The Twelve Portals

W.i.t.c.h. Arc #1

by Elisabetta Gnone (Creator), Alessandro Barbucci (Creator), Barbara Canepa (Creator)

Five teenage girls – Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin – are chosen to become the new Guardians of Kandrakar, a group of special magical warriors who keep peace in the universe and do the Oracle's bidding. They find that balancing this honorable position along with keeping up with their lives on Earth is a difficult task. Their first mission is to defeat the evil Prince Phobos who rules over Meridian, the capital of Metamoor. He plans to suck Metamoor dry of its magic and then move on to the next world and repeat this process until he is ruler of the universe and able to defeat the Oracle.

Includes issues 1-12:
1. Halloween
2. The Twelve Portals
3. The Dark Dimension
4. The Power of Fire
5. So Be It Forever
6. Illusions and Lies
7. One Day You'll Meet Him
8. The Black Roses of Meridian
9. The Four Dragons
10. A Bridge Between Two Worlds
11. The Crown of Light
12. The Challenge of Phobos

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Young Adult, Comics Manga, Middle Grade, Romance

768 pages

First published April 1, 2001

About the author

Elisabetta Gnone is an Italian writer. In April 2001, she co-created the Italian comic/magazine W.I.T.C.H. with Alessandro Barbucci and Barbara Canepa. The publication was later made into the television series of the same name. Gnone also wrote the children's trilogy Fairy Oak: Il segreto delle gemelle (The Secret of the Twins), L'incanto del buio (The Spell of Darkness), and Il potere della luce (The Power of Light). She expanded the Fairy Oak Universe with four more books, "The four mysteries": "Captain Grisam's love", "Shirley's wizarding days", "Flox smiles in autumn", and "Good-bye Fairy Oak".

information taken from wikipedia.com

Reviews

[Kyriaki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Έλα ρεε! Κοίτα τι θυμήθηκα!!!😍 Ξέθαψα τα παλιά μου κόμικ!!😍 Πόσο την αγαπούσα αυτή τη σειρά μικρή!!😍 Θυμάμαι περίμενα πώς και πώς να έρθει η μέρα που θα κυκλοφορούσε το επόμενο τεύχος για να πάω να το πάρω!!😍
Αλλά για κάποιο λόγο δεν την είχα τελειώσει ποτέ, την είχα αφήσει στη μέση!😍 Μήπως ήρθε η ώρα να την τελειώσω;;😏
Δεν ξέρω αν φταίνε οι αναμνήσεις τις παιδικής μου ηλικίας αλλά τώρα που ξαναδιάβασα τα πρώτα τεύχη ακόμη μπορώ να πω πως μου άρεσαν και πολύ χαίρομαι γι' αυτό! Είναι λίιιγο πιο παιδική σειρά και γι' αυτό ίσως συνέβαιναν και κάποιες ευκολίες αλλά να πω την αλήθεια δεν με ένοιαξε και πολύ!😋

[Carolina Carriço · Rating 4 out of 5]

The nostalgia is strong. I'm really enjoying being back in this world. But I'll admit the Elyon's storyline is not even close to being my favorite. I have a feeling I might like the next one even more.

[maria. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was delightful, I'm so glad I decided to reread it.

[Kimberlli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm so thrilled to have found this again, I used to buy the magazines when I was younger but then they stopped selling them where I live and I never got to know what happened. It was so dissapointing.

This was such an entertaining pat of my childhood and I really want to revisit it. So I'll get to work on these 139 issues ASAP!

----

I know I would've loved this when I was younger. I mean I know I loved it when I was younger, but I wish I would've gotten to read more of it. Anyways, the art is beautiful, the story is really interesting. I love the characters. Can't wait to read more!

[klubnichka · Rating 5 out of 5]

the nostalgia im experiencing right now is making me lowkey emotional :( these series used to be such a huge part of my childhood <3 the times when me and my childhood best friend used to pretend to be one of these girls will always be such a fond and bittersweet memory. i dont like comparing witch to winx bc i used to read both but witch was genuinely so much more special to me. maybe bc they were a bit "edgier" to me since i used to be a huge tomboy as a kid idk..but this whole plot, the characters, drawing style is sooo cool and to me personally, this series is the essence of the early 2000s girlhood. i really miss that time :/ can't wait to read the rest of the chapters ahh!!!

[Dessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

My childhood dream of reading all of the W.I.T.C.H. comics is slowly becoming reality, mwahaha

[Trude Arnøy]

the nostalgia!

[Flavia (teapothat) · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much childhood nostalgia!

[Amna C · Rating 5 out of 5]

I used to read these when I was younger but I never finished them and stumbled upon them a few weeks ago while cleaning my room. It bought such a huge wave of nostalgia (I had bought the first comic with my pocket money) that I decided to give them another shot. A little click here and a type there revealed that the series had finished only a week or two ago and it was originally Italian. I may be the only stupid one but I NEVER knew these were Italian comics translated INTO English. So I sat down and accumulated the whole comic online (excluding chapters I already owned) and started reading them.

I had forgotten why I loved this comic. The graphics are beautiful and I use this word very seriously. There were times I wished I had a poster size for a page. The detail that is put into this children's comic is astounding. I feel like it isn't as well known as it should be especially seeing how diverse all the characters are in this series and giving every girl one character she can relate to. I only wish the whole series was officially translated as this first Arc.

[Jacky · Rating 5 out of 5]

The start of the story brings such childhood nostalgia. This arc will always have a special place in my heart.

[Isabella ⸙ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember reading a few of the Chapter Books when I was younger, but I was never able to find the rest. Having always wondered about the path the story took, on a sudden impulse, I decided to check out the original works and find out for myself.

Nostalgia aside, I'm glad I did. I've always been partial to elemental magic, so I enjoyed seeing the girls use their powers. The initial episodic, monster-of-the-week storylines were a bit tiresome for me, but once we were introduced to Meridian, I became more intrigued. (Especially since Meridian is so beautifully illustrated). The characters are engaging and well-written, with the dynamic between the five main characters doubtlessly being the best part of the series. Phobos was underwhelming as a villain - I didn't find his motives convincing - and I would have liked to read more about Cedric, especially with regards to his relationship with Elyon. I also didn't care for the insta-love between Cornelia and Caleb, and I found the victory almost too-easily attained.

However, I have a feeling that it's just going to get better and (hopefully!) darker from here, so I'm looking forward to reading the next arc and for the world-building to be expanded on.

[Fra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect for a comfort read

[Yaniii_15 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Como historia introductoria me parece muy buena. Usa varios elementos típicos de la elegida, las magical Girls (aunque en este caso, para la época en la que salió esto no era nada común, por lo que es todo un puntazo), etc. Naturalmente para mí es imposible no compararlas con las Winx, pero hay que reconocer que una vez entras en la historia muchos puntos son diferentes o se enfocan desde otro punto de vista.
Lo que más me ha gustado es que le dan espacio a todas las chicas y, a pesar de que Will es la principal protagonista, no carga sobre sus hombros el mayor peso de la trama y es más bien Cornelia quien toma muchísima relevancia (ella es mi favorita, aunque los comentarios de Irma también son mi mood constante).
Otros personajes como Caleb o la propia Elyon también han tenido un desarrollo y un peso interesante y sorprendente y espero poder verles un poco más en el futuro (sobre todo a Caleb, quien me ha dejado un poco triste)
En conclusión, para un género que a día de hoy ya está algo más quemado y unos cómics que están pensando para un público un poco las juvenil, creo que la historia tiene unos puntos muy innovadores aún ahora y logra sin duda engancharte.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found the English editions.

[kai daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4.5/5

I've been wanting to read the comics but I never got into it until last month. I grew up watching the cartoon but I don't remember much, so I can't really make comparisons until I rewatch it. I have no problem with the story line whatsoever.

It's just that some of the male love interests are drawn to look older than their age, which comes off as creepy to me because the girls are 12-13. But after researching, I found out the male love interests were just one or two years older than them.

Another thing... I find it kinda racist that whoever colored the art made Hay Lin's skin tone (+ that one chef that works in her family restaurant) quite yellow in some of the issues. It was uncomfortable. But in some of the other issues she looked fine.

[Denisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another rating: 7/10

[Mariel · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5.

Ahora que acabe éste tomo, preferí reseñar todos los números por aquí. Luego me acabaría mi reading challenge.

En fin: ¡Qué bonito es terminar lo que empecé hace tantos años! Cuando era niña, sólo pude leer los primeros tres números y ya. Siempre me quede con la curiosidad sobre lo que había pasado con la historia, pero claro, en aquellos tiempos tenía otras prioridades.

Uno de los temas que MÁS me encanta de leer es la amistad y en W.I.T.C.H, es algo preciosísimo de ver. No importa lo distintas que sean entre ellas, las dudas, malos momentos.. Siempre estaban para la otra.

¡Claro! La obra no es perfecta: No sólo el dibujo va cayendo a ratos, sino que las W.I.T.C.H se salvan mucho en el deux machina. Se libran de las cosas demasiado fáciles. Terminan las tramas de manera repentina (sólo algunas) cuando hay (aún) mucho porque ver.

Creo que el personaje que MEJOR ha podido crecer es Cornelia. No era de mis favoritas y ahora podría considerarla en el primer lugar, quitando a Taranee.

Seguiré leyendo más tomos (¡los que queden!) y veré que tal. Si quieren pasar un buen rato, los recomiendo muchísimo.