Writer: Kurt Busiek Artists: Matt Haley (p), Karl Kesel (I)
Publisher: DC
Plot: The book opens six years ago where we see Wonder Woman is taking a young Vanessa to a concert performance by a woman who calls herself Witchfire. After learning that this woman has gained her fame by performing all sorts of attention-getting stunts, we look in on Witchfire earlier that day as she performs a daring leap over a gaping canyon, and we see that her ability to survive such dangerous endeavors is more dependent on her ability to weld magic. Yes, Witchfire turns out to be a real witch, as she has a host of spells she can call upon to enhance her performances, be it the pyrotechnics for her concerts, to the flying spell that she uses to keep herself from falling to her death during her canyon jump. To this end we see Witchfire has decided to use a scroll she recently acquired to add some spice to her concert, but when the spell ends up summoning a powerful demon, we see Witchfire needs the help of Wonder Woman to keep her concert from becoming a bloodbath. With the demon sent back to its realm we see Witchfire gets a stern lecture from Wonder Woman about her irresponsible magic use.
Comments: I've always been rather fond of characters who weren't entirely altruistic in why they've decided to be a super-hero, so Witchfire's fondness of the spotlight & attention that this role will bring her will probably make her one of my favorite members of the Power Company. On the other hand there's a difference between a desire to be the center of attention, and outright stupidity, and this issue has Witchfire leaning more toward the latter. I mean she comes across an ancient scroll, with no clue what will result if it is read aloud, so what does she do? Well, she doesn't do the sensible thing which would to read the thing during a rehearsal to figure out what exactly happened before you unleashed it in a stadium packed with people. I mean, surely she has to know not all magic spells produce harmless lighting effects. I could see if she had been tricked by an outside party into believing it was a harmless spell, but the story is quite clear that she had no clue what it would do, thus presenting her as a complete moron.
I also have to question the wisdom of including a guest-hero in each one of the one-shots, as space that could've been used to flesh out the characters a bit more is diverted to explaining why this hero/heroine is on hand. I mean I have nothing against Wonder Woman, but to be honest she really didn't need to be in this one-shot. In fact, this issue would've been far more engaging if Witchfire had been up against the demon with no help to call upon, as Wonder Woman acts more like a safety net than a helpful ally. Plus, the one area where Wonder Woman's presence would've made an impact is when she's busy reaming out Witchfire for her actions that nearly got a stadium packed full of people killed, but this scene is done in such a rushed fashion that we don't even get a sense that Witchfire even understood the message she was getting. I realize that guest-heroes like Superman, Batman & Wonder Woman will draw curious fans to pick up these one-shots, but truth be told the big-name guest-heroes have added nothing to the material.
Matt Haley turns out a pretty solid looking effort. I can't confess to be that familiar with his earlier work, but based on what I've seen in this issue I can imagine his work would be welcome on most books. His figure work is wonderful, his faces are full of expression, and it's quite easy to follow the action on the page. In fact, one of the main reasons I finished this issue rather liking the character Witchfire was due to the simple fact that Matt Haley perfectly captures the expression of sheer joy that appears on the character's face when she is basking in the spotlight. I also enjoyed the visual of the demon that Witchfire inadvertently unleashes upon the world during her concert. My one quibble is in regards to Witchfire's use of her magic spells, which had the potential to offer up some dramatic visuals, but instead are largely unseen. I realize she might be keeping her more flamboyant spells on the shelf, as she didn't want to be publicly outed as a magic user, but I do hope future displays of magic are a little more visually engaging.
Final Word: A showboat who likes to bask in the spotlight that her magical abilities afford her. Not a bad premise for a hero, and she'll make a nice addition to the Power Company, but to be honest this is yet another one-shot where it felt like Kurt Busiek is simply going through the motions. I like the concept behind these one-shots, as they exist to showcase each member before they are placed in the team format, but truth be told Witchfire is a team character. There are characters who are just fine when out on solo adventures, and then there are characters like Witchfire who need others to react to their personality to be interesting. This issue nicely presents her desire to be forever the center of attention, but it's not much fun unless there's someone present to question this attitude, and give her cause to question and/or defend her behavior.
