Potions Inc. Vol. 1

by Erik Burnham, Stelladia (Illustrator), Ian Tags (Colorist)

Randeelgast Jones is tired of working at his family's potion shop, but when a family heirloom is stolen, Ran has no choice but to answer the call of adventure.

The call of adventure always seems to hang up whenever Randelgast Jones tries to answer it, leaving him facing the dull future of working in his family’s successful potion shop. But when a powerful artifact is stolen from his parents and puts them under a terrible curse, Ran finally gets the quest he’s been after his whole life. He and his siblings set off to find the missing artifact – and its trail leads them from their homeland of Primaterra to the very strange realm of… Earth.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy

128 pages, Paperback

Published January 24, 2023

About the author

Erik Burnham is a Minnesotan writer and artist that first broke into comics with a series of humorous short stories in the Shooting Star Comics Anthology. These stories featured his original creation, Nick Landime, and culminated in a one-shot: Nick Landime vs. the World Crime League, published by Shooting Star in 2005.

Off and on, in this same time period, Erik also produced a short run of an online strip, The Down Side, until technical issues wore him down. He aims to return to the strip one day.

In 2007, Erik found produced work for two other anthologies – a short humor piece for History Graphics Press’ Civil War Adventures #1, and a horror story for Gene Simmons’ House of Horror #3, produced by IDW Publishing.

This lead to several other projects for IDW, up to and including his critically acclaimed run on the ongoing GHOSTBUSTERS comic book.

Erik has worked on other projects not related to comic books, and hopes one day to share those with the public at large. In the meantime, he still lives quietly in Minnesota; any rumors about this being because he’s completely afraid of the forty-nine other states (and Canada) remain unverified at this time.

Reviews

[Pepper Parker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the story here was interesting, if not the most compelling in the world, but what really amazed me was the paneling and the flow across the page. It felt active and immersive, and the characters were cool, although I didn't find them very believable. Overall, the writing and storytelling here needed work, but I found it aesthetically impressive, and really- the paneling was some of the better I've seen.

[Lauren Schnoebelen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found that the main character complained a little too much for my liking but hoping that this lucky charms adventure will shake things up for him. Still a little confused by the magic system but it holds promise.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since the individual issues are not separated out here, I only read the first three issues rather than the full volume of issues 1-3, but reading them in preparation for moderating a panel with Burnham and excited to talk this magical fantastic mashup of urban fantasy straddling two worlds.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. The art can be suspect at times. It's about some siblings from a magical world who come to Earth in search of a magical stone. There's also an evil sorcerer looking for it. Kind of your standard tropes apply.

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A unique and whimsical story filled with colorful characters and world building. I was especially impressed with the story pacing in Burnham’s script. Each chapter raises the stakes, ending at just the right point to make you want to see what happens next.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review to be published for MadCave on Twitter. @adamreadscomics for the review

[Adam Sequoyah · Rating 3 out of 5]

MPA ratings: PG for language and for violence

[Tuni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had a shaky start for me, but it came together to be a pretty fun story. I like the little world that has been built up, and will definitely pick up more if they continue it.