An isolated secret school of magic.
Wizards from ancient magic bloodlines.
Staircases that lead every which way and change direction underfoot.
Siblings, rivals, and lovers that fill the castle halls and fight to be the best witch or wizard of their age.
It sounds familiar, doesn’t it? I’m actually talking about Monomyth, a magic-filled triumph of a graphic novel releasing next month. And, yes, it’s supposed to feel familiar, but not because its derivative or trite. Monomyth is full of bloody magic and fire, but it also has a lot to say about family, art, and survival.
The Blurb:
What if the secret school of magic you were chosen for…was trying to kill you?
Magic is all but extinct. When the last ailing wizard casts a final desperate spell to summon the descendants of ancient bloodlines to a school for magic now in disrepair…those chosen ones find a horror of the likes they’ve never experienced. They will have to confront the deepest parts of themselves and defeat each other in order to survive the ordeal.
Review:
Monomyth is best if you throw out all your expectations of what a secret magic school should be. Forget the twelve-year-old boy with a lightning scar and his bearded headmaster and go into Monomyth with only the vaguest memory of his story and school. Because Monomyth is a story of its own. One desperate wizard casts one last spell on the eve of his death. His spell summons seven people from ancient wizarding bloodlines to a dilapidated wizarding school on a remote island. Enormous magical monsters are out to get them and the new wizards must quickly learn to use their magic or die. If they use their magic incorrectly, they’ll die. Monomyth is brutal and intense. It’s full of death, blood, and even necromancy. However, it also tells clear stories about family, grief, regret, and staying true to oneself.
The art in this volume is incredible, full of gore, and colorful where it needs to be. The issue and variant covers are included in the volume and are beautiful to see in one collection. The colorist and artists who worked on Monomyth are incredible, and I will definitely be picking up more of their work in the future.
Monomyth knows that it feels familiar. Characters look at the wizarding classrooms full of scrolls and weird staircases and say, “Looks eerily familiar, wouldn’t you say?” Monomyth nearly goes so far as to directly address its influencing author and series. A character asks, “Can you separate the art from the artist?” She has an answer to her rhetorical question, but you’ll need to check out the series to read it.
Final Thoughts: A+ for originality and the brilliantly brutal take on a wizarding school setting. For such a deadly comic, the conclusion was a bit too easy for me and for the characters. I guess they did deserve a bit of a break after all that trauma, though. I’m hoping we get more in this series and that it continues with its dark themes. A++ for representation with multiple BIPOC and queer characters in the cast. This is an excellent Teen+ graphic novel.
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Thanks to Mad Cave Studios for an advanced copy of this graphic novel for review! All the above thoughts are my own.
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