The Magicians #1
Created by Lev Grossman
Written by Lilah Sturges
Art by Pius Bak
Colors by Gabriel Cassata
Letters by Mike Fiorentino
Covers by Qistina Khalidah, Alexa Sharpe
Archaia Entertainment
Release Date: November 6, 2019
Cover Price: $3.99

Lev Grossman made my year when he wrote The Magicians. But he made my millennium when he continued the series and made it a trilogy. Syfy went a step further and turned it into a (not so accurate) television series that is still ongoing. And a few months ago I reviewed The Magicians: Alice’s Story. I therefore felt that I should alert any and all fans of the franchise to The Magicians #1, the first comic in a five-part mini-series.

The premise here is that Brakebills, our elite academy of all things magical, has widened its gaze and decided to allow and incorporate hedge magic into the school. Not only that, but as a trial they are letting a few students and a professor in, as well. Not everyone is feeling the love, however. A select few Brakebills students are quite distraught that hedge magic practitioners are not only being allowed in, but also they are entering as third years.

But as some of the budding young mages soon learn, not everything is above board. In fact, Dean Fogg has plans to teach a few of his pupils some dangerous magics, long forbidden in this and many other institutions. But kids being kids, they take it even further, inviting catastrophe by their actions. What the long-term effect will be is anyone’s guess, as the reader is left with a cliffhanger in this premiere issue.

I have always loved this setting, a world within ours. I have heard others compare it unfavorably to the world of Harry Potter but if Hogwarts is for the youth, Brakebills is for the mature and adventurous. Grossman created a wondrous environment that can spawn a million quests and exploits. The students may change but Brakebills remains.

This is the first of five issues, so make sure you do not miss out and get your butt to your local comic shop or order through the links. Have fun, folks!

MEET THE NEW CLASS OF BRAKEBILLS COLLEGE! * Series creator Lev Grossman returns to BOOM! Studios for an all-new story in the world of The Magicians with Lilah Sturges and artist Pius Bak that features the first appearance of the next generation of heroes and villains! * Long after Quentin Coldwater has graduated from Brakebills, Dean Fogg welcomes the first class in Brakebills history to include hedge magicians, who are known for being dangerous practitioners of unsanctioned magic. * As these two student bodies clash to prove their superiority, everyone at Brakebills is forced to take a side – not realizing a new threat has targeted them all! * But the reason for this change at Brakebills will rock them to their core – and shock longtime fans of The Magicians!