A couple things go into what is fun about the kind of story Agatha Harkness: Fall of the Coven by Sara Shepard is. The first being a new story based in the Marvel Universe, but dealing with a less popular character, on a more street level adventure. The other being that it’s a prose novel. I am one that loves my floppy single issue comics, but a wonderful prose story in the world of Marvel Comics is also something special.
Agatha Harkness is a powerful witch stuck living amongst an untalented group of witches in 1690s Salem, Massachusetts. That’s all right—the dreary coven meetings and fake herbal potions will all be worth it once she finally gets her hands on one of the most magical artifacts in existence: the Darkhold, a book of extraordinary power. But just as it’s within her grasp, disaster strikes the coven!
Agatha is about to reluctantly save the day when she is rebuffed by the nosy, stuck-up Martha. Now, thanks to the interference, Martha, Agatha, and the Darkhold have been unceremoniously dropped in one of the most terrifying locations a witch has ever encountered—modern-day high school.
Armed with just her smarts and her spells, Agatha embarks on a quest to recover the Darkhold and an incognito Martha. Along the way, she encounters a meddlesome crow, a potential first crush, and a new coven. She almost starts to feel like she’s found her home, until Martha returns from the shadows—this time with dire consequences.
Outside of reading a few comics featuring Agatha Harkness over the years, the most I have enjoyed the character was in Agatha All Along on Disney+, which was wonderfully portrayed by Kathryn Hahn. So jumping into a story featuring the powerful witch wasn’t at the top of my list, but knew I wanted to see what happens when thrown into a unique situation, attending school in disguise. Agatha Harkness: Fall of the Coven has all the makings for the fish-out-of-water romp that you’d expect in a time traveling coming-of-age tale.
Agatha Harkness: Fall of the Coven has all the drama you’d also expect in a story based at a private high school. What makes it more unique is the school is located in Salem, Massachusetts, famous for its witch trials and happens to be the place Harkness was residing back in the 1690s. This presents something more than you’d see high school dramas have with the students staying on campus, allowing the story to continue smoothly.
Shepard not only crafts a great Marvel Comics story that doesn’t have to rely on the big characters to carry the story, only mentioning a few off hand to allow us to feel present in the Universe we all love. We get to follow Agatha on a search of the Darkhold, but in a way that is less dark and grim, but more eye-opening and dramatic. Agatha Harkness: Fall of the Coven is a mystery at its core and seems like a moment of growth for the villainous character.
Yes, Agatha has a love interest in Agatha Harkness: Fall of the Coven that plays heavily in the story and while it is sad to see the creative team move this story in a different direction, the love interest being male, the overall story was fun enough that I had to try and see why they made this decision. In the end it didn’t make sense why change from current character development that is taking place outside this story, but I will not try and tell myself I know why these decisions are made.
Agatha Harkness: Fall of the Coven hit the mark for me on a few levels, a growing moment for Agatha, as well as a being wonderful prose story set inside the Marvel Universe. Sara Shepard crafts a time traveling, high school drama mystery where that doesn’t require big Marvel characters for an enjoyable adventure. While some decisions were made that we might disagree with, overall I am glad I went on this adventure with Agatha and hope there is a sequel in the works.
Agatha Harkness: Fall of the Coven is available at bookstores everywhere from Random House. The audiobook, narrated by Kristen DiMercurio, is available at Libro.fm!
