Marie and Markus are on a hike in the woods near their new house when they stumble upon a portal to a magical realm called the Shattered World. In this Shattered World, the Mage Goddess gifts Marie a magical bracelet which allows her to transform into the Water Mage Soulstream. She tasks Marie with finding the Lightning and Actor Bracelets and their bearers so that they can team up to save the Shattered World from the clutches of the powerful Mirror Mage. Will Marie learn to use her powers in time, and will her and the two new mages be able to hold their own against the treachery of the Mirror Mage’s colonels? Or will they lose their Bracelets, and Shattered World its hope for being saved?
In these five issues, we get double-fast superhero origin stories, nearly non-stop action, and colors, magic, and personalities galore. It’s a fun action series geared more for middle grade readers or a little younger, and will keep them turning pages to enjoy a fun superhero story.
I like how Marie is a bit of a scaredy cat at the beginning, but as she realizes the responsibility that comes with being Soulstream and how she is being depending on to help save the Shattered World, she puts herself forward to act brave and do the right thing. I was a bit surprised how well Markus takes being the non-mage helper to this growing team, and liked to see when he started voicing how he wanted to help more, too, and what followed from that. Oliver is a little stereotypical – a shy boy who can’t stand being in a crowd, until he becomes Charade with the Actor Bracelet. With a costume, he’s all confidence and surety. Eve is also a little stereotypical, and makes me think of Cupcake from “Rise of the Guardians” – tall, tough looking girl who acts like she doesn’t need anyone and always has a frown on her face, but who, once she gets pulled in enough by Marie (and the other’s) friendliness, can’t help but start to open up to friendship.
Of course, I could say more about their antagonists, like Rebecca (Sword Dancer), Kaylee and Karl, and Clarice, and the General Inferno Knight and Mirror Mage, but that might risk spoiling some of the fun turns the story takes. And this is a fun, quick read, and shouldn’t be spoiled.