Witch Doctor: Mal Practice. Brandon Seifert (Writer), Lukas Ketner (Art), Andy Troy (Colours) Image Comics ( 2013)

A great cast, clever plot and gorgeous art all combine to deliver deliver a superbly engaging and entertaining comic. Dr Vincent Morrow finds himself in considerable trouble after a night with a woman he met in a bar. She was not quite what she appeared and Morrow is neatly caught in a trap set for him by a mysterious figure who want something very precious from Morrow. After trying and failing to solve the problem by himself, Morrow decides to face the problem head on and the story takes off in unexpected directions and reaches a brilliant finale.
Dr Vincent Morrow, the Witch Doctor of the title is a astonishing creation, bursting with life and arrogant confidence that make the moments when he is overwhelmed even more effective. He is wonderfully competent without every being overly so, he makes colossal mistakes and deals with them in smart and unexpected ways. One of the very many pleasures of the book is the way that Brandon Seifert gives Morrow problems that are actually severe enough to test him and have to solve them in line with being a witch doctor. The supporting cast are no slouches either, Catrina Macbrey, a pathologist and witch doctor is capable of providing head to head competition for Morrow, while  Penny Dreadful , Morrows haunted assistant who eats monsters has unexpected depth. Eric Gast, the ex-military paramedic supporting Morrow and still feeling his way into the world of medicinal magic balances Morrow and Penny and the rest of the cast are all full of life and vigour and demanding and deserving the readers attention.
The wonderful cast hide just how tightly plotted the book is, the action is very cleverly set up and nothing is wasted, the reveals are carefully staged and nothing is wasted. There are so many ideas that the book feels as if it is barely contained within the covers, the very funny, pitch black humor gives considerable bite to the action.
Lukas Ketner's art is so exact and purposeful that it too hides its craft in plain sight. The cast, human and otherwise, are just so confident and expressive and they move through such a detailed and exact physical context that it all just seems normal. The expressiveness of the cast, their fluid actions bring out every nuance of the story and make the emotional context visible and unobtrusive.
Andy Troy's colours are astonishing, they are subtle and explosive when required, they add depth and draw out the details of the art, they are so natural that they are invisible and worth savoring in their own right.
This is a great comic by a really talented team.

Witch Doctor: Under the Knife. Brandon Seifert (Writer), Lukas Ketner (Art), Sunny Gho, Andy Troy, Jamie Grant (Colours). Image Comics (2011)

Very smart and very funny, Witch Doctor takes a great idea and executes it with flair and wonderful, telling, detail. Dr. Vincent Morrow, working for Mystics Without Borders, takes a medical approach to dealing with the supernatural and is concerned with finding a vaccine for the apocalypse. After a barnstorming opening story about demonic possession, the rest of the stories never let up in inventiveness and momentum. Dr Morrow is aided by Penny Dreadful,  a young woman who is is considerably more than she appears and a new employee, Eric Gast a paramedic who is learning the business. The action is outstanding, the cast hugely engaging and the reveals brilliantly staged.
Brandon Seifert has chosen to highlight the black humour over the horror in the stories and this is a great choice, it gives him much more room develop his cast and use the horror to drive the stories rather than overwhelming them. His initial idea, of dealing with the supernatural in a medical framework is superb, it gives a really strong framework to the stories, it is how he develops the ideas that is wonderful. Why cast a spell when you can take one as a pill and then use it? The remarkably inventive way he uses medical and scientific ideas in cleverly thought out ways to solve supernatural problems is wonderful. The cast is astonishing, Vincent Morrow is bursting with curiosity, life and energy, Penny Dreadful is a very dangerous ally and Eric Gast is a great deal more than a stooge for Dr Morrow.
Of course, as Brandon Seifert notes it is all about the monsters and here the book shines a bloody beacon, the monster are genuine problems and threats, given stunning form in the simply astonishing art by Likas Ketner. He positively disproves the idea that a monster looses any of its force by coming into view, his monsters demand the limelight and deserve every second of it. They are wonderfully grotesque, moving with a natural force that gives them strength, while at the same time capturing the tone of black humour with care and subtlety. All of the cast have lovely physical presence, they interact with each other and their surrounding with energy and the expressiveness that they convey is a joy.
The colours by Sunny Gho, Andy Troy and James Grant are loud and vivid as they should be, this is a big bold story with an unexpected depth of character and the colours give it vivid and expressive life. This is story that glories in the light and avoids dark corners and shadows, the action is right up front and the colouring gives it depth, weight and drama. A great comic that really exploits the opportunities of the medium.