Harper Collins and Webtoon brings you an epic conclusion of our favorite witches and friends, now grown up in Hooky Vol. 3. When I think about Hooky, I think about the actual Webtoon version that I know back then since 2016 when I first read it for the first time. Now today it’s becoming more popular through the bookstores, fans, the community, and everything, and made her reputation as an artist look good. I’ve been reading Hooky as a young adult since 23, and when I did, I looked up who she is, and then I admired her work, the storytelling is very heartwarming because back then I wanted to find some artists who could truly draw well, and I’ve been collecting those books since I met Miriam for the first time last year at New York Comic Con, and met her again at a bookstore in Brooklyn for signings, and I finally got all three volumes. So now I want to get to the bottom of the story, so here it is, the whole reason why I stopped reading up to episode 150; five years ago, which I’m finally going to see the light at the end of the Hooky tunnel.
The comic is created by Miriam Bonastre Tur, which I already talked about during the last two Hooky reviews last year, did I? So what the hell, good story backgrounds worth retelling. Basically, she’s a pretty good comic artist who lives in a small town near Barcelona in Spain and who is best known for Hooky, and now she’s currently creating her second webtoon Marionetta which is about a strong female protagonist who is involved with a terrible fate to kill the owner of the circus named Anthonn or “Tonny” as what you people call him now, the plot involves a circus of death and corrupted government and stuff. And she created a short manga story only in Spain not too long ago which is called “Hijos De Nul” in Spanish, meaning Nul’s Children in English, which is about two female paramedics who are using some bugs as their vehicles. It’s like the giant bugs from Nausicca Valley of the Wind that turned into ambulances or transportation such as buses and trains with delays, but I guess that would make too much sense. And apparently, she’s currently working as a character designer in the animation field which is really uncommon for a pretty good cartoonist like her working in an animation field, because all I can see on her reels are some Hooky promo animations that look like the monster summoning animations on Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel, and they look great. I met her in person twice and we’ve been friends ever since, and how I see her in person, she’s a beautiful sunshine lady who keeps you energized and active with some vitamin D. Yeah that’s how I see her when she smiles so pretty and brightly.
The cover art of the third volume is super cool. Here we have our favorite twins Dani and Dorian all grown up and the whole background takes place inside a dark castle with all the candles and magical relics and books around. However seeing this cover gives a lot of Addams Family vibes and I couldn’t even believe that she drew the cover art based on that, because The Addams Family is probably the last thing that comes to my mind when I think about Hooky when I look at the cover. I thought I was hallucinating when I saw her volume 3 post on Instagram, I thought it was the steam that was piling up on my glasses from the candles, but NO IT’S THE FRONT COVER. What I love about this cover art is that the atmosphere of this book is really dark because we have Dani sitting down smirking like a Queen while Dorian is being a bit nervous around her. I also love Dorian’s clothing because wearing black and dark clothing is really my favorite clothing to wear and still am today. Not to mention, looking at adult Dorian, he reminds me of myself lately whenever I look in the mirror, and that actually made me feel nostalgic when I read Hooky for the first time in 2016. I wish that the editors would put some quotations from other comic creators or reviewers on the back cover or something because that way I can talk about the positivity and the love of this book. But for me, I’ll give you one. “Hooky is a wonderful webtoon series full of entertaining characters, a big fun adventure, and a fun nostalgia with magic, dark and heartwarming visuals that there’s more to any other manga series than meets the eye.” -Kevin Bermeo, Artist, Indie Comic Artist, and Comic Reviewer of The Fanboy Factor.
The first thing you should know the third and last volume covers Episodes 138 through all the way to 222 and there are some epilogues, and the lady’s “thank you” speech at the end of the book. And unlike the digital version that you read a long time ago, the scenes on these three Holy Grails of Hookies were not shown just like the webtoon app. That means there’s no Hunter and Snow White, and some bloody and violent scenes and other stuff are not included because Miriam wanted to decorate Hooky just to turn it into a family-friendly physical book, and it was an ambitious attempt and became very successful. I mean, the lady just put the same series in a different version, so you have the choice of whether you want to read her graphic novels or the Webtoon app version with so many surprises. So anyway, if you can’t find something where you left off, always remember to have a bookmark to leave some important part of the story. But this time, I’m not going to jump around between the graphic novel and the digital version at the same time while reviewing it because I’m saving my coins for Marionetta. I just want to see it to the end for myself, and I’m NOT messing and cursing around this time.
So picking up from where I left off at the end of volume two, Dani watched Dorian burning alive to death but instead, it was the doll that was burning instead, and Dorian flew away far away from the castle leaving her sister and Nico behind. So now the story starts with Dani being all depressed at the loss of her brother and trapped in a gloomy castle with the cat and Nico as her servant. What bothers me is that when I read episode 138 for the first time on the webtoon app, I didn’t understand how Nico turned his size from small, and back to normal after making a long trip to get a stupid raisin muffin for Dani to eat just to trigger some memory. That’s really dumb because that poor guy is probably tired from flying from one place to another to get something. The other thing that’s bothering me is Dani asked him why was he outside for so long because he’s been in and out of the castle looking for something to make her feel better. He should have grabbed Dani and gotten her outside of the castle to get some fresh air. Rather have those two see their mom Miriam to get Dani some vitamin D from her. The reason that she’s being like that is that she’s being possessed by that red eyes black cat. The next scene shows that King George just died from old age and appointed William to marry Monica so they could rule the kingdom as King and Queen. What I really like about that part of the scene about Monica is that she just chuckled at the dead king because he was such a jerk for treating her and her friends so badly, and then after a few years of studying magic and making potions inside of her secret lair, she’s determined to have Dani back to normal by using a potion to her at the day of the wedding as if she’s Batman or something.
As for Dorian, is just another story to tell because this one left me by surprise to see that he was being crushed by a black dragon which is his dragon at the beginning of Hooky when Dorian grabs the dragon egg from the witches mountain. How the hell did he get crushed? It didn’t. He drank that potion that Monica made three years ago at Grandma Wolf’s house back in Vol. 2 or was it? Because he just collapsed like someone who got spent last night. Do you think that potion would make him feel better? But no he drank it and he fell into a long slumber right until the dragon stayed close by to him which happens to be the actual Red-Eyes Black Dragon named Donato as in the American fantasy and sci-fi painter who lives in Brooklyn that I admired his work so much. And I can’t believe I just made that sentence, referencing both Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Donato Giancola. Speaking of him, there is one of the panels that Miriam illustrated and I love is where Carlo found Donato sleeping in the forest because it reminds me of one of the oil paintings of his dragons. But imagine if Donato Giancola does a painting like that, it would be badass. If you don’t know about him, then search it on Google.
To rescue Dorian, Damien and the others tried to distract the dragon with the same vessel that he used back at the end of volume 2, but somehow the dragon is overprotective of Dorian, letting no one touch him. Damien managed to drink the potion to wake him up, and later after that the dragon calmed down after Dorian woke up. He looked kind of messy after he woke up, even after 3 years of hibernation, he looked skinny, his hair was longer and somebody needed to feed that poor kid. Later on, when they arrived at some inn in the village, Dorian ate something to feel better and went to a barber to cut his hair and he looked like a handsome young man. And after that, he managed to fix the town by using magic and all is well for the townspeople.
But everything in the first part of the third volume was just a warm-up, because what’s up next…. is one of the most INTRIGUING STORY ARCS EVER. So here it is my second chance and the whole reason why I needed to finish where I started. The day of the wedding is actually one of the most epic scenes I’ve ever seen. Monica and William are about to get married until Dani and the other witches start raiding the wedding, not to mention Aunt Hilde and Dani’s mom is with her. And just by surprise, Monica planned the whole wedding from the beginning, trapping all the witches except Dani with magic and imprisoning them. It’s more of a twist to know that Monica has planned all of that trapping all the witches to begin with, but what’s the objective here? To rescue Dani, that’s what. The next day, Dorian and Monica were reunited and then talked about his sister who became so corrupted that she looked like some creepy woman who just crawled out of a television to scare the viewers. You think that a woman like Dani Wytte would be a terrifying threat to the world, but NO IT WAS THAT DUMB CAT POSSESSED BY AN EVIL SPIRIT.
So Dorian and the gang went after her, and when they ran into her in a dark forest, the battle started with full of magic and stuff. Having Dani turn into a Snake, well not like Medusa, a black snake, and hurt Donato. Then the next scene shows some sort an illusion world with Dorian’s magic, using his astral body to wander around to find Dani. There is another manga series where a witch can use magic to traverse around with an Astral body just to get the person back to their senses, you know what I’m talking about… Berserk. But there is one major difference between these two scenes. In Berserk, Schierke uses her Astral Projection magic just to have Guts back to their senses because his Berserker Armor is corrupting him from fighting monsters and demon apostles. But in Hooky, Dorian doesn’t give a damn about the ghosts who disguise as his friends and family in the past and gets her sister back to her senses because that evil spirit is corrupting her. And it’s not so common that the next scene shows the malice of the evil spirit coming out of Dorian’s body, and it really looks awesome on that panel. I mean as a Berserk fan like myself, it’s very mind-blowing to see that kind of scene because it’s overflowing with darkness. Once Dorian got rid of the evil spirit, Dani looked like a puppet, she couldn’t remember who they were except Nico because, after 3 years of her being like a mindless puppet, she was devastated that her brother was killed in broad daylight. So everyone has to do their job just to have Dani back to her old self again.
So what did they do?? Take a guess…… Dorian and the others will have everyone rebuild Pendragon’s house and the town that was destroyed by witches 3 years ago, and start putting an act from what these kids did back three years ago, yeah it’s a call back from Hooky Vol. 1, it’s like retracing their steps from a house rat. One thing I do like about that part is where Dorian and Monica wore the actual clothes from the first time they met, however, Monica’s outfit matches as usual as I saw that cosplayer at Comic-Con last year. And Dorian’s outfit, she was surprised that Dorian looked tall because he looked cool in shorts. Oh and not to mention, Dorian and Monica kissed together at the mountain because she knows in her heart that she loves Dorian so much more than William, I guess that’s why she’s acting so giddy when she sees Dorian in shorts. And then the scene replayed as I went back to volume 1 when they were kids. William dressed as Pendragon gives them hot chocolate, Carlo breathes fire around the house, all of that, but most importantly, Dani and Nico go on a flying broom race, right until they are attacked by some tentacles which happen to be an illusion, and the witches kidnapped Dani, and Dorian and the others managed to stop them. Dorian however tries to kill one of the witches because he is sick of all of this nonsense, having those witches kidnapping Dani and them forget Dorian that she’s her brother.
What’s the point of all the fighting between the mountain and the town when Dorian cares about his sister so much that he wants her to go back to normal? No matter how I looked at these scenes, every page to another, everyone is helping Dani to get her old self again, but she only remembered Nico because he was with her the whole time for 3 years. And you know what’s worse?? Dani is hurting herself because of the trauma that she went through about the people she knew who were killed, Alex, her dad, and Dorian. I mean Dorian is actually the source of what made her like that. The death of her brother made her feel empty and devastated, and looking back at the end of Vol. 2 it felt really terrifying to see a young boy burning in front of his sister in her very own eyes. Nico however, he can’t stand looking at her like that because she used to be cheerful, happy, well everything, but not being so sad and emotionless. I have seen and read comics with violent scenes back then, hurting and killing both grown-good and bad men and women, and I’m fine with that. But I don’t care how Miriam decorates some dark stories in her art style, but seeing someone hurting and killing the elderly, the children, and animals, I REALLY CAN’T STAND IT.
Okay, so how do you end a good heartfelt Webtoon series? The answer is ONE OF THE MOST HAPPIEST, EMOTIONAL, TEARFUL ENDINGS, EVER TO BE POURED INTO A POPULAR WEBTOON SERIES. And that ending is so beautiful, I could shed tears of joy over this incredible moment. First, the fight ends, when the witches help Nico to nurse him back to health and William declares that he can change the rule as king and that the witches can use magic for the greater good, Dorian somehow changes the color of the hats, and ultimately Dani becomes herself again with the cheerful smile, everything. Everyone was happy that Dani returned to normal, then after a few days later, King William declared that the use of magic was free at the conference along with Dani and Monica, because after all those years of his late father’s strict rule about magic is forbidden because the witches that these people met right now are not that so bad and they should use their magic for greater use. The gang built a greater magic community for everyone, they built local magic schools, having witches as scientists or doctors to create potions to save people, Dorian became a teacher, Dani and Dorian’s mom is well and lives with Damien, Dorian, and Monica went out on an evening picnic, Nico started a fortune-telling business, and such. Speaking of fortune telling, there was one scene that I really love so much where Dani visits Nico for fortune telling, Nico throws a wild card at her, The Fool, as a new beginning, a new journey for her. And then after realizing her destiny, she decided to travel around the world with Nico seeking a new adventure and a new experience for them, and that’s the Hooky that I know. It took me 7 years and I finally finished reading Miriam’s first webtoon.
So… is Hooky really the best Webtoon series of all time? Well yes, I really think so. It’s charming, adorable, and dark, it’s a fun adventure in a fantasy world full of magic and stuff, and that really makes it so much fun and addicting. Considering that the storytelling is actually a magical thing to pull off for the readers, and me reading Hooky for the first time as a young adult really made it so much fun to read. Both these graphic novels and digital versions brought so much joy to us, both old and new Hooky readers. I mentioned that comment on Instagram as @kevinbroartist00 which is me where I told Miriam “Hooky has been my favorite since I discovered the webtoon app. But seeing the Hooky kids holds a special place to hers, mines, and everyone’s hearts.” And to tell you the truth, whenever I read Hooky for the first time, my heart felt so young to see young Dorian who looked like me when I was a kid, and whenever I went through the whole story, I felt the fuzziness between Dorian, Dani, Monica, Nico, etc so warm in my heart because I felt like I belong to a place like this, I just really love those kids so much and that comic touched my heart again when I picked up Miriam’s graphic novels. It warmed her heart too after saying this to her because she’s the mother of Hooky and she loves her kids as much as I do. As an artist, I respect and admire her and still am right now. However, as I am right now, after meeting Miriam twice, she’s been so nice to me and everyone, and I treat her as one of my friends.
Now I can understand kids and teens admire her work and they strive to start making comics just like her just to grow up and become better comic artists. But for me, I didn’t become a comic artist because of her, it was for my own sake that I chose to become an indie comic artist, it wasn’t for Miriam in particular. It’s in my nature to create some art because that is the only reason that I keep on going. Miriam is really an incredible person and a great comic artist that I know. And to tell you the truth, there are some other comic artists just like her who are striving to become successful people by doing what they love, but for me, I’m built differently as everyone else. I really don’t care if I’m being noticed or recognized by other people for my work or not, it’s up to fate or god to decide for me. I want nothing more but to create comics for everyone to read. And after rereading Hooky all over again and reading Marionetta, thanks to Miriam, I have more reason to create more comics since I started drawing comics again 2 years ago and I have wonderful friends such as herself. This is my thanks to my lady friend of mine.
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