Review of Jim Balent’s Tarot Witch of the Black Rose GN Volume 1
Tarot Witch of the Black Rose is an ongoing comic book series from independent publisher Broadsword Comics. In it’s current incarnation it would be categorized as an adult comic, but the first graphic novel of the series, covering issues 1-5, skirts the line between an R rating and the A (for adult) rating. The graphic novel is in full cover and printed on glossy paper, so it feels much like the individual comics would.
The comic starts with a miniseries that depicts the conflict between Tarot and her sister Raven Hex. Raven is plotting to take revenge on the normals, while Tarot seeks a balance between the world of everyday people and the hidden magickal aspects of it. The entire miniseries is contained in this first volume along with a one-off story and a small 4-page story. The miniseries doesn’t present any surprises in storytelling, but is enjoyable. Most of the main characters are introduced in the first couple issues and the story has plenty of action.
Tarot Witch of the Black Rose excels in several areas. It delivers on its cover promise of Tarot imagery, buxom women, supernatural action, and more buxom women. Most people seeing the covers at the local comic store would be tempted to judge it as another one of “those comics”, referring to the period in comics when covers had many overly endowed superheroines. It’s not too far off, but Tarot does manage to tell a good story and create interesting characters.
The stories in Tarot tend to have a message and that message is sometimes a bit heavy handed and repeated more frequently than needed. As would be expected, the message is the advocation of the Pagan/Wiccan lifestyle and religious views. This wasn’t an issue for me, but it might be a problem for a new reader. I expect anyone purchasing these books shouldn’t be surprised by their content, it is called Tarot Witch of the Black Rose after all.
Jim Balent is an excellent artist, even if the proportions on his women are more than exaggerated. In fact, they are quite ridiculous at times, and aren’t always consistent. His action sequences tend to fall down as they don’t have as much flow as they could have. Frequently panels will get cluttered with iconography or background elements that don’t necessarily add to the events happening. This is probably the weakest single aspect of the series. A cleaner format might help people appreciate the comic as a whole instead of as eye candy.
The storytelling is decent, but not groundbreaking for the first volume. It follows a predictable arc that most readers will have figured out before they get halfway through. That’s okay, I think the titilliation factor is still pretty high for the first few issues so the story doesn’t interfere too much with the lush visuals. Jim dallies with the R-rating by hiding the areola and leaving only statuary and other inanimate female depictions fully exposed. All of the women have something convenient covering them at opportune times, sometimes to the detriment of the actual panel when it really feels forced. It’s too bad he didn’t just aim for the Adult rating out of the gate.
Each issue is usually released with a limited edition lithograph, all of these are reproduced in the back of the graphic novel in smaller form, so it’s nice to see what we missed the first time around. The only thing I wish they would have included is the “Sword Girl” from each issue, which is a special feature in each issue of Tarot that has a picture of a female reader posing with a broadsword and surrounded by cards from a Tarot deck. It’s a fun way to check out new Tarot decks and just add a bit more eye candy into the series.
This is an entertaining graphic novel that’s entertaining and mildly educational about the Pagan/Wiccan lifestyle and religion. The story is predictable but fun, and since there is enough material out now, it’s a good place to start with and see the evolution of the series. This is Broadsword’s main print comic, so it’s easy for them to focus on this series alone and put their full creative efforts into it. This means a regular release schedule, plenty of extras to enhance followers and entice new readers. If you’re looking for some fun eye candy with a supernatural/occult angle to it, this might be a series you will want to check out.
You’ll have to follow the links in the beginning of this review to check out the artwork for Tarot Witch of the Black Rose. Jim doesn’t want anyone using it without permission, which I perfectly understand. I had planned to use a shot of the cover of the first trade paperback in this review, but we’ll have to do without pictures for this one.
Further Recommendations: Tarot Witch of the Black Rose vols. 1-9 available now, Basement Comics Cavewoman series, and Image Comics Witchblade series
