And there's a giant space frog but I don't want to give too much away. Honestly I can't believe I liked it as much as I did and wouldn't hate it if they did more with the series. THE ART IS THE BEST PART! I really liked the coloring for it as well, perfect for a magical atmosphere. I read it in issues which I don't think I would recommend, the story splits and it doesn't make the most sense at first, the volume is just easier to digest. Definitely give it a try!

[Paul S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

RIP Sean Connery
This just seems like something I'd want to avoid.
Like how the [film] title "Starship Troopers" just made me laugh out of loud at its tell-you-what-it-is frankness, here is Machine Gun Wizards.... ahah ahahahahaha HAHAHAHA. Ok. Okay.

Ultimately it was much better than I expected. A million times better. Good fun and fricking magic prohibition! It did what it wanted to do and it nailed it.

Cool action characters but mostly shallow. Maybe that's due to the short length of the series.
Thoughtful world building presented in a learn as you go style without slogs through exposition.
Art is crisp and slick.

[RG · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didnt work for me

[William O’Pomegranate · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.7 stars

[Scott Schmidt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt the sci-fi element was forced. Would've been great with just magic and mobsters. It's odd, I thought the same thing about "Turf" from Image Comics, the sci-fi element just jumbled it all up. I also thought the "heroes" were bland while the villains/wizards were the stars of the show. I don't even think the main character, Elliot Ness (or at least that's who I believed was the MC) was in Issue #3. I really loved Issue #2, it was a ton of fun and showcased what this world was capable of, but the others meandered too much. Some great art sequences where the characters fought through several rooms, the doors or walls or windows acting as panel borders. Overall, the art is great. the execution of plot and characters just falls flat for me, though.

[Vladimír · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eliot Ness versus Al Capone bol legendárny súboj, ktorý sa odohrával v Chicagu 30. rokov. Na jednej strane to bol ochranca zákona a jeho skupina „Nedoknuteľných“, ktorá sa snažila bojovať proti podsvetiu. Na druhej strane barikády stál legendárny gangster, ktorý využíval prohibíciu a zarábal na svojich kriminálnych aktivitách. Túto legendárnu dvojicu si požičala nová séria Tommy Gun Wizards z vydavateľstva Dark Horse Comics, ktorá ich súboj ale trochu okorenila. Hlavnou komoditou, o ktorú sa bojuje, totiž nie je totiž alkohol, ale mágia.

Lick je droga, ktorá svojmu užívateľovi dodá niečo magické. Je zakázaná, a preto sa polícia snaží jeho distribúciu limitovať na minimum. V malých dávkach sú to skôr kozmetické zlepšováky, avšak vo väčších množstvách tu hovoríme o naozajstnej magickej sile. Z gangstrov, ktorí k tejto látke majú, samozrejme, najjednoduchší prístup, sa tak stali mágovia ovplývajúci nadprirodzenými schopnosťami. Snahy predstaviteľov zákona sú tak o niečo komplikovanejšie a nebezpečnejšie.

Christian Ward ma na scenáristickej stoličke opäť nesklamal. Tému "magickej prohibície" uchopil od začiatku zaujímavo a neskôr ju ešte okorenil faktorom vzdialeného sveta/univerza. Z úvodu som síce cítil istý pretlak vzťahov/motívov jednotlivých postáv, ale postupne sa to všetko pekne upratalo. Záver bol kvalitný a pokojne by som si prečítal aj pokračovanie.

[Kyi Night · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was absolute amazing, the mix of magic and the old school is enchanting combined with the unique artistic style of a modernized old age comic. The drug which give different magical effects is amazing. The fact that a mysterious drug is the one that give magic is a great story plot as it now something that everyone has to deal with. You see what i mean when you read the story. Love the Eliot ness and al Capone reimagining. Really how there going to be a second

[Jon Allanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. A very cool take on Elliot Ness and the Untouchables, mixed with magic, dimensional weirdness, and far realms squamous creatures. Gorgeous, evocative art that fits the world of speakeasies and backroom deals quite well. Recommended.

[Aloysius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prohibition tale, but with magic instead of booze as the contraband substance. Can the G-Men of this alternate Earth take down Capone and his mystic suppliers. Something tells me it'll take more than a tax evasion charge to take down Scarface in this story's alternate reality!

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfectly executed and very fun concept with great moody and kinetic art.

[Sourojit Das · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly interesting take on Prohibition and the Al Capone-Elliot Ness rivalry..with a little bit of Extraterrestrial magic thrown in for good measure

[Will Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 3 and 1/2 stars. A fun book that asks "What if The Untouchables was also about the prohibition of magic too?"

[M.i. · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s fresh in an innovative way