Witches

For this week I read up to issue 12 of Redlands. I've been meaning to read it for a while now, and I'm glad I finally did. I like the characters in this story, because they don't fall into the typical witch archetypes, or at least not from what I can tell. It's possible that it may be in part due to how the trio of witches is split up for the bulk of the story, or that one of them is controlled by another character altogether. It's hard to tell in the amount of content released so far.

Redlands really gives all of the supernatural characters an element of realism, or maybe humanity. They're not flashy, and they're calculated. Even before they begin to delve into their backstories, they feel their age. These are characters that have a history that has molded them. From other works that I know of, writers seem to rely on the stereotype of the witch, for one output or another. They're creepy, and dark, and use magic- is there usually much more to them? I can't recall any instances where I've read or seen a witch's backstory explained. This depth of the witch characters works perfectly with the current cultural climate of women with power, which is even the driving force of the story. The witch is a product of her era, and the modern witches of Redlands really show this.