Back again is one of the best and most insane books in Image Comics’ current roster, Curse Words. In this world, magic exists, and the magic in this world is mostly done by one guy – Wizord – who is, you guessed it, a wizard of sorts. In previous issues, he’s used his totally legit magical powers to do some pretty great things; Wizord turned people platinum, shrank a baseball stadium, and basically impressed the whole world with his wizarding abilities. But during that time, there’s been a whole other thing going on with Wizord’s home world. There’s been some major upheaval in the Hole World, mostly as its leader attempts to destroy Wizord for betraying him in this whole “Destroy the world” bit he has.

With that in mind, Wizord and his trusty talking koala Margaret have been on Earth, being awesome, right up until the point where Wizord’s magical abilities have vanished. So, being a good magical being, Wizord does what he does best (aside from all the magic stuff): gets really drunk and angry. This…kind of works? As Wizord tries to get his abilities back, his enemies are preparing to strike. And this issue gets things going towards the upcoming battle he will fight against his old boss and his ex-girlfriend, with the requisite hilarity and whimsy that this book has shown itself capable of consistently delivering. Without spoiling too much, Wizord starts to get his groove back, magically speaking, and in some pretty inventive ways.

So, here’s the part where I talk about how amazing the creative team is on this series. This book toes a fine line between unbearably ridiculous and whimsically brilliant, and almost entirely falls on the side of the latter. Charles Soule and Ryan Browne have done something totally symbiotic here, with the two of them on the same wavelength when it comes to this series. Soule and Browne have come up with some amazingly inventive concepts, and Browne’s art is something to behold. His visual style and use of visual cues is something that I’ve loved ever since his comic book fever dream, God Hates Astronauts. While not as totally insane as that series, this book falls along the same spectrum, given a bit more of a linear treatment.

This is a fantastic book, and one that is really, really difficult to explain. With all of its magical beings, talking koalas, and utter nonsense, this book is something that needs to be read, not read about. Also worth noting is the letters page, which is unfiltered silliness by both Browne and Soule. It, like this book, is pretty great.