First days are always tough. Especially when you’re the brand-new bellhop at a fancy hotel that caters exclusively to wizards. Your Major Spoilers review of Welcome To The Maynard #1, awaits!

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WELCOME TO THE MAYNARD #1

Writer: James Robinson
Artist: J. Bone
Colorist: Ian Herring
Letterer: Jim Campbell
Editor: Daniel Chabon
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: November 27th, 2024

Previously in Welcome To The Maynard: Pip is what is known in the magical world as a half; her mother is half magical and half normal, and her father is unknown. Her lineage allows her to see and interact with magical places like The Maynard, a hotel in San Francisco that caters to wizards. The same hotel she just got a job at.

LEARNING THE ROPES

Welcome to The Maynard #1 opens inside a hotel room as a thief enters and nabs a green magical orb. The occupants of the room wake up, but the thief is able to subdue them before making off with the goods. The next day Pip finds herself at the front door of The Maynard. She’s introduced to the doorman Trafford and then her trainer, Boots. He gives her the lowdown on some of her duties and the other workers of The Maynard including the assistant manager Mr. Cramer, the bartender Raylene Gomez, Sam Flynn the hotel detective, and the manager Margot Rathbone. After her first day Pip heads home to her girlfriend, but not before meeting up with Sam Flynn. The next day, Pip is on her own, that’s when she comes across the thief from the beginning and the chase is on.

DELIGHTFUL AND FUN

Welcome to The Maynard #1 reminds me a lot of an era of Hanna Barbera cartoon shorts from the mid to late ’90s, where they were reimagining a lot of the old titles with sleek animation and mid-century stylings. The writing matches this as it feels like everything in this issue could have fit into a 10-to-15-minute segment. Basically, it moves quickly, it gives the reader a ton of information upfront, in not always elegant ways, and it gets the main character right into magical shenanigans and adventures right away. It supplements this with a few choice places to insert some intrigue that can span across multiple issues but doesn’t linger on these. While this does come off as a solid all-ages book, there are a couple of moments that are just a bit too “aww shucks,” even for younger audiences. Other than this, it’s a breezy and delightful romp.

STYLISH AND COMPLETELY REALIZED

Welcome To Maynard #1 presents the reader with a stylish blending of the magical 1950s and the Gilded Age and commits to it completely. Everything is incredibly colorful, and the character designs are exaggerated and adorable, like toys put on paper. It’s also very much up to the challenge of capturing the more magical elements of the story without these feeling out of place or cheesy. The action sequences are also well put together, fitting with the cartoonish theme. You can practically hear the jazzy trumpet stingers and bass riffs as Pip chases down the thief.

BOTTOM LINE: A BIG WIN FOR AN ALL-AGES TITLE

Finding a comic series that can appeal to both kids and adults without requiring either group to act outside their age isn’t always easy. But Welcome To The Maynard #1 fits that bill perfectly. This issue is like taking a 15-minute cartoon short and slapping it on the pages of a comic book but still managing to keep all the kinetic fun and frenzy. The story is straightforward but, as of right now, a bit inconsequential, and some of the clunky dialog-heavy moments keep this from being perfect. All in all though, this is a great issue, especially if you’re looking for something that is visually striking and packed to the gills with lighthearted fun. 4 out of 5 stars.

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