So I’m instantly going to review volume two Hooky by Ms. Miriam Bonastre Tur because again THIS IS A BIG HOOKY MARATHON.
(THIS COMIC REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS, IF YOU DIDN’T READ HOOKY ON WEBTOON, DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW.)
And this second volume is the unholy Hookiness. When I started reviewing the first volume, I just thought why not do both so I could save it from all the trouble buying the books instead of going back on Webtoon? And I’m doing this, not just for her, I’m doing this because I’m a brilliant comic creator and a comic reviewer, I’m very dedicated and a serious comic creator, and I don’t play games.
Speaking of seriousness, the front cover of the second volume shows something serious between the Wytte twins, I don’t know why but they seemed really pissed or determined. Back in volume 1, they seemed really happy and enjoying themselves for using magic. But here, Dani and Dorian are being serious after that situation of the witch’s invasion of Monica’s castle. The background shows that they’re entering a dark cave that is about to face a fearsome foe. I mean is Ms. Miriam seriously going to illustrate a front cover of the kids going to a creepy cave, that is like having Trevor Belmont and Sypha Bernandez entering a monastery to close the portal to hell while facing an army of demons. But the REAL question is, who’s the threat of the series?? Also, there’s more stuff in the background, Carlo is dipping himself in the cauldron, so many pumpkins and potions, a skull with a hat, wanted posters, and a red eyes black cat. Good grief, ok I’ve seen enough, I’ll just keep going with the story.
This second volume covers Episodes 71 through 137, which almost concludes the story on the third volume if there is a release date somewhere in 2023. And again it’s the same concept with no table of contents whatsoever, remember to always have a bookmark to leave some part where you left off.
So jumping from that invasion into Monica’s castle, Dani couldn’t control herself, and yet she obliterated one of the soldiers, and Pendragon’s house is on fire. So Dorian and the gang retreated to a safer place, which is somewhere in the forest, and stayed there for 3 months so they can hide from the witches. While they were there, Dorian watches Monica practicing her magic, trying to levitate the potion bottle in the air, first time for everything by the way. Meanwhile back at the town, Nico discovers a crystal ball shining around the rubble, and he literary saw something which shows a background as if anyone experiences LSD as if any adult went out to smoke Marijuana or eaten a strange fortune cookie from an episode of Rick and Morty. He saw a vision of Prince William and some dragon and the rest of the background is almost like someone is taking a color blind test which is more of a hallucination to Nico. But then he yet discovers that he has the ability to use clairvoyance, they think that he’s insane, but Dani believed in him, and she stated that it’s a rare type of magic that is beyond their knowledge as a magician and a witch. I mean after all those years, living with Pendragon, Nico would never have a talent for magic, but deep down, he’s a magician.
Then there’s a flashback of Damien’s childhood which was very horrifying to him that he ended up hurting one of his friends before. Because some kid actually touched him and he instantly turned into a frog. Later on, some of the townspeople came to the Wytte’s household for witch hunting because what Damien did was unforgivable to them. So they decided to burn his mother on his behalf, right until King George stopped them from burning her, but it left a scar on the left side of her skin. Then the Wytte family vowed revenge against the humans for trying to burn Damien’s mom, and all that drama that has happened, Damien didn’t want this life, so he’s willing to make things right, not for himself, but for his family to prevent for another war.
There’s this scene where Dani, Dorian, and their friends went to some checkpoint where the witches are checking every vehicle to verify if they’re all witches or if there are the people are they looking for on the wanted posters. And then they managed to escape by making their vehicles levitate by using magic. They lost Monica in the process, Dorian and the gang stumbles into some cottage, and yet they met up with that same hunter from the part where Aunt Hilde had him steal Snow White’s heart. If so, this makes this scene really messed up right now, because, on the Webtoon version, Dani recognizes him, but Dorian doesn’t trust him because he works with Aunt Hilde, even though they met him in a short time. But in the graphic novel, the scene is different, the kids don’t know who he is, and Dorian didn’t hesitate to take out his wand, threatens him, and be like “where’s my Princess Monica, you knave?!” as if he’s the prince charming to her or something. I mean, is the readers right now don’t know who the heck is that hunter on the graphic novel version, what if the readers looked back at the beginning of the series on Webtoon ever think about that?
Then Dani got really angry and stopped him for harming him, called her brother selfish, and ran away. The next thing that they saw is some drawings of some fat bird where Dorian mentioned to Monica that the fat bird looked like her when they first met. Ok, so this part didn’t mention in the graphic novel either, because in the Webtoon version after the witches fell down along with Monica, she immediately puts on her red hood as if she’s little red riding hood, she found some cranberries and left some trails to know where she is, and she ended up at some grandma’s house which references from Little Red Riding Hood story, but in a different aspect, the grandma was a human, but she turned into a wolf right after the witches casts a spell on her, she took out the bottle, the wolf drank it, and hope for the best that she’ll turn back to normal. Dani found Monica first, they met the wolf wearing grandma’s clothes, and afterward, everyone else came and Dorian. Everyone is reunited, and then Dorian was worried about Monica, thinking that he would lose her, and said to her out of the blue that he’s worried about her because Dorian is her boyfriend everyone jumps to surprise that Dorian felt that way. It was really awkward for the two and they went off to clear their heads from embarrassment. And after that moment, Dani explained to her brother to reason that there are more important things to do than romance. And she’s right because that is something that I can’t compute. AND THERE’S MORE COMING FROM THIS STORY!! COME ON, I’M LITERALLY READING A HOOKING CHILDREN’S FANTASY COMIC, if you really want to create a romance or some novela story why not just start another Webtoon, Ms. Miriam?
So jumping from all that drama, Dani summoned a Red-Eyes Black Cat card which apparently has the ability to special summon a Red-Eyes Black Dragon, and more of Damien’s childhood, the gang had arrived at some palace in the desert, from what Nico saw on the crystal ball. Oh and I forgot to mention some prince in that desert is with them, along with Monica’s old friends. When in the Hook did they and the prince got into the van after Dorian and the gang escaped from Monica’s castle from the witches?? Once they got to the palace, the queen told the story that the prince is the only one to kill a dragon that has been terrorizing the country and had William as a captive. Monica and the others volunteered to help them, and she wanted to have a street name after her and some monument of her strangling a dragon. Could she be a sadist? Do you even want to see her humiliate a dragon?? Great! Do I really need to be reminded of one of my female OCS who can kick ass? The next day, everyone was locked in, busted the door down, and went after someone who immediately locked them in last night. By the time they got there, Damien showed up and willingly told him to back off, but this is a fortunate event because Damien brought Pendragon and lifted the curse of the king, and turned back to normal. They’re going in some epic battle against the dragon and some monsters, right until Monica and Damien found Will sleeping like Sleeping Beauty, and- good grief do I even need to write this? I FEEL LIKE I’M READING ANOTHER CRINGY BL WEBTOON.
So jumping from all that drama, Dorian found his little dragon who grew up really big, and then he rode it just to get out of the rubble. But when he got on the dragon, he can’t control it, and accidentally killed his father. Dorian was devastated by what he did. So they went back to town and celebrated the defeat of the dragon, Dani and her friends arrived, and later on, Monica doesn’t want to marry Will because she was not ready yet. However this coming part of the scene is darker than it would seem, Angela came to the town to see her children, but they took Dani away from them. William’s father became so aggressive to the witches, they took Dorian and everyone to the town, while he plans to go and rescue Dani by himself. But they were betrayed by the king who captured them. I can’t even explain how his kingdom is so messed up right now for their hatred of the witches.
And the volume ends when some witch informed Angela and Dani that Dorian is in danger, and has the townspeople burn him because everyone thinks that he wanted to kidnap Monica. But somehow they burned the decoy instead of the real Dorian by Damien’s magic, but Dani watched him burning himself away, and she looked shocked. Under some influence, Dani is petrified by the fact that she’s watching her brother die with her own eyes. And the background surrounds her in darkness to see how many lives has taken from her, her friends, and her family. Could it be that she’s awakening her murderous intent just like at the end of volume 1? However that’s something from the readers, even I don’t know about it.
The second volume became so dark, even I can tell how much loss the twins has suffered. Even though, having her brother set on fire in front of his sister got me goosebumps, it terrifies me because I do know what it feels like to lose a family member. The twins had been through a lot ever since they missed the bus to some magic school, and somehow they went on a bigger adventure, they met new friends and allies and had some memories together, but this ending just gave a bad taste to my mouth.
Now all that’s left me is her art style because reading Hooky by Ms. Miriam was great, and her art style almost looked more like I’m watching an animated series. But rest assured that her art is actually easier for the reader to follow, and on top of that, that anime-like art style might be good, but I still see other artists do it too. But the fact that she developed her art style, it literary came from her heart. Her storytelling and her art actually came from all her heart because once you create a story with so much dedication to create a comic from your heart and its nature, you’re going to start growing into a better comic creator, and that is the most important part of life. To be honest, I asked that question to her at a panel on NYCC about when will Hooky become an animated series. She didn’t give me an answer to that. Hooky is a great webcomic series, but it wouldn’t hurt if someone would make it an animated series. I just thought that it was a silly question just for shits and giggles as if I’m Seinfeld or something. But I think it would be great for the fans to see it someday. Not to mention, there’s a promotional video of this volume of Hooky on Instagram, and the animation, looks too good to be true, to begin with, and it has some movement between the characters, but I have still seen it before like the animated comic version of Street Fighter on Udon Comics, or the animation on Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duels game when the player summons a Dark Magician or a Blue-Eyes White Dragon card for example. But imagine if she actually does the animated series Hooky, with a team of animators and editors, what would be like?
So anyway, I’m really impressed with her graphic novels, however, I’m rereading them because I have so much catching up to do. The first time I met her, I took the chance to review both volumes since this month is Spooky Season at its finest, but I’m reviewing one of my favorite Webtoon and Ms. Miriam was really great, and she almost got me to push beyond my expectations as a comic creator and had my blood boiling, and I can’t wait for Volume 3. If I ever want my webcomic series to turn into one of Webtoon’s original or have it on Image Comics, I have to get my story and art to grow even further, improve my skills and push my own limits. And I think the first thing I’d like to do is to find and meet the only man who made me pushed me to those limits, Stephen McCrannie.
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