With great power comes great insanity.
Spellbound is a 1988 Marvel Comics 6-issue limited series written by Louise Simonson and Carl Potts, and illustrated by Potts, Terry Shoemaker, Christie Scheele, and Joe Rosen.
The story acts as a Genre Deconstruction of a High Fantasy series. The otherdimensional Spellbinder, Zxaxz, was once a noble hero who used the powers of chaos and order for good—but when he forged magical rings to drive the Other, an evil Spellbinder, away, the increased power drove him mad. Now setting his sights on any realm which may be a threat to him, Zxaxz targets Earth and Erica Fortune, a university professor, and her family, all of whom have latent psychic powers.
With Zxaxz threatening to destroy Earth, Erica quickly becomes the new Spellbinder to stop him, encouraged by Zxaxz's former minions Snugg and Snarrl. But the power she wields will drive her insane eventually—and in short order, she grows more and more erratic and uncaring towards those she loves. Ultimately, the greatest danger Earth faces may not be Zxaxz, but Erica herself.
After the series' conclusion, it received a Fully Absorbed Finale in Marvel Comics Presents #138-142 that closed the book on Erica and her family's story; none of the characters within have been seen since.
This comic series contains examples of:
- Aborted Arc: Erica and Zxaxz's battle with the Other, which concluded the Spellbound series, is completely forgotten about by the time Marvel Comics Presents returns to their story to the point he isn't even mentioned.
- Arbitrary Skepticism: People frequently insist that magic, monsters and aliens don't exist, despite the comic being set in the Marvel universe which has countless publicly known examples of all three.
- Blessed with Suck: The Spellbinder can reshape matter on an atomic level, levitate objects, fire energy blasts, and essentially do whatever they want, but the power will drive them mad and alienate them from anyone they may care about.
- Blinded by the Light: Zxaxz is irritated by sunlight and is driven off during a battle by a multitude of flashbulbs. Erica later shows this weakness in Marvel Comics Presents.
- Both Order and Chaos are Dangerous: The Chaos bracelet can deconstruct matter, while the Order bracelet can reconstruct it, and both are extremely dangerous. Chaos destroying things is obviously bad, but Order restoring things isn't limited to the original form of the object or person, and if you don't know how something works internally it would be an empty shell.
- The Call Knows Where You Live: Just saying "no" isn't really an option for Erica, as Zxaxz is more than happy to destroy the Earth simply to avoid the possibility of Erica opposing him. Since the end result of Erica's journey is basically madness, this adds to the tragedy of the series.
- Civvie Spandex: Erica's "superhero costume" is clearly a 1980's aerobic outfit. It gets shredded into a two-piece in her battle with Zxaxz, and her indifference to repairing it is a sign of how far her mind has gone.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: The magic Erica uses is like drugs or alcohol, as she becomes Drunk with Power, alienates her loved ones, and keeps coming back to the magic despite several attempts to stop and saying this time will be the last.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: In the Marvel Comics Presents finale, Zxaxz is killed quickly via a black hole, along with his entire universe, while Andrew has a ceiling fall on him.
- Enemy Mine: The last two issues have Erica and Zxaxz attempting a truce to stop the Other, but since both of them have gone mad at this point it's extremely difficult for them to work together.
- Face–Heel Turn: By the time of Marvel Comics Presents, Erica has completely given into the Spellbinders' power and ends up killing Andrew and nearly her family, with Roy having no choice but to seal her away.
- Genre Deconstruction: Of high-fantasy stories. The incalculable power a Spellbinder holds has potential for greatness and destruction, but will eventually drive the wielder mad no matter what, and Erica's fairy companion Snugg knows and encourages its use in order for her to become strong enough to stop Zxaxz. The narrative makes it clear that this is a lot more than Erica is prepared to deal with in the first place. Erica is raising both of her siblings (one oppositionally defiant after their parents' death, and the other extremely depressed), has an extremely busy job, and also is trying to conceal the paranormal abilities of her family.
- Greater-Scope Villain: The Other was an evil being so strong Zxaxz created the magic rings to stop him, driving most of the series from there.
- Hope Spot: After Andrew's death, Erica briefly comes to her senses. It doesn't last.
- Mind Over Matter: Erica, Roy, and Sally's psychic abilities manifest as telekinesis.
- Protagonist Journey to Villain: The series' plot revolves around Erica turning from fledgling magical superhero to a villain worse than the one she's trying to stop.
- Psychic Powers: Erica, her brother Roy, and her little sister Sally all display various amounts of psychic powers.
- Superhero Horror: An early example in the genre that's completely bloodless but no less horrific, as the power Erica wields alienates her from mankind and she becomes a villain worse than the one she's trying to stop.
- Unstable Powered Woman: As part of using the Spellbinders' powers, Erica is warned that she inevitably will become mad over time. After defeating the evil Zxaxz and the even more powerful being called the Other by exiling herself to another dimension, the follow-up series in Marvel Comics Presents had Erica fully succumb to her power's effects and become a tyrant in a short amount of time. It ended in her being imprisoned in a crystal while her brother Roy took over the mantle of Spellbinder Supreme, was able to use enough of the power without going mad, and destroyed the rings, putting an end to the Spellbinders' threat.
- A Villain Named "Z__rg": The main villain's name is Zxaxz.
- With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: The main conceit of the series is that using the Spellbinders' power will drive the wielder mad no matter what, and it's only a question of when it will happen to Erica. As early as the second issue, she sees herself as something of a lucid dreamer and casually wonders what could happen if she disintegrated her friends and family.
- Wolverine Publicity: The New Mutants (whose title was also being written by Simonson at the time) along with Lila Cheney make an appearance in issue #4.