Review: Curse Words #17
After an extended medical leave from the realms of geekdom, I’m just now getting back into this wonderful world we share together. Curse Words by Image Comics has to be towards the top of the many things I’ve missed out on. I read issue 17 first as a stand alone and enjoyed it. I then went back and caught up on the plot lines I had missed and enjoyed this issue even more.
Curse Words #17’s establishing shot shows the RMS Titanic sitting at the bottom of the ocean.  The artwork, coloring and layout for this book are impeccable and those bona fide’s are established in this opening shot. As we zoom in we find Jacques Zacques sitting in the ruins of the Titanic cursing his fate after having been defeated by Wizord. Suddenly, the whole ship is rocked by two gigantic disembodied hands forged from the surrounding sea water.  As water begins to pour into the wreck which was Jacques’ home, Jacques quickly saves himself with a hasty air spell only to be confronted by his attacker Mr. Opaque. However, Mr Opaque does not wish Jacques harm but instead wishes to help him hone his magic powers presumably to help him against the hero of our story Wizord. What follows is a series of lessons about the nature of magic. 
It is entertaining to watch as Opaque explains a fundamental concept of magic in this universe; the work beats the wish. Fundamentally, Opaque is pushing Jacques to be more disciplined and thorough in his magical constructs as he seeks to harness the power granted him by the demon Sizzajee. As Jacques, a bumbling student who never the less plods along in his progress, eventually learns to better harness his power we are left with his rather unique solution to a magic problem. Without giving too much away I will say that I’ve never felt sorry for strawberries before.
Meanwhile, Wizord is relaxing in his apartment in New York City. Wizord’s girlfriend Ruby confronts him about the fate of a group of people from an earlier battle. This group of people includes people related to Jacques Zacques. 
Wizord assures Ruby that the people are perfectly safe if not present in our world anymore. What follows is a slightly creepy voyeur session as the two of the sit back to watch home movies of the exiled in their new world. In a strange twist Wizord takes a break from his movie night to cook popcorn for Ruby. As he is doing so he is approached by Margaret, a talking rat. After much conversation Margaret leaves Wizord in tears. Resolved to action she sends a fake picture to her would be paramour in preparation for a road trip to meet her intended. That should be interesting to say the least.
Curse Words is like nothing else I’ve read in a long while. It is unique in it heroes, villains, setting and story lines and is thoroughly enjoyable. I recommend this book to everyone.
Writing – 5 of 5 Stars
Art – 4 of 5 Stars
Overall – 4.5 of 5 Stars
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Creators – Charles Soule, Ryan Browne
Color – Addison Duke
Letters – Chris Crank
Author Profile
- Nemesis is a poet, writer and author of the upcoming novel The Long Game. He is a writer of science fiction and supernatural thrillers. Besides novels and short stories he writes for UK based ASAP Comics developing new stories for Level 8 and OPSEC. Nem is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and tries to bring those experiences into his writing.
He lives and works out of his home in Riverside, California with his wife and three children. When not writing he enjoys reviewing comic books and graphic novels for ComicCrusaders.com and living the Southern California life with his family.
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