The Black Mage

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!

This is my ideal graphic novel format with an interesting story, not too much prose and great artwork. The story has a good pace and it is certainly creative and interesting in the way it manages to address institutional racism in a 'Harry Potter' format. I really enjoyed the artwork and the colouring.

It is an interesting and contemporary story about a young black mage who is invited to join a school for mages which had previously only allowed white students. When he gets there he encounters all kinds of racism and then subsequently uncovers a sinister plot and the school's deeply racist roots.

The story manages to combine historical characters, magic, battles and contemporary experiences about race, because the discrimination illustrated here is alive and flourishing in many societies and institutions. This story doesn't hold back, showing the complexity of institutionalised racism and what it takes to recognise and confront it.

I think this would be a very interesting book for a younger audience because it lends itself nicely to follow up discussions. I hope this series continues because it is good to see a strong black character in a graphic novel who works alongside a white female character in order to achieve justice. It is refreshing to have both a main female character and a main black character who are actually the centre of the story and shown in an empowering way.

Copy provided by Oni Press via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

This book is truly magical.

The first thing I said after reading it was “It’s just like black history, but with more magic, and standing up for yourself.”

The pace was just right, and the art was perfect, really colourful, and went really well with the writing.

The story was really original too, it addresses racism and institutional racism in a fantasy setting.

[It sucks that racism happens in the real world too. I wish that it wouldn’t. It’s stupid. I’m glad that Token who is black and Lindsay who is white are on the same side though]

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Listennnnnnnn...

This is the first time I've reviewed a graphic novel ARC, and I don't know why I never thought to do it before. I need to do this more often because it was an awesome quick read with amazing graphics (shout out to Illustrator DJ Kirkland for the work) and a nice break from all the long novels I've been reading back to back.

But on to the actual review...

LISTENNNNNNNNNNNN

Total shout out to Daniel Barnes for having this graphic novel have no qualms about talking about the Klan and all that. Like, literally the "reason" why Tom Token (get it? "Token" black guy?) is even accepted into this school is through their "Magical Minority Initiative". Like that's gotta be a load of crap right? How is Tom the first ever black student in the era of freaking cellphones? It looks like he had an iPhone too but that's besides the point.
There's no way.

Then you have people asking if black mages restore their mana by drinking damn grape juice. Stereotypes at its freaking finest.

What really sold me immediately was seeing Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass about to get into a fight with some of the Klansman in the past. Like yes, Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass are a couple of bad ass historical figures, and with magic that we had no clue about?

Sign me the heck up!

This seemed to have ended as a standalone, but I could see the potential for more issues. I hope there's at least another one - well let's be honest, I hope this becomes an actual series. You just have to read this. Like, go download it from Netgalley and read and review it. Or you can be like me and get the paperback copy when it comes out later this year. But I can't even imagine waiting that long!

Such a great concept! I loved the reveal of the racial issues and how it was handled. This was fun and still packed with a lot of important lessons.