They’ve also been major players in comics since the dawn of the medium, sometimes as villains, sometimes as heroes, sometimes as my favorite brand of morally ambiguous or “I am who I am” characters who do their own thing, wave their beautiful freak flags, and turn the true baddies into toads. My favorites? Of course. I’m sure you know by now I have opinions.
Phanora from The Witch and the Beast
Yuko from xxxHolic
Lora from Seance Tea Party
Quifrey from Witch Hat Atelier
Reading was already magical. These witches make it even more so. Join me in applauding them. And running away to wave wands and make fireworks.
Though the Order of Magical Resonance claims that witches are evil and must be hunted and contained, they do, as is so often the case, recognize exceptions. Phanora, a powerful necromancer and resurrections is one such. Necromancy, in the world of The Witch and the Beast, isn’t forbidden but it is highly regulated, so when Ashaf and Guideau stumble on a case that involves unlicensed and uncontrolled undead, they call in the expert and her assistant.
And I so very much hope they have occasion to do so again, because Phanora is absolutely fantastic. Small, delicate, and beautiful, she is terrifyingly powerful, able to handle hungry ghosts the way most people make toast. She is smart, surprising, and absolutely ruthless. She has a moral code but it is most certainly her own, and she gives zero fucks about what anyone else thinks about it. She is not, however, one dimensional. She cares about the people from whom she is responsible, the people to whom she is close, the people she counts as family and you’d best not do those people any damage.
There are times adding characters to an already complex stories makes them more confusing, muddles them. Not so here. I’m hoping Satake continues to populate this universe with fascinating people and expanded story lines.
It also means Yûko bears the weight of multiple worlds and it’s not a weight she can relinquish, not a responsibility she can hand off to someone else. It means that she has to choose between a life she loves and the lives of people she adores. It means that she has to live behind the construct of a carefully cultivated facade and lead a young man whose future she knows will devastate him toward an understanding that he is worth the sacrifices make for him only to disregard the sacrifices he has made for her.
It’s a sad story but it’s also a beautiful one, as the stories of witches so often are. As the stories of women so often are.
Lora quickly realizes that the ghost, Alexa, is actually a friend from her past — her old imaginary friend — someone from her younger years, someone who knows her as a kid and isn’t in a rush for her to move on. But what happens when Lora is ready to grow? What does that mean for Alexa and their bond? What happens when it’s time for young witches to grow up?
Also, please note Quifrey’s clothes. While the majority of witches are female presenting, there are a good number who are male presenting and everyone’s robes and pants and shoes are extremely nonbinary. It can be done.
More of my favorite comics character roundups:3 of My Favorite Demons in Comics4 of My Favorite Kids in Manga3 of My Favorite Single Moms in Manga4 of My Favorite Single Dads in Manga
