4 out of 5

This is exciting – seeing some smart world-building and character work come together.  I’m going to briefly compare to a vastly different series, just based on a high-level structural similarity: The Sixth Gun had a similar “problem” as Castoffs when it started, in that its first arc kicked off with a notable tone and concept, but then almost immediately seemed to jump the shark with an overblown battle, only to smartly dial it back and start to work on its mythology from the ground floor in the issues that followed, which led into an accomplished series with earned stakes.  Castoffs first issues had me worried that their climactic battle with The Silver – which dropped some heavy plot bombs in a short period of time – was that shark a’jumped; that writer MK Reed and Brian Smith would feel the need to keep things artificially elevated, squandering the promise of a cool new world and interesting cast.

But, as with Sixth Gun, and equally pleasingly, they instead dial it back, and let us spend some downtime with our junior mage trio of Charris, Trinh and Ursa.  There’s still plenty of action, and a great final page cliffhanger, but the story follows a logical (and much more satisfying) progression post the castoffs recent battle: they’re essentially benched, or set off on a fetch quest, while better-trained magic users prep for the impending battle..  And even this story path strays from cliché: Leda, their overseer, praises their contributions, as do (most of) their fellow mages.  It’s just more sensible to put them through some further training.

But of course, since this is an adventure tale, even a fetch quest turns into something with thrills.  Reed and Smith do a fantastic job of developing the trio’s camaraderie and teamwork; they have some spats to resolve, and do so realistically, making those climactic ‘now we fight together’ sequences fulfilling.  Meanwhile, the imagination applied to the mages’ world is enchanting, helped along by some really great art from Wyeth Yates, especially in the later chapters when new colorist Kendra Wells adds some much needed depth to the page.

To that last point, before the arc kicks into gear – with the mages temporarily back in their hometown – the story feels a bit wandering, at a loss for direction until the fetch quest comes down the pipeline.  Adding to that are some really puzzlingly colored outdoor scenes (by co-writer Smith) which use these flat, digital colors that make the pages look almost unfinished.  Once events are in motion, it’s less noticeable, but it’s still a really welcome change when Wells steps in.

So obviously it’s still early, but nonetheless: I’m excited.  And cautiously optimistic to read whatever’s next…