Doctor Mirage

Doctor Mirage #3

by Magdalene Visaggio, Nick Robles (Illustrator)

How do you solve the case of your own death?

Paranormal detective Doctor Shan Fong Mirage had the ability to see and talk to the dead. Except the dead have gone silent, their spirits mysteriously vanished, including Hwen, her deceased husband. Now, Doctor Mirage must face the most challenging question of her life: Is she dead but doesn’t know it?

From Eisner Award-nominated writer Magdalene “Mags” Visaggio (Eternity Girl) and artist Nick Robles (Euthanauts) comes a gripping supernatural mystery to penetrate the veil between here and the hereafter. Collecting the complete five-issue DOCTOR MIRAGE limited series.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Horror, Graphic Novels Comics, Mystery, Action

128 pages, Paperback

First published February 5, 2020

About the author

Magdalene Visaggio is a comics writer and essayist. She's the writer and creator of the GLAAD and Eisner-nominated series Kim & Kim, as well as Eternity Girl at DC Comics. She currently resides in Manhattan.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite.



I'm still not sure what was real and what was in her head, but I don't want to spoil this for anyone who wants to read it, so I can't say much more. And most people seemed to like this, so I'm probably in the minority.



Honestly, I'd just as soon forget this as some weird one-off and consider Jen Van Meter's Second Lives the end of my Doctor Mirage experience for now.
But I do love the characters, so I'm sure I'll be back for more.

[Erika Sarutobi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was wondering why I didn't get half of what's going on, I should have checked if it was first in the series or not. I honestly thought it was a standalone from the title.

Regardless of me not having read the previous volumes, I enjoyed the art style a lot. The story was good but a bit on the cliche and predictable side.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with the digital copy for an honest review.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dr. Mirage used to have a reality TV show where she and her husband would chase ghosts. Her husband, Hwen, knew magic and she could speak with ghosts. Hwen died on a case and now appears to Dr. Mirage as a ghost. That's the gist of the previous miniseries.

Dr. Mirage has now lost the ability to see ghosts including her husband. She's visited by a teenager who informs her she's in hell. What follows is a bunch of surreal, psychedelic trips through a dreamscape. It's difficult to generate much excitement for two women moving through a swirl of colors for five issues. It's a beautiful looking book though. Jordie Bellaire uses a ton of pinks and blues to stunning effect.

Some reviews listed this as a reboot but this doesn't seem to be a reboot at all as much as just a continuation of the previous 2 miniseries.

Received a review copy from Valiant and NetGalley. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.

[Briar's Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a good graphic novel, then throw in one truly epic cover and one of the most wild descriptions I've heard in a long time... You've got me hooked! I also used to have a strong fondness for Valiant, so that made me want to read it even more.

Shan Fong Mirage is a famous paranormal investigator. She used to see the dead, and now she doesn't. She's finally alone for the first time in her life. Then a sixteen year old walks into her life and announces that she too can see the dead... Will she follow her down this road?

This little collection has a few comics in it, and thank goodness! I was hooked after the first few pages and there was no way I was going to be able to stop if there was a cliffhanger. This story is just so darn good! I need to pick more of these books up and pronto! I love the mix of paranormal fantasy, drama and the hint of romance. I also feel like it's a great introduction to the character. Since I haven't read any previous valiant issues in the past few years, it was nice to slowly work my way into this one. I didn't need to read every other comic to know what was going on (although, that could have helped!).

This graphic novel is full of colour - lots of blues and purples. I really like the style and tone of the art. It just looks so... good. When spectacular things happen, the rest of the rainbow are used to set it apart from the rest of the book. Seriously, the colours themselves pulled me in and kept me. They're used beautifully. It's truly impressive.

Overall, I really enjoyed this graphic novel! I definitely want to read more about Doctor Mirage and pick up some more graphic novels from Valiant.

Five out of five stars.

I received this book for free from NetGalley.

[Xavier Hugonet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doctor Mirage is a new volume on the Valiant character collecting issues one to five of the mini-series soft-rebooting, in a self contained story, the character who already got a mini-series treatment in 2014 and other appearances.

Writer Magdalene Visaggio is at the helm with artist Nick Robles, colorist Jordie Bellaire (who worked on the acclaimed Vision mini).

Shan Fong Mirage has the power to communicate with the dead (including her late husband), and acts as a paranormal investigator. The series begins as her powers seemingly stop working, but the problem might be more serious than this, as we see a young girl come to her to reveal they’re both dead and trapped in hell. The goal for Doctor Mirage is then to find out how that happened (and eventually how to reverse it).

I found in this series some of the themes, and the allegorical and surrealist approach adopted in Eternity Girl by the same author. The artwork is beautiful, and the violation of some « classic » conventions of the comic medium serves the dreamlike quality of the story.

However, if the story itself picked my interest, I fail to see how it is going to change Doctor Mirage from the character she was in her previous iterations for further volumes. Some magic practitioners from competing publishers remain more interesting to me.

Thanks to Diamond Books, Valiant, and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for this unbiased review.

[Corey Allen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok, before I start this review I just want to complain about the way this was listed on hoopla. This is the third volume in the doctor mirage series. But hoopla says otherwise. So I went into this thinking it was a fresh version of the character, and I wouldn't have to worry about knowing any of the stuff from the past versions of the character. It was hard to get invested into these characters, when the author assumes I already know who they are. So, hoopla or valiant, please fix this problem because this is the second time this has happened to me with a valiant book.

Ok, so with that rant out of the way let's get into the actual review. From what I understood from the story, I didn't really like it all that much. To be honest I think it was the way it was executed. You see, when your reading this book, you never know when it's reality or not. And for some, I could see this being there favorite part of the book. But for me it was really frustrating.

So, apparently, Mirage's parents were once realty show host's for like a ghosthunter type show. So, the author decides to have the narration be like a director or something. I assumed, they were going to tie that back into the story somehow, but they didn't. So what was the point of it being there in the first place?

The one nice thing, I can say about this book is the art. By far the best part of the book. I love the way all the magic looks.

I don't maybe the real reason why I didn't like it was just because I'm frustrated with the way it was numbered. I guess we will never know.

Not recommended.

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

I haven't read many of the new Valiant Universe books, and only know the most recent incarnation of Doctor Mirage from her appearance in Faith: Dreamside. In this volume, she's pulling a Morpheus, traveling to hell to bring back her dead husband. Previously, she could see his ghost, but now he has disappeared. With the help of a teenage girl who claims to see dead people and some ancient magic, Mirage hopes to return him to life. Things go awry, of course, but not in a particularly interesting manner. Dreary and dull. There's a cliffhanger ending of sorts to set up a sequel, but I have no burning desire to see where this might go next.

[Rory Wilding · Rating 4 out of 5]

Created by Bob Layton and Bernard Chang in 1993, the original version of Doctor Mirage was a male paranormal investigator who worked alongside his wife and possesses black magic, specifically called “Darque Power”. When Valiant rebooted the character a few years ago, Mirage became a woman with similar origins who seeks to restore her ghostly husband, Hwen. This new limited series by Magdalene Visaggio and Nick Robles is a great opener for anyone wanting to learn about this superhero, who is all about the afterlife.

Please click here for my full review.

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Doctor Mirage' by Magdalene Visaggio with art by Nick Robles is a graphic novel about the paranormal detective who can see the dead, including her dead husband.

Except now she can't. Try as she might, Doctor Mirage has lost the ability to see the dead, until a young girl named Grace comes along and offers to help. Grace tells Doctor Mirage that she has been sent to help, but that they might be dead and don't actually know it. Can Doctor Mirage find out the truth, and can she restore her connection to her husband, Hwen?

I really liked this story. The art makes it really fantastic. I especially loved the use of eye-popping colors in the Deadland. This is a good character and a nice story in the series.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Valiant Entertainment, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

[CerysAnne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Doctor Mirage is one of those books where the cover was so eye-catching for me, that I didn't even bother reading the blurb before I just dove right on in to this comic - one that's a bind-up of the five issues of this series that follows Doctor Shan Mirage as she searches for a way to be able to see her dead husband again. You see, she can see and speak to the dead, which makes losing her husband a tad easier as she hasn't actually lost him. Hwen - her husband - is always by her side and there with her, just... as a ghost.

Until one day, he isn't.

When he and the rest of the dead suddenly vanish, Shan searches for a way to be able to see them - but more so, him - again, and not feel such loneliness anymore.

It's then that a teenager called Grace comes knocking on Shan's door and claims that the reason why she can't see her husband, nor any of the dead anymore, is because Shan herself is dead, and both she and Grace are currently trapped in hell, and if Shan wants to be able to see her husband again, they need to team together to figure out how to escape and return to earth.

I liked the concept of the story, and despite its flaws - because, hello? I am rating it two stars for a reason - I could not put this comic down. First and foremost, the art itself is stunning; it's so colourful and expressive, and whilst at times I felt like there was too much going on with the art and the colours, it wasn't too too much to make me want to turn away. In fact, it was unique enough to keep me hooked and invested to see where the story would go to next.

But the storyline itself is why I'm rating Doctor Mirage two stars.

It was too fast-paced and abrupt for my liking. Like, ridiculously fast-paced. IMO, a story - even one that's a comic and is heavily relied on art - should be set at a steady pace of boom ... boom ... boom ... boom where there's enough of a pacing to let the scenes flow into one another, for conversations to progress naturally, and for the story itself to move smoothly along. With this comic though, I felt like it was just going BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM and that the pacing was too fast for me, the scenes changed too abruptly, the conversations were stale and that the story itself just became too jagged.

It's definitely disappointing that I've rated this comic two stars, as - despite not knowing what it was about before diving in - I still had high hopes that Doctor Mirage would surprise me and deliver a story that'd become a favourite read of mine. But sometimes, it's just not meant to be.

Even still, I am curious to see where this series goes to next as I enjoyed the suspense and the action to this story, along with the Egyptian mythology and the magic system of this world. More so, I enjoyed that shocking cliffhanger of an ending that was definitely impactful enough to leave me wanting to read the next arc of Shan Mirage's story.

ARC provided via Edelweiss for honest review

[Pop Bop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice to Have the Doctor Back

This was an engaging reboot of Doctor Mirage, set in a Dante's Inferno frame that suited her very well. This time around Mirage/Dante is guided by a snarky teenage girl instead of the Roman poet Virgil, and I thought that marked quite an improvement.

The set up is that Doctor Mirage can't see ghosts any more and can't communicate with her dead husband Hwen. Something is very much amiss. Our teen guide arrives to advise Mirage that she can't get into Hell because she's already dead and there, and the real challenge is getting back out again. This whole in and out, back and forth, dead or alive, thing was pretty fluid and a bit unraveled at the edges, but it was an interesting approach.

It also set up some deeper questions, and while there's certainly a fair amount of action and a lot of colorful wandering around, the heart of the tale turns mostly on Doctor Mirage's coming to grips with Hwen's death and deciding how and whether to move on. I've always enjoyed Doctor Mirage as a thoughtful and challenging series, and it was especially in this regard that I was pleased by how this reboot was handled.

In addition to the thoughtful bits and the often witty and snappy dialogue this is certainly interesting to look at. Smaller individual panels aren't necessarily all that interesting, but the characters are recognizable and expressive and the big scenes are, well, big. Colors are bright, sometimes psychedelic, but there are other scenes of restrained mood and deep atmosphere. The art approach is not one size fits all, but shifts dramatically to support where the story is. That made this volume a real looker.

So, welcome back Doctor Mirage. It's nice to have you back. This is a standalone with a hint of a cliff hanger reveal, so it appears we'll have more Mirage to look for. Fine by me.

(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

[Alex Sarll]

Valiant's non-comedy books generally have a faint whiff of 'we've got superheroes at home', with which the wider world is likely to become more familiar once Bloodshot finally squelches on to the cinema screens come March. But starting from that admittedly low bar, this one is definitely better than most, not least thanks to the fabulous, trippy visuals from Nick Robles and Jordie Bellaire*, who at times make this look almost like an art deco Brendan McCarthy. I know nothing about any previous version of the character, but here she's Shan, a woman who accessed magic powers by way of her connection with the ghost of her dead husband, Hwen – in other words, a bit Doctor Voodoo, though crossed with a touch of Zatarra and Zatanna (they hid in plain sight by posing as stage magicians; Mirage did it with a paranormal reality show). As this opens, though, she's lost her ability to see ghosts, and thus lost her husband again too. Nothing staggeringly original, in other words, and nor does it help that the first possible twist is straight out of The Sixth Sense (and it's not like nobody's used it in the interim). Visaggio keeps it all ticking along professionally enough, but one's still left wishing the same team had created something of their own, or at least worked on a proper company's occult hero.

*Although in the Netgalley ARC the last issue isn't coloured, which I initially mistook for a creative choice a la Thunderbolt. Still looks good, mind.

[Dini - dinipandareads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I admit to requesting this book based solely on the cover alone. The name "Doctor Mirage" rang a small bell but I actually haven't read superhero comics, so I can't speak to how differently or how well her character is portrayed in this new comic compared to previous ones. I will say that I enjoyed the story though!

I loved the illustration style and the color palette of the comic. The artwork has a modernised vintage feel to it that reminds me of all the superhero comics that I never read but always see. The funky neon colors used to depict the landscape of this otherworld hell was like an acid trip and fit the surreal storyline perfectly. I also really loved the issue covers!

Shan Fong or as she's more famously known as Doctor Mirage used to be able to see and speak to the dead, until one day those powers disappeared and with it her ability to see and speak to her husband, Hwen. After another failed attempt to gain access to her powers, a young girl named Grace "lands" on her doorstep claiming that she's been sent by Hwen to tell Shan that she's dead. What follows is a wild adventure into hell, mixed with flashbacks of what led to Shan's death. While I enjoyed the storyline, I do wish that more of the backstory and the Egyptian lore, of which there was a lot, was more thoroughly explained. I know this is a comic and it can't go into as much detail compared to if this was a novel, but it felt kind of disjointed at times--especially when transitioning from the past to present. For example, there were some allusions to events that happened before when Shan faces "The Embalmer" in battle but we never really got into those details in the flashbacks either.

There's obviously going to be a continuation to the story because of the semi-cliffhanger of an ending, but reading this as a 'standalone' also works because the main storyline of Shan coming to terms with her inability to see or speak to Hwen and the other spirits. I'm curious to see more of the connection between the Embalmer and Shan's storylines, as well as how Grace became involved in the story, so I would definitely pick up the continuation of this series when it becomes available!

Thanks to NetGalley and Diamond Books Distributor/Valiant Entertainment for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. This comic is out on 18 February 2020.

[Jake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Mirage is a take on how talking to ghosts and the boundaries between life and death are about love more than anything else. Death is a very uneasy thing to live with. For many it is a means of remembering everything about the people they love. For others it is a symptom of afflictions that can be treated or reversed. The problem is people don't know much about how and when people die. People can argue that because of this mesmeric state, it's not meant to be understood. But for Shan Mirage, death is supposed to be about closure, something she fails to do.

Ever close with the ghost of her husband, when she loses contact with him, Shan goes to drastic means to reestablish contact. But as the finale points out, holding onto a memory is like a one-sided relationship. So the ghosts have to take it upon themselves to get Shan to accept finales.

Unfortunately for all of them, the epilogue at the end shows that trying to preserve boundaries and punishing those who defy these rules is just as toxic. Hopefully it doesn't end up being a sequel hook.

[Δημήτρης Μπ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know that Doctor Mirage has other comic series before this 2019 limited series, until after I've finished the volume, so I didn't know any of the character's backstory.

Doctor mirage is a woman who can use magic and can see and talk to dead people (actually in this series she loses this last ability). She has lost her husband recently and tries, via magic used by an ancient Egyptian cult, to travel to hell and bring him back. The plot although simple, it is presented in such a way that it confused me a lot especially at first. It plays a lot with the ideas of being alive/dead. In the end most of my questions where answered.

The art is great! You can easily see the fine lines and the clearly-drawn details and the pallette full of colours. From realistic earthly shades, to a colourful psychedelic trip and then to a more dark and hellish art, the eye never gets bored.

[Krys · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
***
Doctor Shan Fong Mirage is a woman that can see the dead, and has up to this point been able to see her departed husband, Hwen, who has always been with her. All of a sudden she can not only “not” see him, but any dead people, period. After a failed attempt to see the dead again, particularly Hwen, a strange girl shows up at her supposed to be impossible to see/find home and tells Shan that she can see her husband and she needs to pass on a message from him. Shan is dead.
What follows is a crazy, riotously colored landscape that looks like the start of a bad trip but makes for an interesting world and exploration of death. Especially it’s history and how people have or have not coped with it.
Shan is skeptical but determined to at least learn what she can, especially if she can see Hwen again, and Grace, the strange girl, seems to be holding back a lot from Shan. As you travel forward in the story you also get flashbacks to the moments that might have led to Shan’s “death” and everything culminates in an epic battle... that’s still not over. This is a mini series that’s one self contained story, but there will be more to it in the long run because Shan’s story and what she went through in the Deadside isn’t over. I’ll be looking forward to seeing more of Doctor Mirage. I find her an intriguing character but I’m not sure this book really settled her character for me yet.

[Eule Luftschloss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suddenly, Doctor Mirage can't see ghosts anymore. To fix this problem, she attempts a ritual that destroys parts of her house - and then a girl knocks, seeing her despite being heavily concealed with magic.

I don't know anything about this character or this series, and I think that this volume is a good introduction. You get to know who she is, what she can do, what her priorities are. The pacing is good, the colourful illustrations are beautiful. The hieroglyphs are real, but I am too tired to determine whether it's real Egyptian or just a jumble of symbols.

The last few pages open up a way to continue the series, and till then this volume felt like a closed story. I am sure that I will visit Doctor Mirage again in the future.

I recieved a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Jess Smiley · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exploration of the mysteries inherent in both life and death as experienced by Dr Mirage—a paranormal detective with the unique ability to communicate with the deceased.

[Phil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I received a free ecopy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

There is something about Doctor Mirage that I really enjoy. She is a play on the TV psychic stereotype that claim they can speak with the dead, but Mirage can actually do it. This story picks up at a point where she has lost the ability to see/speak with the dead and she is trying to reclaim that power, so that she can reconnect with her husband who passed away a few years ago. A young woman seeks out Mirage and together the two of them go on a journey to restore Mirage's abilities.

At top of the list of things I enjoyed about this book is the art. The coloring in particular is great. I do enjoy the layout of some of the pages and the way the artist captures Mirage and the other characters. The colors do well at intensifying the story and highlighting some of the weirder aspects of what is happening. The writer seems to nail Mirage's personality. And the conflict fits the character perfectly. I would put this among the top books that Valiant has put out in the last year or two.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doctor Mirage's first two mini-series are some of my favourite Valiant fare, so I'm glad that her next appearance is almost as good, if not quite. Mags Visaggio takes poor Shan on a horrible journey through the Deadside and into the realm of the Egyptian Gods on a quest to restore her lost ghost sight so that she can see her husband again, but in the process learns something important about herself and potentially unleashes hell itself.

Shan's adventures get very Silver Age Doctor Strange up in here, with dimension hopping and psychedelic visuals aplenty. The message of the book can get a little muddy towards the middle, but it sticks the landing very well and promises new stories for Shan that will put her on a trajectory toward healing, which is nice given that the rest of the book is about death.

Nick "Sexy Nightcrawler Drawings" Robles handles the art, and he proves to be a very versatile artist, capturing the aforementioned psychedelic dimension hops and the quieter, more personal moments between Shan and Hwen equally well, with Jordie Bellaire's gorgeous colours washed over the top of his pencils to create a truly unique looking book.

The Death-Defying Doctor Mirage hits three strikes in a row with this third mini-series, and I really hope we don't have to wait quite so long for her to return again.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shan Fong-Mirage has a really bad habit of screwing around with facets of the phantasmagoric of which she has no genuine understanding. It's how she accrues her knowledge. It's how she accrues her sense of renowned. It's how she communicates with the dead.

It's also how she loses her husband.

DOCTOR MIRAGE #3 finds Shan in a difficult spot. After scrounging through the Turkish underground for yet further tools of lost civilizations to resurrect her husband, Li Hwen Mirage, things go south. After which, all signs point to Shan being stuck in the deadworld. This time, Shan's the one in need of a guide. If she's going to survive to see another day, much less gather the strength to see or speak to Hwen again, Shan must hurdle a chasm of the otherworldly, the horrific and the dangerous, which she had all previously, contentedly, neglected.

Valiant Entertainment has done good by Shan over the years. Doctor Mirage is a character that coasts under the radar and thrives in all the dark alleys and cobweb-straddled nooks and crannies of contemporary fantasy comics. Should the character find purchase with a broader audience, one would find it difficult to be ecstatic over the loss of the title's exquisite, niche finagling of difficult, philosophical questions by way of haughty but relatable characters.

DOCTOR MIRAGE #3 tracks Shan as she drops into the deadworld without a way out. She's chasing her husband, now no longer ghost-dead, but dead-dead. Shan and Hwen's connection was unassailable. Does that mean that Shan, too, is dead-dead? The woman scrambles under the squawking ire of massive, four-legged crow demons, quests to pass a river of blood, and battles, on more than one occasion, a beautifully (if terrifyingly) designed serpent deity called The Embalmer. This is one adventure Shan can't simply wake up from, can't shake off with a jump-cut to commercials, or wish away with an ancient Mesopotamian incantation. If Shan fails to exit the deadworld. That's it. No do-overs.

Visaggio (writer) and Robles (art) are a masterful pair. The script is fluid and incorporates the ideal balance between the chaos and violence of combatting death-dealers (e.g., bickering with the last priestess of a defunct mythos) with the series' ongoing, awkward reality of attempting to outdo the will of nature (e.g., bickering with Grace, another soul trapped in the deadworld, whose skill at helping those in need is as barbed as her sarcasm).

The art for this volume is perhaps the best one might ever see of a character like Shan, she's early-middle-aged, female, Asian, and prone to acting and behaving like a person whose been through a heck of a lot and is willing to suffer through more to get what she wants. Robles' work touts pouty lips and epicanthic eye folds without being melodramatic about it. The art also frames and orients character movement so naturally that it's like watching an expert film reel. And furthermore, when the time is right, the art conjures fantastical designs for the big nasties, like The Embalmer ("the guardian of the great divide").

DOCTOR MIRAGE #3 is an excellent reckoning of Shan as a person. It shows the consequences of her actions, does its utmost to hold her responsible for said actions, and positions her to move forward, in the messy aftermath. The woman is a bit bull-headed, so readers shouldn't be surprised to find it takes a bit of magical butt-kicking to convince her what's what. Her success, it turns out, has as much to do with her willpower, and all that makes her human, relative to her magical skill, and what makes her "the death-defying doctor mirage." And if this is true for Shan Fong-Mirage, is this not also true for others?

[Liz (Quirky Cat) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a copy of Doctor Mirage through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Valiant has once again given the lovely Doctor Mirage her own solo series. Honestly, I couldn’t have been more excited about this news, as she’s one of my favorite characters to come from that corner of the market (which is saying something, since I also adore Faith).
Doctor Mirage, aka Shan Fong, has always had the most unusual talent – the ability to see ghosts. Her story is more heartbreaking and endearing than most, for this gift allows her to see the ghost of her husband.
Now she’s back, but she’s dealing with a problem she never imagined possible; she can no longer see the dead. Her husband included. Now she’s on a quest, though it does not end up being the one she expected to find herself on.

Can I just say that I loved everything about this volume? Perhaps my only complaint of the series is that it ended. I would have loved to see more than five issues, but I’ll acknowledge that the story they wanted was told, so there was no need to go on.
Magdalene Visaggio took up the writing for this volume, and holy cats. I’ve always found Mirage’s tale to be emotionally compelling – kind of hard not to. But Viasaggio brought that to all-new heights.
The fluctuation between past and present was used to great effect in this volume. It kept the intrigue up, while feeding us answers. Given how badly I was craving those very answers; I couldn’t read it fast enough.
There was something very haunting and beautiful about Doctor Mirage. Though perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised, as I’ve always felt that way. I do love how they altered and progressed her character and arc, and I am looking forward to seeing what will happen next.

The artwork behind Doctor Mirage is psychedelic and brilliant. We’re talking vibrant colors and ethereal concepts come to life in a visual explosion. I’ve never seen anything quite like it, and sometimes it feels like I never will again.
Nick Robles was the leading artist for this project, and thus they deserve a lot of credit for much of the wow factor from this volume. Their artwork perfectly supported the emotions and creative writing of Visaggio in fantastic ways. I honestly don’t think that it would have been the same without them.

I’m so sad to be done with Doctor Mirage, though happy that they left a promise that we’ll be seeing her again. Granted, I have no idea what future changes she’ll be facing. Or when we’ll see her next. I’m content to accept that promise, however. All while looking forward to that moment.

[Artur Nowrot]

I received an e-ARC of this comic via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Doctor Mirage used to see ghosts – including her late husband, whim she tried to resurrect – but something went very wrong. Now she’s on a journey with a pill-popping teenager. Will she break free or is a fate worse than death awaiting her?

I like Magdalene Visaggio’s writing for anchoring the trippy weirdness of her premises to emotional and existential arcs of her characters. Doctor Mirage is no different and an expedition into the land of the dead is intimately connected to the protagonist’s loss of powers and her husband. At the same time it introduces tension between her and Grace, a teenage girl who maintains that they are in hell and need to get out: Mirage is tagging along, but with her own agenda. This occasionally leads to conflict between the two characters, which with time becomes a tad repetitive, as it largely hits the same beats issue-to-issue, but at the beginning at least makes their dynamic more interesting.

It would be a spoiler to say what the purpose of the journey ultimately is, as there are a few twists and turns along the way. I will say that Visaggio never loses sight of the human element and ties the story to struggles all of us experience. The ending has interesting things to say that are uplifting, but quite different from the trite sentiments we usually hear.

As for the visuals, Nick Robles does a great job with the design, particularly of the monsters, and I am in love with the work of Jordie Bellaire, who makes the transition from ordinary world (or what passes for it) to the realms of the deat absolutely incredible. The colours in the latter are very psychedelic purples, yellows, pinks, blues, strange smears and blobs that don’t conform to the linework. It’s a fantastic effect and made the comic a joy to look at.

If you’re a fan of Visaggio’s work on Eternity Girl, you’re going to love this. If you’re into gnostic, psychedelic weirdness – you’re going to love it, too.

[Angel 一匹狼 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doctor Mirage was capable of seeing the dead. But now, even her dead husband, who was always by her side, has disappeared. Mirage cannot live without him, so she will try her best to reunite with him, whatever she has to do.

"Doctor Mirage" is another of those supernatural comic/books with a simple story, and not a particular original development, that, however, surprises for different reasons, giving the reader a very entertaining and enjoyable time.

For starters the drawing style. Even if the drawings are not top-notch, the use of strips and color is amazing, and do suit perfectly the story, giving it a dreamy and kaleidoscopic atmosphere that feels like a trip to the underworld.

This use of color and strips is also mixed with some simple, but well used, storytelling techniques, perfectly combining the writing with the image, and making Mirage's story a seamless affair, with almost nothing that needs trimming.

Quite the contrary. It actually feels the story should be a little bit longer, because the ending feels a little bit rushed, and it's kind of a mess, as if it needed another chapter or two to better develop the story and its characters.

Minor quibbles, as "Doctor Mirage" is totally worth it.

The best: the use of color is amazing; it is a touching story; it has some very original storytelling/strip usage

The worst: the ending feels rushed

Alternatives: "Gretel", "The Dresden Files", "亜人" ("Ajin")

6/10

(Original English)

*Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the copy*

[Doe · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review! All the following opinions are my own!

Doctor Mirage is something of a superhero Marvel-es que story that primarily deals with grief and how it can make you go to extremes that are not good for you. The main character, Shan, is a witch and she's someone who can see through the veil. She's lost her husband and she tries to bring him back to life. One day, however, soemthing happens and the dead, whom she's so accustomed to living with, in a way, all disappear. Lost in this new, familiar yet unfamiliar world, Shan tries to reopen the portal that kept her connected to the afterlife for so long. It doesn't go as planned but a young girl shows up at her door and tells her something that tilts the world she knew on its axis.

Now, on the surface, this is the kind of story that is 100% my jam, but there was just something about this book that didn't click. The art style was fine, but not my favourite, and the characters were only sort of okay. A lot of the plot was kind of overcomplicated and pointless and I really wish there had been a more linear and straightforward story there. Of course, this is the first volume in the collection so I'm excited to see how they take this forward! It wasn't too bad, but definitely not my favourite graphic novel reading experience!

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

This, like so many comics these days, especially from this publisher, is a reboot. Although that's not to say it's just a reboot of a comic – it seems to want to be a reboot of an entire history of head books. The graphics of the world beyond ours are so evocative of weird psychedelically infused books of the 1960s and 1970s. Still, unlike many of those books (which never appealed to me, particularly) this is actually easy to follow – until the last two pages, that is. The thing is Valiant are notorious for dredging out life in their ancient franchises, and mashing their characters together, so it's a rare title of theirs I can actually follow without needing a mountain of back knowledge, which makes this even more remarkable. So when a young psychic woman is distraught about the loss of the ghost of her dead husband, and is goaded to go beyond to find out why, we're actually on fairly firm ground, with an understandable mythology and understandable motive. If only so much of it was not written in the style of TV studio chatter. That's about the only negative, really, however – the book has drama, a recognisable character and mood from books of old, and heck – it even has a message to close. So for the sake of argument, four stars.

[Princess · Rating 3 out of 5]

True Rating: 3.5

Likes:
-Art Style
-The Egyptian Mythology
-The present story

Dislikes:
-The time jumps
-I'm so confused with the ending

I want to thank Netgalley for giving me this graphic novel, it was a fun read. So what is the story about princess? Umm yeah I have no idea. Let me see if I can sum it up nicely with no spoilers. Shan can see the dead and has some type of magic. Her husband is dead so now she is trying to find a way to bring him back. There is an interesting side character that kind of falls off but she is super weird. The ending is a little confusing, I legit have no idea what to believe to be honest. I think Shan was on some type of show because the narrator keeps talking about moving camera and things like that. As I stated before you do get to see a little Egyptian mythology and that was pretty nice. It wasn't a lot but it was enough for me to feel like I need to look this creature up in my mythology book. Anyways it was a fun and quick read I do suggest it if you want a mind warping experience where you have no idea what is happening. I will have to continue because I need to find out what is happening.

[Lou (Lou and Life) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Advanced reader copy provided by the publisher on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What drew me into this book was the cover. It looks really cool and reminiscent to Mass Effect, so I ended up looking up what the comic was about and wanting to read it because the premise seemed cool. However, what I thought I was going to read and what I ended up reading was two very different things. I wasn't prepared for what this comic brought to the table. I thought that it was going to be more sci-fi than fantasy. The story itself is unnecessarily convoluted with an unsatisfying ending. The ending was a cliffhanger but even that was not enough for me to want to read the sequel. I wasn't invested in the characters, and in the end I wanted to finish the comic because I wanted it to end as opposed to wanting to know the ending.

The things that I did like about the comic was the art style and the colouring. I think that those are the best things the comic has to offer. It's beautifully drawn and the colours are eye catching.

I didn't really enjoy reading the comic, and I would not recommend it.

[DeAnne · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.

I was really intrigued by the synopsis I read for this and the cover alone was probably enough to draw me in. I had no idea it was reboot, but knowing that now I can say that it would be great for someone who was new to the character or someone who was familiar. I loved the vibrant artwork and colors, though there was some text that was a little harder to read - I'm sure this would be different if it was actually in my hands and may have been because I was reading it on a screen.

The story itself was a crazy ride, as you would think when considering the characters may or may not be dead and if they are dead may have to get out of it, so there were tons of twists and turns to the story. Overall it was a really enjoyable read and I'm eager to see what comes next.

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recieved a copy via NetGAlley fore review purposes.

I have to say I'm not really leaning one way or another. I enjoyed this book, but that was about it. The premise is interesting and art and character designs are really cool. they have the old comic-style vibe but with bright colours and it feels very modern. I also love the touches of the camera directions going on like as if every scene was a scene in a movie and we were privy to the director's thought. It was a very unique concept and I wonder if there's some cool overarching reason for it that might be explored in later installments.

I have no previous experiences with this character so I can't say if this a good sequel/revamp/rewrite or whatever but I do think this is something someone would really enjoy, just mot me. Because the backbones and meat are definitely there, it's not my favourite type of meat.