#spelldon

Monster High Spelldon Cauldronello™️

I put soooooo much work into this. Praise me please m(_ _)m

Credits to the cc creators down below:

I just picked up the first issue of Boomuda Triangle (I was so hyped for this that I’m writing this in my car outside the comic book store) and the short and sweet answer is: I liked it a lot and am really looking forward to where it goes).

Having the same writer as the Spelldon/Valentine Pride stories was a great idea. I do with the same artist would have also returned, but I really liked the art in this issue.

EXCEPT: it’s already been mentioned that while this artist is very talented, their paneling was good, they have a good sense of anatomy, Spelldon’s face and hair is made to look less black. His curl pattern is lessened and his nose is very straight. He still has full lips though and he was NOT done as dirty as Clawd and to a lesser extent Clawdeen in the Pride comic (which seemed to have not been noticed by many people when those comics came out) and several other comics (if I was home now, I would look up examples). I don’t know if this is a note from Mattel or not. That could be an unfortunate case if it was. It could be his new face mold (which would suck and not be surprising…), and the artist was prompted to draw Spelldon this way (they seem to be able to draw black characters in some of their other art)??

Synopsis (here be spoilers):

Valentine and Spelldon are on summer break, Valentine is working at the pet store again, while Spelldon’s mom Circe got him an internship with the Cartographer (a powerful witch that lives in the Boomuda Triangle that tries to keep all the time lines and worlds straight).

Spelldon is hoping to learn to how to think on his feet more (he’s shown to be a great student, but very reliant on book-knowledge spells, which causes him to freeze up when he’s trying to break Valentine’s fall, which causes him to sprain his wrist). Valentine is worried he’ll move on without him (he’s gotten a bit clingy now that he’s found love) and sneaks along with him.

They argue when Valentine appears and due to Valentine grabbing a few items that the Cartographer had told him not to touch, they end up ripping up The Atlas and taking a pocket watch that always points the way home (The Wind Rose) causing them to get sucked apart through time.

Spelldon wakes up to find another version of himself.

The good:

I already mentioned the writing (Spelldon and Valentine are adorable in this) and for most part the artwork (the hands look NORMAL, the characters show emotion well, anatomy looks good, the clothing has weight, the backgrounds are lovely, the coloring is good, the lighting is nice, the animals are drawn well) are all standouts.

The cover options were great too (and it looks like the Next issues will also be cool).

We get to see more from Spelldon’s point of view, I love that we are fleshing him out more. I also like Valentine’s new outfit.

We get to see bat Valentine.

And Valentine tells Spelldon he loves him.

We see a chimera or manticore (a backgrounder) in Monster High (I believe for the first time for either of those).

The airplane’s design (with the bat wings and bird feet) look very fun.

Easter Eggs/Callbacks:

Valentine is working at the pet store again and some references to the first time he worked at the pet store (the flying monkeys).

There is also a gremlin’s reference on the wall.

Spelldon gets to interact with his sister (I wish she had a more lax outfit here, but their interaction is great, we get to learn a bit more about how Casta was in school, not a grade-a student and she can “totally handle 20 spells).

They even mention how his mom Circe is not a fan of talking to mansters.

Whisp shows up again, and Heath and Howleen are seen in the background of a café eating together (I want to know what’s going on there).

The rug in the Cartographer’s room looks like it’s from Ancient Greece, so I wonder if that will call back to Circe somehow??

The Cartographer (who might be a vampire due to his exposed features or maybe Valentine due to him also loooking like him and the rose he wears being a Valentine motif) and Murk (a shadow creature front the edge of the unknown are all new characters) are new characters and Murk can shapeshift. Murk is also brought back in time with Spelldon.

Spelldon not only has a new shaved heart pattern in the back of his head, but

he seems to be wearing two jackets, and his earrings also lightly changes too.

He is still wearing a black rose bracelet from the first pride issue.

There is an interview with the writer of the comic in the back too, which is also cool to see.

Critiques:

From my quick read through, mostly just Spelldon’s nose and hair. Valentine is really clingy here, but I do think it’s because Spelldon is the first person he’s actually truly loved and is afraid to let him go. I think this comic will deal with him learning to let go. We don’t want an Anakin/Padme situation here. Ha!

what were your thoughts? Have you read it yet?? Do you plan to? Let me know. I’m clearing my schedule tomorrow to do an actual break down of this, so hopefully that comes to fruition.

here is issue 2’s mini review: