Graphic Novel Reviews: The Knives, Spectators, The Magic Order

This roundup of graphic novel reviews features crime stories, ghostly musings, and dark fantasy. Though none of these comics completely miss the mark, all three fail to really stand out as fantastic reads.

The Knives: A Criminal Book

By Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips

Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips have always been one of my favorite comic book writer-illustrator duos. I’ve always been a fan of their graphic novels that take place in the universe of Criminal characters. Unfortunately, The Knives, which is a stand-alone graphic novel, wasn’t really a home run for me – it’s not awful but compared to the pair’s prior work with these characters, this is one of the weaker stories.

While The Knives holds up as a complete story, it features characters from prior books, so having read them would help you get more out of this graphic novel. Our story here focuses primarily on two characters. First, there’s cartoonist Jacob Kurtz. Jacob was previously the central character in the outstanding fourth volume of Criminal, Bad Night. The other main character is Angie, who was a child in the very first volume of Criminal when that was released around 20 years ago.

Phillips’ art, as always, is a perfect fit for these sorts of noir stories.

There are some crime elements of the book, particularly later on, but much of it feels like a bit of a character study, particularly when it comes to Jacob. Some of the crime aspects of the book actually felt a little less realistic and more abrupt than they did in past Criminal comics (not that they’ve ever been super realistic, but the pacing felt better).

I still got some enjoyment out of this book, but it doesn’t come close to the level of those first few Criminal graphic novels. I personally think the first four volumes in this series are the best and worth checking out for anyone interested in the crime genre. If you’ve already read everything else in the Criminal world of books though, you’ll get to revisit some characters and get an alright story with The Knives.

Grade: 6/10

Spectators

By Brian K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichon

Spectators is a graphic novel by Brian K. Vaughan, who’s one of my favorite comic book writers. Y: The Last Man in particular is probably a top three series of all time for me. This new graphic novel is definitely creative, but I wasn’t blown away by its story.

In Spectators, readers follow a pair of ghosts several hundred years in the future. It’s an interesting take on ghosts, who are the spirits of the departed that have chosen not to quickly pass on. These ghosts can basically choose to linger on Earth for as long as they want but can’t interact with the living in any way – they’re only spectators (as the title suggests).

Really, this is more of a philosophical book though, as we follow the two ghosts traveling around and listen to their musings. Said musings are primarily about violence and sex. Spectators isn’t short on either subject, with the comic being quite graphic in both departments. Vaughan has a lot to say about how we as a society view both subjects, and the book is somewhat successful as a societal critique. 

Still, I was never really gripped by the story or characters in the way I hoped I would be. Spectators is still readable, but unless you have a particular interest in sex and violence in society, I’m not sure I’d strongly recommend it. 

Grade: 6.5/10

The Magic Order (Library Edition Volume 1)

By Mark Millar, Olivier Coipel, and Stuart Immonen 

This large, hardcover library edition graphic novel contains the first two story arcs of Mark Millar’s dark fantasy series. Each story arc is six issues and focuses on a group of magicians who secretly protect the world. The series is best described as Harry Potter meets The Sopranos, an idea which, in theory, sounds like a lot of fun.

In actuality, though, these first two arcs are both just (barely) fine. The Magic Order is a fast, easy read, but when you stop to reflect on the series, particularly for the first arc, there’s simply a lot that doesn’t work.

I don’t want to spoil anything here, but reflecting back on what occurs, character actions just do not make sense. For the sake of the story Millar wants to tell, characters make decisions that no rational person would. At times, the book is also violent in a nasty sort of way, sometimes with violence towards children; it’s attention-grabbing and not enjoyable. 

The highlight of the book is definitely the illustrations, with Olivier Coipel drawing the first six issues and Stuart Immonen the second six. Both artists have a style that I appreciate and that fits the story well. Still, overall, this is one of the weaker comic books Millar has crafted and I’m not too interested in reading more of the series after it. 

Grade: 5/10