Marcus Pocus is a series of Spanish children's books written by Pedro Mañas and illustrated by David Sierra Listón, and a Spin-Off to the Anna Kadabra series, centering on the titular best friend of Anna, Marcus Pocus, who, while visiting his dad and sister in the city of Suncity, discovers the magic store "Ojos de Tritón" ("Eyes of Newt") owned by the senior elf Mr. Munchin and his grandson Bubu, where he is hired to work as a magic delivery driver.
While accompanied by her best friend Anna and their pets Cosmo and Mr. Rayo, he'll also have to deal with Truco and Trato, a pair of twins who work for the rival company Magic Exprés, and who will use any dirty tactic it takes for their business to succeed over theirs.
The series was started on June 1st, 2022 and has since released 5 regular books and 1 "magical mystery" (a book of greater length and with clues for readers to find).
Regular series
- "Magia a domicilio"
- "Un regalo monstruoso"
- "La maldición de los elfos"
- "El concurso de talentos"
- "Mascotas a la fuga"
- "La puerta prohibida" (upcoming)
Magical mysteries
- "El amuleto de oro"
Marcus Pocus features examples of the following tropes:
- Animal Lover:
- Marcus, as with the Anna Kadabra books, has a lot of love and care towards animals, which is explored further here, such as in "Mascotas a la fuga", when he has to take Mr. Rayo to a Sanatorium and then search for him and several other magical pets after they escape, or in "El amuleto de oro", where he wins a trip to a magical animal reserve and has to solve a mystery about the theft of a Cervabrillo's gem.
- Mr. Munchin has a surprisingly soft spot towards animals too: whenever one is hurt is one of the few times you won't see him being a Grumpy Old Man.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: In "Mascotas a la fuga!", Marcus and his friends take Mr. Rayo and all the other animals that escaped the Sanatorium of Magical Pets back to it through the magical closet that gives them the ability to talk, so he could ask Mr. Rayo why they did it. Expecting him to be mad because he left him at the Sanatorium alone, Marcus believes that Mr. Rayo is furious and hates him, only for Mr. Rayo to instead state "I don't hate you", and explain that they escaped because they were having their powers stolen by the Sanatorium, marking a rare time Mr. Rayo has stated that he doesn't hate something.
- Big Sister Bully: Loreta, Marcus older sister, always likes to annoy him, making all kinds of short jokes at his expense and messing with him whenever she can.
- Department of Redundancy Department: Mr. Munchin has a Verbal Tic of repeating words repeatedly, such as saying that it's "clearly clear" or that Villa Medianoche is a "monstrous city where monsters live".
- The Dividual: Besides some differences between their clothes and hair, Truco and Trato look and act like basically the same character, and are never seen separated from each other.
- Embarrassing First Name: Bubu's full name is actually Bubuligurkin. Despite his grandpa's insistence on calling him that, he doesn't like it much and prefers for everyone else to just call him Bubu.
- Grumpy Old Man: Mr. Munchin can be pretty grouchy and rude, especially in comparison with his more friendlier grandson Bubu.
- Hates Everyone Equally: When Mr. Rayo travels through the magical closet, he gains the ability to talk with humans, but the only things he ever says are variations of stating that he hates something, with very few exceptions.
- Spin-Off: To the Anna Kadabra series.
- Suddenly Speaking: When Cosmo, Mr. Rayo, or any other animal travels through the magical closet, they gain the ability to speak with humans. They go back to normal when using it to return to Ojos de Tritón, though.
