Graphic Novel Review: REVERSAL explores complex themes in a world of resurgent magic

Reversal

Reversal Cover

Writer: Alex de Campi
Line Artist: Skylar Partridge
Color Artist: Kelly Fitpatrick
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane- Elahaov
Publisher: Dark Horse Books

Note: This is going to be a somewhat spoiler-filled review regarding one of the main characters in the book. If you wish to avoid spoilers, be sure to scroll down to the final summary.

Reversal is the latest graphic novel from writer Alex de Campi, who teams up artist Skylar Partridge and color artist Kelly Fitpatrick to deliver an engaging read.  Reversal is on the surface a modern fantasy story that plays around with familiar elements such magic returning to modern society and magical body swaps. While it does use common genre conventions, de Campi and team use these tropes to explore several themes throughout.

The central theme of the book revolves around The Other—-concept that enables people to group anyone that doesn’t fit their definition of normal. The Other is represented in Reversal in many different and intersectional ways. Be it with the dual protagonist of Tre and Niko. Tre is a young black girl with an unnamed medical condition that causes her to be an outcast at school and Niko is a magical trans warrior who is cursed to inhabit a magical sword. The Other is represented in the monsters that leave the forest in search of food. The Other is the forest itself that has many different layers of symbolism on it that I cannot begin to name them all here.

The concept of The Other is often utilized by malicious actors and fascists to enable them to seize power by preying upon people’s fear of the unknown and different. Reversal demonstrates this to a scary degree with the James Dickerson, the president for the Institute for Magic.

Art from “Reversal”

De Campi writes Dickerson with clear overtones of fascist rulers. At first, he is presented as a politician selling seemingly benign and acceptable actions like Travel Bans and pushing for maximum containment if not elimination of magical elements. These concepts are met with joy from the citizens as they are wrapped up in the fear of the Other. They enable and give consent to Dickerson to seize power. As the story progresses, the mask slips further to outright using fascist rhetoric and gestures. Dickerson even claims that through him and his actions “they” will make the city great again. It isn’t until the intervention of Dr. Robin Grant that people begin to turn on Dickerson.

Art from “Reversal”

It is clear what De Campi was going for here and I applaud her for that. It is important now more than anytime in my life for there to be clear explorations of the rise of fascism. The Other may be a human reflex to view the world, but it is important to understand where those feelings of fear and anxiety come from for you to not let yourself fall prey to craven politicians and elites who try to seize power.

The theme of The Other isn’t always about fear, rejection and hate. It can also be about acceptance. Those themes are explored in multiple ways be it Dr. Grant accepting not only is her daughter able to transform into this magical warrior, but also that one of her sons, Anthony, transforms into a bird humanoid when presented with a magical artifact. Dr. Grant, thinking it was a curse, originally rejected the notion that it was Anthony’s choice, but accepted that it was what Anthony wanted once he was able to communicate that.

The change from fear to acceptance of The Other is subtly demonstrated with one of my favorite running bits is this unnamed family—A young couple and their baby.  Throughout the course of the book, we see the couple hiding their baby’s magical condition (a pair of horns on the head) and outright fearful and blaming the forest for their woes. Overtime, they begin to accept that their child is just different and there’s nothing to blame. They begin to accept their child’s magical condition as fact and don’t hide it. It’s much more subtle than other moments but it’s a great way to reinforce the theme.

The art of Skylar Partridge and Kelly Fitzpatrick complement the themes of the book quite well. Partridge’s line work is crisp and clean, allowing for a great focus on the emotions and expressions of the character. This best comparison I can think of is Jamie McKelvie or Mike Allred. There is a bit of inherent stiffness to the figures, but it is expressive in so many other ways that it doesn’t matter. Partridge’s figure work expresses a wide array of feelings from joy, excitement, and mischievousness to regret, anger, sadness, and remorse. The reason the scene where Dr. Grant accepts Anthony works so well is because of the pencils. The weight of that scene, along with many others, is palpable.

Art from “Reversal”

Fitzpatrick colors the hell out of this book. They primarily use flat coloring throughout the book. The flats complement Partridge’s line work in a beautiful way. Together they create a comic that looks visually clean but packed full of emotion. Flat coloring does run the risk of looking too glaring with modern printing technology, but Fitzpatrick avoids that problem by giving a texture to the page. It is subtle but evocative of paper stock. It gives art more weight and combined with the use of zip-tones, Reversal has a classic comic feel but with modern updates.

Overall, Reversal is a book that is absolutely engaging and a real page turner. I set out to read it over the period of a few days but read it all in one sitting because I couldn’t put it down. It plays with its themes in a way that feels organic even if it at times it is as subtle as a brick to the face. The thing is, as a society, we could use less subtly when it comes to learning to not fear The Other but accept it as something that is a part of our life and is additive to our existence. The art is beautiful and complements the story so well. I would be remiss to not discuss my only real issue with the comic and that comes from the conclusion to the crisis of the cursed forest. The crisis is solved by an impassionate speech on social media by Dr. Grant and the notion that tourism can fix the monster’s woes. It feels hasty in its execution and the message flounders some as a result. That said, I am aware that most graphic novels have a page limit that publishers strive for and given the reality of the comic production general, I understand why the ending unfolds the way it does. It may not sick a perfect landing, Reversal is still highly enjoyable and a worthwhile read.

Final Verdict: BUY

Reversal is available now via Dark Horse Comics

Read more great reviews from The Beat!