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

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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.