Issue 108: The Scream of the Banshee

The Scream of the Banshee is the one-hundred and eighth issue of the Winx Club Comic Series.

Synopsis
The Winx have been scheduled to play at a Celtic Music Festival in Ireland in order to help motivate the people there into caring more for the environment. Once they make it there, the Winx meet a new face in Andy's band: a Celtic singer named Maeve. Bloom cannot bring herself to trust Maeve and begins to suspect that there must be something dark about the Celtic singer. Unfortunately, Bloom's suspicions are confirmed after she and the Winx find themselves faced with a person from Maeve's past.

Plot
On a busy night at the Frutti Music Bar, Roxy tells Bloom and Musa of how jealous she is of them getting the opportunity to go to Ireland, as she has always dreamed of going. Klaus reminds Roxy that he would have let her go with the Winx, but he really needs her help during this time of year. Musa reveals that they are going to Ireland to play at a famous Celtic music festival to help motivate people into caring more for the environment and Bloom asks Roxy when she started developing a passion for Ireland. Roxy explains that she has always wanted to go after hearing her mother's stories of the country. Morgana interjects, telling Roxy that all of her stories are not fantasy; that they really happened during her time as a the Queen of the Earth Fairies. Klaus tells Morgana that, even without her magic, she will always be his queen and kisses her hand as Morgana accepts his compliment, calling him "the most noble of knights." The fun is cut short as Jason Queen runs into the Frutti Music Bar to let Musa and Bloom know that they are ready to go. Bloom and Musa make their way out of the bar as Klaus and Roxy wish them luck.

The next day, in Ireland, the Winx and Jason are making their way to an old castle at the top of a hill near the ocean. Jason tells the girls that the castle is where they will be staying for the duration of their trip and reveals that the castle is an ancient fortress. No army could penetrate the castle's walls, before it was converted into a hotel, that is.

With their truck parked outside, Jason and the girls decide to take a look inside. Stella is put off by the castle's decor, as it reminds her too much of one that would be the setting of a horror film. Suddenly, a girl with black hair from behind tells Stella to go sleep with the lights on if she is so scared of the dark. Stella dares the girl to repeat what she said as Bloom and Flora try to hold her back. Just then, Andy and Rio come down the stairs, as Andy can tell that the Winx have already been acquainted to their new vocalist: Maeve. Rio claims that Maeve is the band's strength and Andy explains that they were looking for an Irish singer with experience in singing Celtic ballads. When Maeve auditioned, her voice completely captivated them. Maeve calls Andy a true treasure as the two of them start holding each other close; looking into each other's eyes.

Later, in the Winx's room, Bloom goes pacing about, openly expressing how annoyed she is with how Andy is so enamored with Maeve. Stella suspects that seeing Andy embrace another girl struck a nerve in Bloom and Bloom admits that she was a little bothered by it but insists that her romantic relationship with Andy is all in the past now. Bloom then confesses to Stella that she felt something sinister emanating from Maeve and she wants to guard Andy to make sure. Stella claims that she does not see anything sinister and tells Bloom that she can see Andy enjoying himself with Maeve outside.

The two of them watch as Andy and Maeve practice in a small boat out on the ocean by the cliff and Stella admits that Maeve makes an amazing singer; even claiming that she has a unique tone of voice. Bloom agrees but she wonders how Maeve can hit certain keys no one else cannot and she cannot help be but distracted by the lights dancing around her. Stella is also unsure as to what they are but notices that the lights seem to be dancing to the rhythm of Maeve's voice. Bloom suspects that Maeve can turn sounds into magical energy and as Stella tries to catch onto Bloom's train of thought, she catches a glimpse of Maeve's face. Just for one moment, Maeve seemed to transform into a monster! Suddenly, there's a knock at the door. Bloom rushes for it as she tells Stella to keep watch of Maeve and Andy. When she answers the door, Musa is there. Bloom asks what is wrong and Musa tells her that someone was able to get into theirs and Andy's vans. Everyone rushes outside only to find that all of their instruments have been stolen. The girls find claw marks on their van and deep tracks in the ground, indicating that the thieves clawed their way into the vans but the instruments ended up being too heavy for them.

Meanwhile, in a forest, a goblin-like creature is struggling to push an amplifier around. Two more goblins are trudging nearby, carrying a pair of guitars and a drum set. The goblin with the drum set gets its foot caught under a small bit of tree roots sticking out from the ground and trips. The goblin pushing the amp advises that his ally not be so loud otherwise "they" might find them. Unfortunately for them, Stella confronts the goblins, ordering them to comply otherwise she and her friends will be forced to punish them. One of the goblins throws a cymbal from the drum set in retaliation and the Winx are about to transform to fight back... until they are interrupted by a voice from the trees.

A slightly taller goblin leaps from the trees as he warns the others that the girls are very powerful practitioners of the magical arts. The taller goblin, referred to as Prince Sloan, suspects that the Winx are fairies that may be capable of "delivering them from evil," just like in the past. Bloom thanks Sloan for his kind words but reminds him that his cohorts still stole from them. Sloan then takes this as an opportunity to warn the girls of an evil spirit that takes the form of a human who wants to dye the lands of Ireland in darkness. The evil spirit's name is Maeve! The girls realize that the evil spirit must be the new girl in Andy's band and Sloan continues with his explanation.

According to him, Maeve is a thousand year-old banshee who holds terrible powers. Centuries ago, she was defeated and exiled by none other than the Queen of Fairies, Morgana. But now, Maeve has somehow returned from her exile and is seeking vengeance.

Just then, there is a rustling from the bushes behind them. The goblins quickly flee, suspecting that it is Maeve who is approaching. Bloom and Stella try to get the goblins to come back and answer all of their lingering questions, however, Sloan claims that the Winx will earn all of the answers once the time is right. The goblins are able to escape before Andy, Rio and Maeve meet up with the Winx, relieved that their instruments have been found. Andy asks Bloom about what happened and Meave asks if they know who tried to steal their instruments. Stella claims that they found the instruments by chance and rhetorically asks Maeve if it is strange. Maeve, however, believes that simply finding the instruments by chance would be next to improbable.

Later that day, after the instruments were recovered and put in their rightful places, the Winx contact Morgana from their room. The Winx pile on all of their questions onto Morgana, who begins to answer them by recounting a tale from her past:

Sloan was once a noble elf of the Court of Light. He was able to become a prince, however, he made a terrible mistake once he fell under Maeve's charms. Maeve herself is a banshee of the Court of Darkness who had assumed the appearance of a beautiful young girl. Tecna cuts the story short to ask what a banshee is and Morgana responds by telling her that a banshee is a frightening and dark spirit. Banshees apparently have the ability to transform the sounds of their voice into energy and, thanks to such an ability, Maeve forcibly transformed Sloan and his followers into goblins who do her bidding. After a long battle, Morgana and the Earth Fairies were able to defeat Maeve and they cast her out in exile to another dimension. As for Sloan and his subjects, Morgana and the Earth Fairies could not reverse the curse Maeve put on them. At best, they were only able to remove Maeve's evil influence which gave them back their free will.

Tecna insists that they need to get rid of such an evil spirit and Flora agrees, but she proposes that they get Andy out of Maeve's clutches beforehand, as she fears that Maeve may want to turn Andy into a goblin like she did to Sloan and his subjects. Aisha realizes that, with the ability to change the sound of her voice into energy, Maeve may be planning something much more sinister as she will be performing at the same Celtic Music Festival with Andy's band. Bloom also realizes that Sloan had his followers steal the instruments in order to prevent this.

Soon enough, the Winx and Andy's band are getting themselves set up at the Celtic Music Festival. Bloom pulls Andy aside and asks him not go up on-stage. Andy cannot believe that Bloom is asking him this because his band had put in months of preparation for this performance and Maeve is excited to make her debut. Bloom tries to tell Andy that Maeve is only using him but Andy cannot believe a word of it. He then accuses Bloom of trying to prevent him from performing so that her band can keep the audience to themselves, believing that Bloom is afraid that his band could end up more successful than hers. Enraged, Andy calls Bloom pathetic and storms off. Flora finds Bloom and tries to cheer her up by telling her that she should not blame herself; that this is all Maeve's doing. Bloom quickly agrees with Flora and claims that there have even more of a reason to stop Maeve, even if it means interrupting Andy's performance. However, as Andy's band is playing, Maeve transforms into a green, goblin-like monster and begins turning the people in the audience into goblins. The Winx try to block out Maeve's singing but Bloom cannot bear to watch any more of this once Andy starts turning into a goblin as well.

The Winx transform into their Harmonix and Aisha stops Maeve from singing with her Thirteenth Seal. In retaliation, Maeve sends her hoard of goblins after the Winx. As her goblins attack, Maeve proclaims that Ireland will be hers once again after centuries of interdimensional exile. The Winx try not to hurt the goblins because they are still humans and so Flora tries to bind them down with her Green Growth spell. Suddenly, a voice yells out from behind them and, when the girls turn around, they find that Sloan has come to their aid. He tells the Winx to strike Maeve now since the source of her powers is her voice, so Flora uses her Green Growth a second time to muzzle her. However, the Winx were so preoccupied with Maeve that they have been completely surrounded by her goblin hoard. With only one way to break the spell, the Winx unleash a powerful Convergence spell.

Not only does this break Maeve's curse on the audience and Andy's band, but also Sloan and his followers! Bloom asks Sloan what they will do with Maeve and Sloan claims that she will be locked away in the Shining Court, where no one will fall victim to her voice ever again.

Andy approaches Bloom to apologize for everything he said but Bloom cuts him off, insisting that he has no need to apologize because he was under Maeve's spell. She claims that the Andy she knows is not a resentful person but he is a dear friend of hers whom she would love to perform on-stage with.

In fact, after the whole ordeal, Andy and the Winx Band all perform together as the crowd goes wild.

Spells Used

 * Thirteenth Seal - Used by Aisha to stop Maeve from turning everyone into monsters.
 * Green Growth - Used by Flora to stall Maeve's monsters. Then used a second time to muzzle Maeve.
 * Harmonix Convergence - Used by The Winx to dispel Maeve's curse.

Mistakes

 * On page 4, as the Winx take a look inside the hotel, Stella's dress is all lavendar, missing the parts of the dress that are supposed to be colored orange.
 * On page 21, as Aisha points out how Sloan has come to aid them in battle, he is supposed to be holding down Maeve on-stage but she is nowhere to be seen; making it look like he is holding down nothing.

Debuts

 * Maeve
 * Prince Sloan
 * Sloan's Followers

Characters

 * The Winx
 * Bloom
 * Stella
 * Flora
 * Musa
 * Aisha
 * Tecna
 * Roxy


 * Earth Fairies
 * Morgana
 * Humans
 * Klaus
 * Jason Queen
 * Andy
 * Rio


 * Enemies
 * Maeve
 * Royalty
 * Prince Sloan
 * Sloan's Followers

Trivia

 * Even though Andy and Rio are seen together in the band, Mark is nowhere to be seen.