I really felt quite distressed at not receiving an invitation.

Maleficent has received her invitation from Dynamite Comics to join Scar and be the second villain to rule in their Disney Villains comics series. The Disney Villains Maleficient miniseries will run for five evil issues.

Today, we will take a look at Disney Villains Maleficent #5 published by Dynamite Comics.

Release Date: September 27th, 2023.

Writer/Illustrator: Soo Lee

Letterer: Jeff Eckleberry

Editor: Nate Cosby

Covers by: Jae Lee, Soo Lee, Jennifer L. Meyer, Rebeca Puebla, Erica D’Urso, J Scott Campbell

Official Synopsis: FINAL ISSUE! Chapter Five: The Magician. Spring has come again, and just as the vines of the forest have sprouted fresh thorns, so too have grown Maleficent’s power and her dominion over her Kingdom. But such a reputation provokes rivals. A powerful sorceress arrives to challenge Maleficent, and the ensuing battle will test her abilities to their limits – and make her heart grow even blacker…

Covers

This is a Dynamite Comics release. So you know that the evil sorceress is going to conjure up a kingdom of covers. In this section, I am going to highlight some of the enchanting covers for Disney Villains: Maleficent #5.

The Soo Lee cover is the most accurate to the Maleficent’s character design in the comic. You will be happy with whichever cover you get your hands on as this batch of Maleficent covers are evil works of art that all Disney Villains and Maleficent fans will treasure. The cover game with this series is very strong, and I can see fans purchasing multiple covers from a fantastic artist lineup.

My Review

*STOP READING HERE IF YOU WANT TO AVOID ALL SPOILERS*

Chapter 5 is titled the Magician. From high upon her castle fortress, Maleficent sees a new opponent is trespassing in her enchanted forest. The kingdom has sent over their royal magician or sorceress to do battle with Maleficent over her crimes against Prince Reynaud. The beautiful red headed enchantress goes head to head with Maleficent. The two battle it out in a great duel that is surrounded by the magnificent art that we have come to expect from Soo Lee. The amount of background detail that Soo Lee fills into each comic panel is nothing short of enchanting. Thorn bushes and branches fly everywhere as the battle continues. The kingdom sorcerer turns herself into a deer with full pointy antlers to which Maleficent counters transforming herself into a giant serpent. Both get their shots in during the fight, but they seem to have met their match as the battle ends and the royal magician transforms into a butterfly and flies away. A winded Maleficent marks her words as she will have her revenge.

What does it all mean? There are a lot of unanswered questions, but we may be getting a second volume of issues of Maleficent at some point. Prince Reynaud is still that bobcat fox looking creature, and the knight is a prisoner in a thorny tree. We just witnessed a great sorceress battle. A round 2 seems inevitable. Or is Maleficent’s ultimate revenge and the continuation of this story the events of the Disney animated classic, Sleeping Beauty? Only time will tell, but my vote is for more issues as this series was definitely a delightfully wicked entry into Disney Villain lore expanding on the Mistress of Evil. Well done Soo Lee on successfully tackling this beloved fan favorite classic Disney baddie.

Don’t sleep on Dynamite Comics Disney Villains Maleficent.

A trade paperback and trade hardcover edition collecting all five issues of Dynamite Comics’ Disney Villains Maleficent is tentatively scheduled for release on March 13th, 2024.

Please make sure to support the Dynamite Comics Darkwing Duck, Negaduck, Gargoyles, Gargoyles: Dark Ages, and Disney Villains Hades comic series while you are out buying Disney Villains Maleficent.

Want even more Disney Villains Maleficent? Check out our interview with the enchanting Disney Villains Maleficent writer and illustrator Soo Lee: Soo Lee Interview

Let us know what you thought of Disney Villains Maleficent #5 in the comments below. What cover(s) did you get?

Don’t forget to follow @DuckTalks and @DynamiteComics for all of the latest Gargoyles, Darkwing Duck, and Disney Villains comic news.