What is not to like? I want to describe this as a mixture between Harry Potter meets avatar the last air bender. The magic system was really cool but what I really liked was that this showed the blatant racism that you would find in real life done in a satirical way.

This was about a boy named Tom who gets accepted to St ivory’s school for sorcery. He is the first minority in this school which causes some ruckus amongst the other students. Through this he develops a friendship with Lindsay, who ultimately befriends him after his badassery shows through.

I loved the ties between the Underground Railroad and the kkk in this graphic novel and it showed a whole different perspective to its readers.

Overall enjoyed and I hope many more enjoy as well!

This was an interesting story dealing with racism that felt a little reminiscent of the ideas of <i>Get Out</i> and that was neat to see in this format with this kind of story. A lot of things were super on the nose though (St. Ivory, Jim the crow, Tom Token), and those things felt almost a little trite? It wasn't all bad, like those things definitely help point the story in your face, but maybe some things just needed to be a little more subtle?

Tom was a great protagonist, and I liked Lindsay, though she often also felt like...white savior-y? I mean, I get that Tom opened her eyes to everything that was wrong at St. ivory, but she was the first student to raise her hand and ask a racist question when he first arrived, and I guess I just wish she had already been more open-minded than the rest?

Harriet and Frederick were the greatest, and I liked seeing the alternate past with everyone as wizards. It was overall an interesting way of talking about racism, and it was a cute story, and Tom was so grand, I loved that kid.

This is an interesting fantasy adventure story, with a very fast paced plot. However, I found that the speed at which everything moved meant that this came off rather shallow for me - I would have liked more exploration of the world and how things had gotten to be the way that they were. This undermined the impact of the racial issues the book was trying to discuss, by reducing everything to its most simplistic form. The mystery aspect was solved far too quickly, and at times I was lost between chapters as the story shifted ahead without properly explaining things. The art style is nice, with very expressive character faces and nice colouring, but for me, the plot was really lacking and overly simplistic.

This book gives me all the Harry Potter feels., from the introduction letter to Tom welcoming him to the school as well as visually in the comic. It definitely has it's difference with the castle actually floating above ground versus Hogwarts which is visually hidden from Muggles and meant to repel them.

Similarities and differences to Harry Potter aside, the thing I was most looking forward to with reading this story was to see how they handled different political and racial issues. It's refreshing to see the main character as something other than the standard white male and I hope that other stories will follow in this path. I also enjoyed being able to see the reactions to questions that are associated with a certain race and how it comes across to a person of that race and seeing just how crazy some of those questions might be. I feel like it also ties so well into what is actually happening which is both amazing to see, but also really sad when you think about it. A white person is telling the black person that they must be so happy to be breaking down barriers and how society is changing but at the same time, is it really changing?

This really packs such a punch and hits on so many issues that we as a society should not be dealing with any more but unfortunately we still are. It was overall a very original idea and flowed really well together. I think when the ghosts were first brought in the flow was slightly disrupted but not enough to really make it hinder the story in anyway.

The art style was fantastic! It was all done so beautifully and I very much enjoyed seeing the visuals of the comic come alive with the story. I wish I had something more to say regarding the art style but honestly all I can really say about it was that it was fantastic.

THE BLACK MAGE is a fun and quirky graphic novel that addresses racism within expressive action scenes and bright colours. The art was cartoony and vibrant, if a little wonky at times, and the story itself was too condensed to get a proper sense of the characters, setting, and magic system, but overall a speedy read that entertained me for a few hours.

Review: Black Mage by Daniel Barnes and D.J. Kirland.
Harry Potter meets Final Fantasy in this subversive original graphic novel where race, history and magic collide.

I couldn’t stop reading this story, as I feel it’s a comic that has never been more relevant and been more needed. The metaphor used in this story throughout even with the obvious is incredible, they go to school literally in a ‘ivory tower’ I feel like in these small touches, the writer really does do a fantastic job when it comes to the detail, right down to the fact his character’s surname is ‘Token’.

The plot in the story moves really quickly, and makes for really captivating reading and bringing in historical characters such as Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass adds so much more to the story. I don’t really understand the ending and feel like it made very little sense (spoiler: how do you get kicked out of a school you just destroyed? I don’t know). These characters are really well thought out and are built up really well, if not a little bit rushed in this standalone and I feel this book really does deserve more volumes.

To go with this story is some incredible artwork too, which goes with this tale so incredibly well, with bold fonts and bright colours that really make an impact. I so want more of this series as I feel Token & Whitethorn make for such a good team that really do bounce off one another well in this comic.

More of this please!

(I received an ARC from Netgalley for honest review).



This comic reimagines the world if Harriet Tubman, John Henry, and Frederick Douglas were magicians fighting the KKK in US history and how the modern magical world would reflect that. The main character Tom transfers to an exclusive academy called St. Ivory on a Magical Minority scholarship and gets to deal with racists, bullies, and assholes along the way, while making friends with Lindsay (friendly guide to the school).

I can see that this comic was inspired by many things - the manga-esque inspired artstyle, a student antagonist duo ala High School Musical, the chess battle fight was inspired by Harry Potter, fight sequences between girls inspired by Sailor Moon, and even a final power-up mode inspired by Undertale. Unfortunately, with the various inspirations, it seems like just a plain origin story after the character tropes and inspirations. Like after the first chapter, you realize that Tom is basically in a hellish Klu Klux Klan school with teachers and headmasters wearing white hoods. It definitely makes you uncomfortable and aware that every move could end up really, really badly for our protagonist. Nothing actually gets that bad besides brainwashing, but the subtle parts of evil are the everyday racist dumb remarks by fellow students and general bullying.

I didn't end up liking the story - it had a lot of buildup to the final fight but it didn't seem to engage me overall. I might be expecting too much after all the hype about this comic on Twitter, but it's definitely a comic made by a newcomer. The magic part of the worldbuilding seems to rely on elements and weapons, it was ok but I thought it could've been more in-depth.

The art was solid, I just wish there was more dynamic panelling or zooming in for some angles. There were still some panels were solid colors or gradients that I thought could've had some background details to ground the characters in the scene. One thing worth noting is the excellent battle scenes!

Overall, some people will like the comic as a whole, but I would NOT buy it on a whim for your permanent collection. I am happy that Oni Press took a chance with black creators and they managed to create a good story for fans who want more diversity on their bookshelves. For black & white manga-inspired comics by black creators, I would recommend checking out Noir Caesar.

*Thank you to Netgalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

The Black Mage is an epic graphic novel that needs to be read!

It mixes racism and magic into one and it works so well. I feel it will be easier for younger people to learn from this rather than a text book about segregation. It all had the sort of feel of the Get Out movie and I loved it!

The illustration is beautiful and rich in colour and the story manages to touch every emotion. I hope there will be more in the series because I'd be straight to read it!

I have received an e-ARC via Netgalley, in exchange for my honest opinion.

I have never read that many graphic novels, when I read the description of this one it definitely sparked my interest!

Harry Potter was definitely an inspiration, the magical school itself and the train ride and the bird companion are just a few of the obvious.
You can hate those details, but I would not see why.

This story combines the magic with the first interaction between white mage students and Tom; who is the first black mage we know.
It deals with wanting to do good but it does not come out the way anyone feels comfortable with and also the very, still existing, real disturbing view on how the world should (still) look like according to too many people.

Honestly I think this story deserves to be told more detailed and extensive in an actual cartoon show.

story :4/5 A lot happened in this short graphic novel, it deserves more of it being told and the characters deserve way more good things happening to them.

characters :4/5 Didn't like Bryce; nasty little brat;showing up Jesse&James style.

writing :4,5/5

art style :4 Anime style; at times very disturbing.

audio/paper :I read the e-book.

reread? :Yes I will.

I would like to thank #Netgalley, the writer, the artist and of course the publisher for the e-ARC I received; Thank you!

I was given an e-book of this graphic novel for free for review by Netgalley.
This was a very quick read, but it still had a lot of great points and topics covered in the short amount of time. I enjoyed this and I think that it could turn into a good series. The artwork was more of a very colorful anime, which I liked. I hope there will be more to come!

3.5 Stars

I quite enjoyed this graphic novel. I very much appreciated the concept of seeing the theme of racism explored in a fantasy setting. There are definitely similarities between St. Ivory Academy’s headmaster and his colleagues and the members of the KKK, this much was pretty obvious and I think it was explained fairly well.
Tom was a very likable main characters and I admired his confidence and also his bravery. I’m glad he got Lindsay’s help and that the two became friends. And also I’m very glad that Tom managed to free himself, defeat the headmaster and escape.
I wish we could have had some more explanations about the magic system and I would have loved for this book to be the first in a series. I think there could be more to explore in this story.

This is a fantastic fantasy graphic novel which is set in a magical school which is run by the Klan. The school has just allowed a black person to attend under the guise of adding diversity to their school at last, but everything isn't what it seems. The other students immediately have a problem with the new addition to the school, but he never allows it to get to him. Even when everything unfolds all at once, he keeps himself together. I won't go into detail about the plot because this is something one needs to go into without knowing too much about it, because it takes so many twists and turns!

I love the illustration style, the story pacing, the plot is incredibly gripping and intense, the magical element is brilliant and extremely interesting (though obviously similar to Harry Potter), the characters are well fleshed out in the short span of the book, and the story itself is incredibly powerful, and even though it is set in a magical world it feels incredibly real for the struggles that you read about black people going through. Obviously, I'm not a POC so I cannot comment on the realism of it; but relating to stories I've read from POC in the past, it feels similar to that. It feels so raw, intense and leaves a powerful note etched in your mind. But it really is a fantastic graphic novel; one of the best out there and I would recommend this to people of all ages!

Trigger warnings for racism, violence, abuse.

5 stars!
ARC provided by Net Galley and the publishing house in exchange of an honest review.

This is an amazing graphic novel, that manages to combine racism,magic and fantasy in 153 pages. My copy was personalized, something I immensely adored.

The story follows Tom,a teenage boy who gets accepted into St.Ivorys school of sorcery and being the first minority accepted in this school.
I really liked Tom and enjoyed his behavior and manners very much (he was a badass so that helped 😂) and loved his friendship with Lindsay.

The similarity between the schools staff and the KKK was very frightening for me, especially since I wanted to dive into the pages of the book and be with Harriet and Fred.

I really liked the graphic novel, and I can’t wait to get a finished copy when it’s released!

I really liked the premise of this and the art style was cute, but the story was really rushed and I think it would have profited from a lot more pages.

** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Copy received through Netgalley

~

The Black Mage, by Daniel Barnes
★★★★☆
144 Pages
Content Warning: racism, mild violence


This graphic novel goes a long way to providing a fun but educational view of racism, and how it can impact the generations, how thoughts/ideas can be passed from one generation to the next, and how the past should never be forgotten.

With beautiful, colourful and exciting illustrations, that sometimes appear in a video-game style, the story is told with great visuals and important text, that come together to make a graphic novel that can help kids understand the harm racism causes, while also showing the varying degrees – such as inherited racism, passive racism and how you shouldn't stand by and allow others to be treated badly when you see these behaviours. Targeted at school kids, this story is suitable for 13+, with some mild swearing and violence.

The only draw-backs for me were that there were so many double pages that it was hard to follow, because they weren't always obvious. Some of the single pages had colour right to the edges, while some had the white gaps; and because of that, some of the double pages had the same. There was a lack of consistency in this that meant I sometimes had to re-read a page or two to make it fit together. But, other than that, it was a good comic with a lot of potential. I do wish that the school had been permanently dismantled at the end, but the snippets of the letter in the last few pages suggest otherwise and that was a bit of a disappointment.

A powerful story of acceptance, racism, and friendship that has a touch of fantasy, magic, and ghosts to help tell the story.

Actual rating: 3.5 🌟

I was provided with an e-arc of this graphic novel through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this story, even if it felt a bit rushed here and there. I get why, tho, but I would have loved this one to be the first in a series or even just a trilogy, rather than a standalone.
Anyway, it was really amazing how it tackled perfectly racism since the very first pages; the references to the real world, such as the Ku Klux Klan imagery used with the bad guys or the phrase 'Make St. Ivory great again'. I also really appreciated that there was no romance because the friendship was already insta-friend type, so it would have been really frustrating if the two characters were shown to have romantic feelings.
The design, colors and lettering are amazing, so my compliments to everyone who worked to create such a colorful cute little graphic novel. I hope to read more from this team really soon.
If you are looking for a GN that tackles important issues, but you are not ready to get your head into something complicated, this is the story for you.