What better way to spend your fall break than reading something that’s not required? (Gasp, I know right, radical). For today’s edition of Bwog Book Club, Bwogger Daniel Ortega-Venni brings to you the W.I.T.C.H. Graphic Novel series!

Some of you probably know W.I.T.C.H. if you ever watched the show on Toon Disney, but it actually began as an Italian comic series that only got partially translated into English. Thanks to YenPress, it’s being re-released into English in its full glory!

The Story: It seems to be your typical middle school setup: five girls (Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia and Hay Lin) are brought together when they realize that they actually have supernatural powers: four of them control the four elements while the last is their leader and the keeper of the Heart, a pendant which maxes out everyone’s powers. Every 12 or so issues, a new Big Bad arises that the girls need to fight. For the first storyline, this Big Bad is Prince Phobos, ruler of a world called Meridian, that is eager to find his sister (who is living on Earth) so he can take her powers away from her and send Meridian into deeper peril.

My Rating: 4/5-4.5/5 (depends on the saga)

I love this series because, first of all, it’s five girls being badass, what’s not to love? Also, the missions, for the most part, directly affect the guardians’ personal lives. For example, Prince Phobos’ sister is actually Cornelia’s closest friends! Also, Will’s mother becomes worried that her daughter is so distant (when she’s actually fighting monsters) so she considers moving! And did I mention that the girls sometimes create clones to take their place on Earth while they go on missions and that these clones mess everything up??

I think sometimes the realistic side is better than the fantasy side and vice-versa (one of the pitfalls of having many different writers), but the art is so amazing most of the time that you won’t even care. 17 of the graphic novels are out with the 18th coming later this month! I highly recommend for some easy reading and wonderful art!

“witch cat XD,” the original title of this work, is impossible to improve upon via SketchPort