Music is Magic

"Music is magic?" That hippy mumbo jumbo malarkey has somehow turned
into an awesome comic in Phonogram. Its like Nick Hornsby writing
Books of Magic. But wait, no. Take the wimpy Harry Potter kid out. Now its starring Warren Ellis. There you go.

Phonogram follows David Kohl. He's a "phonomancer", a magician that gets his power from music. But its not like he walks around with a guitar strapped to his back that emits lightning when he strikes it. That'd work fine, but this is more subtle than that. Much more realistic. Kohl is just kind of a dick hipster who uses the power that music has in it, and in people's experience of it, to manipulate people and...I don't know what else - it was just the first issue.

But check it out. Its got some great art and well crafted dialogue. The writer, Kieron Gillen, proudly infuses his knowledge of pop music into the main character's snobbery, without turning the book itself into a vanity ton ten list. My one complaint is that the plotting was a little sketchy. As I was reading it, I wasn't entirely clear about when and where it was jumping to. But I am a bit slow, so maybe a second read will clear it up.