Rivers Of London: Night Witch #2
Writers: Ben Aaronovitch & Andrew Cartmel
Artist: Lee Sullivan
Colorist: Luis Guerrero
The Book: Following a disastrous attempt to ‘recruit’ the witch, Vavara, a Russian oligarch turns his sights on Peter Grant and Thomas Nightingale – two of London’s finest policemen and its only wizards – to help recover his daughter, apparently kidnapped by dark elemental forces. But for Peter and Nightingale, a dark betrayal from the past is about rear its ugly head…
The Review: The latest issue of Rivers Of London: Night Witch is on sale now from Titan Comics, an all-new story that precedes the forthcoming novel by Ben Aaronovitch, The Hanging Tree, due for release in June.
Issue One set the scene nicely for this new series, and the team make good use of telling the story from multiple viewpoints, while the novels have, so far, focused on Peter Grant’s perspective on any given mystery.
Don’t expect a lot of action and horror – yet – from this series. It’s quite gentle in the telling, but the nasty undertones, of black magic ready to surface and the return of Peter’s former partner, Lesley, an indication that things will get much darker. There’s fun at the expense of a would-be kidnap team and plenty of the kind of humour Rivers of London fans are treated to in Ben’s novels in this issue, but it moves on apace, too, as Nightingale sets out to interrogate an unusual contact and Peter delves deeper into the myth of the “Leshy” that might have kidnapped a missing girl. As usual, Ben, aided by Cartmel, weaves a story that I’m sure is setting out plenty of clues in plain sight but which will surprise readers in the final episodes.
Art-wise, Lee Sullivan’s work suits this book perfectly, honed for many years on various Doctor Who assignments and longer form graphic novels. He melds the hard-edged, car and tech heavy world of the Metropolitan Police and present-day London perfectly with the more nightmarish aspects of the story. I think he’s also found a sympathetic colourist in Luis Guerrero; the opening scenes, re-telling key moments from one of Ben’s novels, are beautifully delivered.
If you’re a fan of Rivers of London then do check out this tie-in comic – the stories are “canon” within the strange world of the Met and Magic Ben has brought to life over several enjoyable novels, and the fun definitely continues in these new comics.
The issue also includes a smashing bonus: an interview with Lee Sullivan, charting is comics career.
• Rivers of London: Night Witch #2 is on sale in all good comic shops, including Forbidden Planet, now | Cover A | Cover B by Rian Hughes
• Rivers of London: Night Witch #1 is still available from comic shops such as Forbidden Planet, if you haven’t already bought it, in a number of variant covers

Rivers of London: Body Work, the first official comic strip based on Ben Aaronovitch’s acclaimed fantasy/ police proceedural novels, has been released as a softback and hardback collection by Titan Comics. Photo: Lee Sullivan
• Rivers of London: Body Work, the first Rivers of London comic story is available from Forbidden Planet in both a regular and special edition
Peter Grant having become the first English Apprentice wizard in fifty years must immediately deal with two different but ultimately inter-related cases.
In one he must find what is possessing ordinary people and turning them into vicious killers and in the second he must broker a peace between the two warring gods of the River Thames.
• The new Rivers of London novel, The Hanging Tree is out in June and you can pre-order it here from Amazon
- About the Author
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The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: British Comics, Featured News, Reviews