Charmed the television show took up many of my evenings when I was teenager. I would watch it religiously whether it was a new episode or a rerun. I would set the timer on my VCR and record the new episodes if I new I couldn’t watch them right away. What was it about this show that entranced me? That’s kind of a loaded question. As a teenager, I guess the need to watch and emulate strong, independent, successful women as I struggled to gain my sense of self was one thing. Another was the magic, mystery, and love that surrounded the Charmed Ones. Plus, it was a show about magic and it was just plain fun!

Debuting in 1998, Charmed introduced us to the Halliwell sisters, Prue (played by Shannen Doherty), Piper (played by Holly Marie Combs), and Phoebe (played by Alyssa Milano) who have just moved back into their childhood home after the death of their grandmother, known affectionately as “Grams.” The sisters are the most powerful witches’ good witches of all time, known to the all in the magical realm as the “Charmed Ones,” whose prophesied destiny is to protect innocent lives from warlocks and demons who threaten to kill them.

Each sister has a magical power that offers them protection, and when their powers are used together, the sisters are virtually unstoppable. Prue has the power of telekinesis which allows to her move things with her mind. Piper possesses the molecular immobilization and combustion which allows her to freeze things and people in time or blow them with a flick of her hands. Phoebe has the power of premonition and she can see future events, or backwards into the past. The sisters use their powers alone and collectively to save innocents and protect the world from evil.

 Four years of protecting innocents didn’t always mean good things for the “Charmed Ones.” They had to deal with their fair share of loss. This included Prue’s death which left Piper and Phoebe grieving and vulnerable and without the Power of Three to protect them. Enter Paige Matthews. She is the long-lost sister that Piper and Phoebe never knew existed. Paige (played by Rose McGowan) is drawn to the sisters after Prue’s death and it is discovered that she is really one of the Charmed Ones. The girls’ mother Patty had fallen in love with her White lighter (a guardian angel and protector of witches) and they had a baby which they had to give up for adoption. Whitelighters have the power to orb, which is a way to teleport through the use of orbs. Paige’s power was similar to Prue’s. While Prue channelled her telekinesis through waving her hand or by squinting her eyes, Paige’s telekinesis is tied to her power of orbing. She could move objects by calling them to her and they’d be transported to her through orbs. The reunion of Paige and her sisters allowed the Charmed One’s to be reconstituted and allowed them to continue on their destiny of fighting evil.

Sadly, 2006 saw the eighth and final season of Charmed hit the airwaves, much to the dismay of hardcore Charmed addicts like me. But we weren’t to be disappointed for long.  In June 2010, Zenescope Entertainment release the first of it’s Charmed comic books. Set eighteen months after the series finale of the TV show, the Charmed comic books serve as a continuation of the show and offer fans another way to get their Charmed fix.

Charmed Season Nine sees Piper, Phoebe, and Paige settling into their new demon-free lives. But that is about to change thanks to a premonition of Phoebe’s that shows her that every single innocent and charge that the sisters have saved are in danger.

Personally, I was so excited when I found out that Charmed was going to be continued on through comic book form. I don’t think a regular book would have done the series justice. Through the use of graphics and the likeness of the actors and actresses in the TV show, fans are allowed to continue seeing their beloved Charmed Ones just as they remember them.

Even though I am no longer a teenager, Charmed still plays what I can only call a magical part of my life. Through the TV show and the comic books, I am allowed to let myself go and to reach out and grab a bit of magic in my life.

I believe that everyone needs a little bit of magic in their lives and the Charmed comics provide just that.

Meet Teresa the guest reviewer: