GGotS Review: Spell Checkers

By Eden Miller

It’s Gossip Girl meets The Craft. Or Heathers meets Carrie. Or if Buffy the Vampire Slayer focused on Cordelia instead of the title character.

Or you know, maybe all and none of those things at the same time. Spell Checkers, due out from Oni Press on April 14, isn’t like most stories involving magical teens that tend to drive home the point that these are misunderstood kids looking to reclaim some power or something. They’re always the nerds, the kids that get made fun of. That’s not at all the case here, and it’s a great twist.

The book follows three young witches — dominant Cynthia, tough Kimmie and ditzy Jesse — who are undoubtedly the queen bees of their school. They are afraid of no one and used to getting their way. They are a little spoiled — the basically use magic to their own advantage — and, yes, perhaps a little bit bitchy, but they’re the girls we all wanted to be in school. When someone begins to break up the trio with malicious magical graffiti, they must find the culprit before they all lose their magical powers.

Written by Jamie S. Rich with manga-inspired art by Nicolas Hitori De and featuring character design and flashback sequences by Joelle Jones, this book is a ton of fun. Our three heroines, if you can call them that, are delightfully refreshing — they aren’t at all misfits and are always ready with an insult to take down anyone who gets in their way. The trio may seem initially unlikable, as they’re each all too willing to suspect the others of wrongdoing, but their bond of friendship is strong.

Hitori’s art is adorable and keeps the story moving quickly. He draw the characters as cute, cool beauties with fashion sense to die for. His facial expressions are bright and animated and keep the book lighthearted even when the ladies are hurling cruel words at each other.

Speaking of that, Rich’s dialogue is snappy, sharp and hilarious. He takes three characters that by all reason you should dislike and makes them compelling to follow, if for no other reason than because you want to see what they do next.

Jones’ flashback sequences are beautifully rendered and a welcome addition to this book. Her art slows the pace down a little and gives readers time to see who these girls were and how they came to be where they are now (here’s a hint: they were mostly always mean to everyone, except each other. And even then, well … ).

I actually love how immoral these girls are when it comes to magic — they’re absolutely willing to cheat on tests, send clones to gym class or trick boys — and there are no repercussions. That’s what teenage girls want to do with magic, after all. I also love how ridiculous the climax was, and how their enemy had a stupid reason for doing what she did. These girls a pretty heartless, sure, but you still root for them to win.

Yes, this has all the marks of parody in some respects — it definitely pokes fun at do-gooder magic stories like Harry Potter, along with other pop culture figures like the Jonas Brothers and other teen stars. Those elements give this book a sly self-awareness that was unexpected for me.

If you know a teen girl who definitely believes herself to be too cool for everyone else, she’ll love Spell Checkers. If you were that teen girl, you’ll love this, too. And even if you weren’t, you’ll still love it. I only hope we get to follow Cynthia, Kimme and Jesse on more of their magical exploits as they continue to use their magic for selfish gain and to rule their school. Being a witch never seemed like so much fun.

Check out a 22-page preview at Oni Press.

[Cover image and PDF review copy provided by Oni Press.]