This is a Choose Your Own Adventure comic book series. You can play as the brother (Hocus) or the sister (Pocus). You also have a magic creature. You get to choose which one. There are also puzzles in here, so it is a bit more than a simply “turn to page x”. Additionally, which magic creature you have effects the outcome. The artwork is cool. The siblings split up but come back together. I really love the fact that there is no real difference between Hocus and Pocus. I’ve read another CYOA comic were the girl basically had more beauty points but less magic points than the boy. That was a annoying. But in this series, the only thing that really causes difference is which magic pet you use. The magic pets are neat.
The main drawback to both books is that too much time is spent wandering around paths and mazes. Maybe if I was younger, I would have more tolerance for it, but it got annoying. The first volume is better than the second. In the first volume, the siblings have to find Hansel and Gretel. In the second, they have to find the dwarves. There are several wonderful nods to more than one fairy tale in both books. Manuro did a few really great twists on tales like Red Riding Hood and Beauty and the Beast.
There are no real women in distress, and teamwork is the operative word. It is a great little series.
