This was a cute comic. I can only hope to read more by this duo again! It was definitely similar to the description given and exactly what I expected.

This was incredibly well done. It really sends a message about the way society views and treats racial minorities, with a touch of magic that was absolutely beautiful.

Oh, can I see cranky old white people getting up in arms over this book! I say, let them expose themselves as the horrid racists they are! It took me way longer to read Black Mage than it really should have. I finally sat down and read the provided PDF after watching a webinar on recent graphic novels where one of the speakers described it as "Harry Potter if Harry Potter was the only black kid at Hogwarts and Hogwarts was run by the KKK." Black Mage is definitely that, but also so much more. I loved that our protagonist is named Tom Token (TOKEN!) and his crow familiar is named Jim (JIM CROW!) and so many other things! Some would probably call it a little ham-handed, but I'm pretty sure my teens aren't going to care. If I give them the pitch that sold me, I'm pretty sure they'll grab it out of my hands!

A teenage boy, Tom Token is invited to join St. Ivory Academy. Everyone thinks it's a initiative to inclusiveness..but is that actually the reason? The black Mage is a graphic novel. I have read it's ARC which I acquired from Netgalley.


I really don't know what I should say about this book. I am not good at reviewing graphic novels, in fact I am the worst in reviewing them.

Some concepts were ravishing, again some were confusing(At least for me, they were).


Tom Turner, a black boy is invited to St. Ivory Academy, which is a historically white wizarding school(Yes, it only teaches wizarding to whities). But everyone thinks that this attempt is towards inclusivity, but is that actually the case? But Tom soon starts to unfold some mysteries along with his friend Lindsay and some other ghost which leads them back to the American Civil War of 1852. Would this cost Tom his very soul?


Rating:

3/5


According to me, racism and magic were perfectly mixed with one another. Why can't a black boy be a wizard? Just because he's black?(Ugh, foul logic!) But I think there was no need to bring American civil war in the middle of this. I mean history, fantasy and racism doesn't blend well. At a point, I felt that the author was rushing to put an end to the book, no matter however the end seemed to be.


It wasn't a delightful read but the it actually deserves the rating. I guess the author mainly tried to focus on racism more than anything else. So, there was a lost of track. This is for the first time I am seeing a fantasy book with a concept like racism. Friendship between Lindsay and Tom was awesome. Lindsay's friendship was honest and sacrificing. She didn't value racism over real friendship. She wasn't even afraid to give up on her life. So, basically the book was knowledgeable in some ways.


According to the description I read about it in the Netgalley it says-

Harry Potter meets Final Fantasy in this subversive original graphic novel where race, history and magic collide.

I noticed a lot influence of Harry Potter in the book, in it's graphics and teachers. I loved the graphics of the St. Ivory Academy, it really gave me that Harry Potter feeling. But I really have no idea about Final Fantasy so no comments about this.


Tom Turner, the main protagonist of the book is surely not my favorite character at all. Not because he is black(I am not a racist). But because his behavior sucks. Yeah, Lindsay is cute(I like her). Bryce and Alexis played their role as negative characters well. Headmaster's son Bryce and his girlfriend, Alexis bullied Tom Turner just like it happens in real life. The Headmaster Lynch has been a mystery to me. I actually couldn't relate to his behavior at a lot of times throughout the read.


I specially loved the invitation of Headmaster Lynch to Tom Turner to St, Ivory Academy. It also gave me the Harry Potter vibes.


A part of the invitation is:

As the country's highest ranking magical institution, St. Ivory is committed to giving you the very best education in all things pertaining the arcane arts.

Sounds too Dumbledore, right?


So a lot of things in the book were catchy. But I would still say, it really needs some improvement.

I thought the premise was so interesting, and I felt the book delivered! It felt a little short to me, I actually would've liked more. I thought the drawings were great, and the characters made me smile.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Black Mage is a graphic novel that takes racism into a fantasy setting.
A wizarding school that has been known for it's exclusively white attendance, takes in Tom, a black boy in the name of a new initiative. Does this signal the end to discrimination or is there something much bigger in the works behind the scenes?

I just really wanted more out of this book. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t bad. It was actually a pretty decent read, and I don’t have to drag myself through it. I just wanted a little bit more to top it off.

Tom Token, the first black student at a magical school vaguely similar to Hogwarts, wrestles with constant microaggressions and eventually discovers a menacing secret at the root of the school's powers. The headmaster is named Atticus Lynch and wears a Klan hood so it's definitely not subtle but it's a fun adventure story!

Tom was the first black student admitted to the magical academy, St. Ivory. He discovers that there was another black student who went there before, which sends him on a search to find out what happened to her.

There was a lot of racism in this book. The school was completely run and attended by white students, and the teachers all wore white hoods like the Ku Klux Klan. That was really disturbing to see.

The racism in the story made me really uncomfortable. I understand that the story was meant to show how extreme racism is, but it was disturbing to see illustrated in this book. Even though it isn’t the intention of the book, I worry that this could normalize the racism, rather than point out how wrong it is.

I liked the idea for the plot, but I think it should have had less racism.

Thank you Oni Press for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked the art style of this book, which is what caught my attention. However, all of the characters were so flat; everything was so up in your face (a familiar named Jim Crow, his last name is Token, etc). I get that the author was probably just having fun with it, but it came off as a bit cheesy.
I feel like a little more subtlety in every part could have benefited this book and also getting to spend more time developing the characters and plot.
I hope other people enjoy this more than I did, and I think they could, but it was a little bit of a miss for me.

Didn't get a chance to read the Netgalley copy I was sent, but finally got to read it after publication. It was a cute comic, definitely more middle grade than YA, and was a bit on the nose with some of the names and images. Would recommend to lovers of wizard school type books with a budding interest in social justice and anti-racism work.

I received an ARC copy of ‘The Black Mage’ via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

How I wanted to love this. The idea is such a great one, tackling racism in a Harry Potter style setting? Yes please. Unfortunately it didn’t deliver in the way I wanted it to.

The one thing that I really enjoyed was the art style. It definitely draws inspiration from manga and really worked for this kind of story. The magic fighting scenes weren’t my favourite as the art made it hard to tell what exactly was happening but I got the gist.

I don’t say this often but I wish that this had been a longer graphic novel or a series. It has a great premise but was executed in a very formulaic way and if it’d been given the time for a decent plot to happen, it could’ve been wonderful.

The blatant references really bugged me. It was mostly the same joke over and over again. What if the only black student had a crow called Jim? What if his last name is ‘Token’ because, get it, he’s the token black character? What if the white students of St. Ivory dressed like the KKK? Hilarious. Just so obvious that nothing about it was funny.

What’s even more ironic is our main character really is the token black character. He doesn’t have much of a personality and has zero character development. He’s just a bland hero. There’s nothing much of substance to any other character either other than some being comically evil.

Overall, a wonderful premise with poor execution.

I really liked the art style in this graphic novel. It explored some important topics, and the fantasy setting was a unique way to present them. While I did enjoy it overall, I thought that it was a bit juvenile at some points.

'The Black Mage' by Daniel Barnes with art by DJ Kirkland is a familiar story told with race in mind.

When Tom Token is accepted into the prestigious St. Ivory Academy for wizards, he thinks he is the first black student. As such, things don't go well for him, as he is discriminated against, and even uncovers a plot that may end his life. Fortunately, he is helped by the ghost of past fighters Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass and John Henry.

I liked this parody of another famous wizard school. I liked the anime style art. Tom is a pretty cool character, and it would be interesting to see what he gets up to next.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Oni Press, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

This was a joy to read. It is a super-fast paced, quick-witted graphic novel that covers its important story focus of racism in a engrossing fantasy setting. The writing style has a much needed bluntness to its message which keeps the pages turning. The use of the fantasy setting and strong satire are brilliant. There is no subtlety or hiding behind metaphors that this book is about racism, it is clearly there on the page no interpretation needed, and I really enjoyed that.

My only complaint is there were sometimes abrupt change of scenes between panels that would leave me feeling I had missed snippets of information that moved the storyline along.

The artwork of this graphic novel is stunning, it has a real anime esq quality to it. It’s bright and colourful and really compliments the action as it happens. Overall this is a very easy and fun to read graphic novel with an important story to tell.

I was sent a digital ARC in exchange for a review though it doesn't influence said review and all thoughts are my own.

This is the story of a young Black teenager who is sent to an all white magical school through a scholarship and wow is he in for quite the shock.

From the beginning, it's evident how prejudice they are against him due to the color of his skin which I think was one of the points the author wanted to show case but also wanted me to reach through and slap the people.

This is the kind of novel that has some very important points about prejudice, a glimpse into how quickly things can get out of hand and how important it is to not only stand against the naysayers but also stand up for what's right.

I'm glad to have read this book because history has shown as well as some areas in the present that the themes in this aren't far from the truth (minus the magical aspects) .

This story was full of magic, the power of friendship, the hazards of bullying, the importance of standing against prejudice and the determination to do what's right.

The artistry was very well done and really enhanced things.

I highly recommend reading this book.

Blogger at Momotips

Thanks to Netgalley and Oni Press for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review. It has not influenced my opinions.

The Black Mage is a special graphic novel, because explores racism in a fantasy setting, it’s heavily influenced by anime, manga and video games and is a “Own voices” Young Adult Graphic novel.
Furthermore, The Black Mage is one of Nerdist.com most anticipated comics of 2019!

The Black Mage has an interesting story not only because explores racism but also because of the interwoven between past and present, which create a story full of adventure e adrenaline where the protagonists face decisions and fear for their lives.
I decided to give only 2 stars because this graphic novel had a potential, but if we take aside the racism part the story itself is not so magic as it could be. The main subject is the racism and not the magic, while from the title you will think that magic is the essence of this graphic novel.
I particularly enjoyed the illustrations which reminded me for real a video game! I liked the vibrant colors and the setting. Regarding the story itself, it was ok. I am glad I had the opportunity to read it but I did not fall in love with it.

My thanks to Oni Press for a digital edition of ‘The Black Mage’ written by Daniel Barnes and illustrated by D.J. Kirkland in exchange for an honest review.

“When St. Ivory Academy, a historically white wizarding school, opens its doors to its first-ever black student, everyone believes that the wizarding community is finally taking its first crucial steps toward inclusivity. Or is it?”

I was intrigued and excited by the premise for this graphic novel and the idea of a prestigious magical school admitting its first black student. It seemed a good opportunity to explore racism in a fantasy setting.

When Tom Token and his pet crow, Jim, were introduced I was confused by the name. Token? Really? Not very subtle. Then there’s the invitation letter signed by Headmaster Atticus Lynch III, who dresses in full KKK Grand Wizard robes including for school assemblies. Even the school nurse wears klan robes. This surely should have been a huge signal to Tom to that he was in a teenage ‘Get Out’ scenario.

The creators seemed to be piling it on rather thick here or is it meant to be taken as satirical or a parody?

Lindsay Whitethorn, who is assigned to show Tom around, is fairly clueless as she enthuses about the big step forward the admission of Tom as the first ever black mage in the school represents. Yet Tom’s response that the academy was about to lose its accreditation suggests that there is a wider magical community that oversees educational institutes and that it isn’t cool with St. Ivory’s policy of segregation. Also, Tom is introduced as a transfer student and clearly has magical training, which again indicates a wider community.

While clearly taking ‘inspiration’ from the Harry Potter series there was also little sense of an underlying magical system and instead just a lot of zapping anime-like battles. It felt lazy.

The artwork was colourful and I quite enjoyed the involvement of Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass as ghosts. Still, it just seemed too simplistic in its storyline and confusing.

The over-the-top racism felt obvious and simplistic. Aside from Lindsay, the white student population were just vile.

Overall I found it disappointing and a missed opportunity.

I just couldn't connect with this sadly. I'm sure for the right person it would be a wonderful story. But we just didn't connect. Lovely illustrations, however

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.