Graphic Novel Reviews: Excellence Volume 1

Magic is real and the stakes are high in Brandon Thomas’ graphic novel, Excellence Vol 1: Kill the Past. With a unique take on the magical fantasy genre and featuring all creators of color, Excellence is a story with much potential.

Spencer Dales is a part of a magical society, the Aegis, in which Black magicians use their powers to protect their patrons. Patrons tend to be White and are people with the potential to change the world for good or in some dramatic way. This society has a lot of rules including that women are not allowed to perform magic at all even though they have magical abilities as well. The Dales family is especially powerful and from a young age, Spencer has felt intense pressure to make his father proud. His father took on a young protégé named Aaron and he quickly became the favorite. Spencer and Aaron soon after became rivals. Spencer disagrees with the way things are in the Aegis and begins to plan a way to infiltrate and change things from the inside. Aaron breaks another one of the cardinal rules of the Aegis and begins to see the cracks in the foundation. He and Spencer, despite their differences, decide it’s time to make a change.

Excellence is good but there is the potential for it to be so much better. The world building in the first half of the story gives the reader a good sense of the rules and regulations of the Aegis, but the second half of the story becomes a bit muddled and confusing to follow. The narrative structure is unclear and goes back and forth between time and inner and outer dialogue between various characters. There’s almost too much going on for the reader to keep track of the central plot. The artwork is excellent, however, and its blend of futuristic settings and props with more current fashion and pop culture makes it easy to believe that this could be an alternative reality of our world.

Excellence Vol 1: Kill the Past is appropriate for readers 16+ and particularly for those readers interested in more content featuring creators and characters of color. Similar titles include Bitter Root Vol 1: Family Business by David F. Walker, Blackbird by Sam Humphries, and Once and Future Vol 1 by Kieron Gillen.