With J.K. Rowling TERFing all over the place this week, I bet the last thing you want to spend your hard earned money on is a comic about a school for young witches and wizards. However, writer Daniel Barnes and artist DJ Kirkland put a socially aware twist on this old (-er than the Boy who Lived) trope in their 2019 graphic novel The Black Mage. Their story follows the trials and triumphs of Tom Token, the first Black student at St. Ivory Academy of Spellcraft and Sorcery thanks to a Magical Minority Initiative to make sure the school meets accreditation goals. Throughout his time at the school, Tom and his familiar (A crow named Jim.) deal with microaggressions (A classmate assumes that he recovers his mana with grape soda.) and out and out aggression, bullying, and discrimination. In a parallel story, Lindsay, who comes straight out of a shojo manga, learns to be a good white ally, but her story never overpowers Tom’s heroic journey.

A cold open wherein Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass (By way of Marvel’s Jericho Drumm), and John Henry fight spell-casting KKK members sets the tone for Black Mage and also introduces key plot elements of the book. Kirkland designs the costumes of the professors at St. Ivory to look like Klan robes, names the school headmaster “Lynch”, and colors the students’ uniforms the starchiest of whites. Even in the early going, the school oozes oppression with the school bully/headmaster’s son/a little racist POS, Bryce asking him to watch his “tone” in the lunch room, which leads to a magic battle that is only stopped by the aforementioned Lynch using a spell that mimics slave’s chains. The art style might make it seem that way, but, for the most part, Black Mage isn’t a cuddly school story. It is about confronting racism that is at the foundation of American society as Barnes and Kirkland use magical energy, items, passageways etc as metaphors for the cold, hard facts that much of the United States was built by Black slaves, and that society hasn’t really changed that much. This is self-evident in many Americans’ apathy towards the racial aspects of police brutality and both defensive and aggressive responses to the Black Lives Matter movement.

The plot of Black Mage isn’t about educating white people about racism and having a feel good, link arms moment. It’s about the struggle against racism using magical powers. DJ Kirkland’s high powered art and profuse usage of double page spreads during the magic fight scenes match that energy. Emotions become lightning or fire spells with names straight out of the Final Fantasy games, and Kirkland stages the fights like fighting video games while adding the intense facial expressions and cartoon shorthand of shonen manga. Then, Barnes sprinkles some badass one-liners on top while mostly staying out of Kirkland’s way and letting the fighters’ stances and chosen spells choose the story. Finally, Kirkland’s choice of layouts and depiction of Tom and his abilities mirrors his progression throughout Black Mage as he goes from trying to keep his head down and make it through the school day to being a downright heroic figure. Think final boss battle for the last one-third or so of this book is structured.

Black Mage has an unflinching message of anti-racism and forces non-Black readers to confront their own prejudices through interactions between Tom and Lindsay and other less sympathetic figures. But it also has engaging fight scenes and wonderfully transposes the aesthetics of Magical girls, fight manga, and JRPGs to the fight against systemic racism in the United States. DJ Kirkland trots out some unique fight choreography and page compositions that enhance the arc that Daniel Barnes lays out for Tom Token with a touch of a mystery plot. Black Mage has cool art, a good message, compelling characters, and is a bit cathartic too. It’s worth checking out for fans of video games and manga as well as Western comics or by anyone who wants to see racists get their asses kicked in a fantasy fiction style.

Story: Daniel Barnes Art: DJ Kirkland
Letters: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Story: 8.8 Art: 9.5 Overall: 9.2 Recommendation: Buy

Oni Press provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

---

Purchase: comiXology – Amazon – Kindle – Bookshop – Zeus Comics