Grimoire Noir

Bucky Orson is 15, and his sister has disappeared. In a normal situation, the police would be called and an investigation would ensue. But the town of Blackwell is anything but normal. All of the girls are witches, and Bucky is convinced his sister has been kidnaped because she has extraordinary powers.

Bucky’s best friend has abandoned him, his mother is overcome with grief and his father, the sheriff, is bound not to investigate by an earlier promise to the town, and so it is up to Bucky to investigate and do whatever it takes to find his little sister.

Bucky is a determined protagonist who perseveres despite the many people and magical beings which do their best to interrupt him. He is portrayed as a somewhat old-fashioned detective, wearing what appears to be a trench coat and fedora. Many of the other characters are involved in the coven of witches or ‘crows’ as they are called in the story. They are a magical version of the typical mean girls often found in young adult novels.

There are several twists and turns in the plot which make it somewhat muddled and confusing at times, but the action and the magic will have young adult readers keen to solve the mystery along with Bucky. For this reader, the ending seemed rushed and abrupt and not really based on what had been presented as the clues to the mystery. The novel mixes fantasy and mystery in a graphic novel and so will appeal to readers of many different genres. The author and illustrator have built up an interesting fantasy world in Blackwell, and it would make an excellent setting for future stories if this book turns into the beginning of a series.

The illustrations are always a main ingredient in any graphic novel, and, in this case, the artwork is often more appealing than the plot. The illustrations are in shades of brown, purple and taupe which underline the rather melancholic and gloomy feeling of the book. The colour scheme occasionally changes, helping readers shift from past to present within the story. The book has a spooky and magical quality which is emphasized by the illustrations. In parts of the novel, the illustrations take over from the text and the story is told without words. This adds to the interest and excitement and serves to keep the plot moving quickly.

A “grimoire” is a book of magic spells and incantations and so is a fitting title for this graphic novel, along with the sense of a film noir which relates to the eerie and otherworldly feeling in the town of Blackwell.

Bucky goes to great lengths to find his sister, and the importance of family is an important theme in Grimoire Noir. If the author and illustrator choose to continue this story as a series, it will be interesting to see where this idea leads them and their main characters.