One of my favorite book series’ happens to be The Dresden Files. I know you might find it shocking that I read actual books too, but I do! So you can imagine how I excited I was when I found out the author Jim Butcher was adapting his first novel into a comic book.
While I also think you should be reading the regular series written by Jim Butcher, Let me take a moment to recommend the comic book adaptation, brought to you by Dabel Brothers Publishing, Mark Powers on the script, and Adrian Sayf on pencils.
Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden (named after three famous magicians, and no, not Potter) is a wizard. In fact, he’s the only practicing wizard in Chicago. You can find him in the book. He does mostly Private Eye work, but also freelances with the Chicago PD when things happen they don’t understand. He gets a fair share of work from their Special Investigations Department, which is run by a tough Lt. named Karrin Murphy. Usually a kiss of death in the Chicago PD, Murphy has turned it into a successful precinct, mostly due to her assistance from our main character.
The best thing about the book is how truly fleshed out the characters are. Dresden could simply be a tough S.O.B. who gets the job done, but the creator was smart enough to give him quirks that make him human. To put it bluntly, his style of magic is more brute force, and when it all comes down to it, he’s a bit on the thuggish side, no real finesse. And secondly, and more importantly to this story (at least in the beginning), he has somewhat of a weak stomach.
The case starts with Lt. Murphy asking for his help on a particularly nasty case. There was a couple that was murdered in the middle of…well…doing what couples do. But it was in the most unusual way, their hearts had burst out of their chest. For being such a grisly scene, it’s penciled absolutely perfectly. You really get the feeling why Harry would actually need to vomit after seeing what transpired in the victims’ bedroom.
What follows reads a bit like your standard Noir-ish novel, albeit with a magical twist. Imagine Doctor Strange as a private investigator with witty one-liners at the level of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Spider-Man, and you have Dresden. He also has some of the most colorful supporting cast in comics. There’s the aforementioned Karrin, but then you have his supernaturally inclined friends and allies, along with rivals and enemies. Since it’s not Chicago without organized crime, “The Gentleman” John Marcone plays a rather sizable role in the book, along with the intrepid reporter Susan Rodriguez. On the supernatural side, you have my two personal favorites Toot-Toot (a fairy who will clean your room for pizza, seriously) and his perverted assistant/spirit living in a skull, Bob (think a disembodied Master Roshi).
But since the tag line is “Magic: It could get a guy killed,” you know that there’s bound to be some trouble for him. This is where Morgan comes in. Morgan is a warden for the White Council of Magic, which is like a police officer for wizards. He makes sure practitioners follow the seven laws of magic, and kills those who don’t follow. Well, our hero doesn’t have a spotless record. He broke one of these laws defending himself from an evil wizard when he was a teenager. He got off with probation due to self defense, but if he breaks any one of the laws again, it’s his head on a silver platter. This, my friends, is called The Doom of Damocles, and Morgan is eagerly awaiting the day he can remove Harry’s head from his neck.
Continued belowHonestly, I can’t recommend the title enough. It’s a nearly perfect adaptation of the prose series, and it’s a ton of fun to boot. You’ll fall in love with Harry and crew, I promise. Pick it up the first two trades here and here. And if you love it, why not check out the book series too? It won’t hurt, right? Of course not.
