James Nicoll Reviews

2025’s Roll For Initiative is the first volume of Jasmine Walls’ young-adult comic, The Last Session. Art is by Dozerdraws. Volume One comprises the first five issues of the comic.

Fear the might of the AHS Gender Sexuality Alliance! True, the club president is missing in action (detention) and unlikely to return, the GSA’s time slot conflicts with that of the far more popular anime club, but at least the snacks are terrible.

There is, however, Dice & Deathtraps.

Read more ➤

Jasmine Walls and Teo DuVall’s¹ 2023 Brooms is a historical fantasy graphic novel.

Magic in 1930s Mississippi is closely regulated, particularly the magic used by persons of colour. Government agents² scour the state, looking for children with magical knacks. Children unlucky enough to be caught are sent off to academies and residential schools to learn proper, Latin-based, magic. Recalcitrant students who cling to unauthorized magical schools are punished. Some are stripped of their magic entirely.

Luella has had her magic sealed. She is determined to save her cousins Emma and Mattie from the same fate. Emma and Mattie’s parents are just as determined to save their kids. There is, of course, a catch, which boils down to money.

Read more ➤