The Scarlet Witch #1

 It’s long been a shame that The Scarlet Witch has been treated so badly, since she’s one of the Marvel Universe’s first female characters - first a reluctant villain, and shortly thereafter, an Avenger.

   (Let’s see, the first Silver Age Marvel heroine would be the Invisible Girl, then the Wasp, then Marvel Girl - then the Scarlet Witch. Is the first major female villain the Enchantress?) 

   (I should add that Wanda was not intentionally a bad guy - Magneto tricked her and her brother Quicksilver into joining the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.)

   Anyway, she’s been treated badly in recent years - possessed by evil forces, driven mad, did away with mutants, caused the destruction of the Avengers (they got better) - and now she’s better and starring in a new solo comic, and it’s terribly dreary.

   It focuses on Wanda the witch as she investigates a strange murder and uncovers its mystic roots. 

   It’s all done in a dark, Vertigo-style story that’s all dark and horror-filled. Her costume has been redesigned (for the zillionth time) - it looks like something she might wear to a workout class. With a cape added. 

   I’m not sure what’s up with her signature headpiece - it’s become a red pen squiggle.

   So, grim and gritty, glum and gloomy. Wanda deserves so much better - she should be an “A”-list hero, not a second-rate Doctor Strange. 

   I’ll pass.

Grade: B-

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