Strange Academy #13 - Marvel Comics

STRANGE ACADEMY No. 13, January 2022

Split between “a tour of a famous NOLA graveyard” and Emily Bright’s own personal field trip deep inside the Sorcerer Supreme’s darkest dungeon, Issue Thirteen of “Strange Academy” is definitely a two-sided affair which contains plenty of answers to several previously unsolved mysteries. But whilst such sub-plots as the secret origin of Zoe Laveau and the identity of the man behind a certain cellar door are enthrallingly explored, it does arguably cause this twenty-page periodical to lack any sort of action whatsoever; “Soooooo, what kind of trouble have you all been up to tonight?”

Fortunately however, so dialogue-driven a publication doesn’t mean that Skottie Young hasn’t penned a truly mesmerising narrative for this comic, with the super snake-filled story as to how Laveau became one of the walking dead proving to be a highlight of the book. Desperate to please both her parents, as well as live up to the high expectations of her magical heritage, it is quite easy to see why the young girl would fall prey to the deceitful ‘drugs’ of Gaslamp in order to develop her own powers, and why later on her mother would turn to so extreme a solution as zombifying her dead daughter just so the woman could bring her back from beyond the grave.

Likewise, there’s a satisfying sense of resolution to Bright’s storyline concerning the Imperator and the disconcertingly dismal fate which Doctor Strange has seemingly ordained for the leader of the Empirikul. Initially, it appears certain that the American author will disappointingly fall into the usual trap of depicting the well-meaning child stupidly releasing the deadly villain through her utter naivety. But splendidly, that simply isn’t the case with this tale, and instead Young provides a heart-warming outcome involving the Stone of Shackles in which debatably everyone comes away happy.

Of course, that doesn’t mean for a moment that this comic is just packed full of sickeningly sweet feel good moments, as Calvin Morse’s uncertain future at the school persistently lingers over the student throughout the entire comic. Bereft of any actual magic, and already late with his school presentation for Zelma Stanton, the orphan’s aggressive anger at his peers’ special abilities appears destined to make him a suitable puppet to manipulate by the sinister Gaslamp in a future instalment…

The regular cover art of "STRANGE ACADEMY" #13 by Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado