If someone came up to you and asked you to use one word to describe witches, you might say “spooky,” or “powerful,” or, “I’ve always wanted to be one,” which is not one word but I’ll allow it. Well, you can now add “rocking” to that list of words, as our cast of characters fit that description to a T. I am always open to new stories about friendship and found family, and Black Cat Social Club brought the heat with tight writing, realized characters, and stellar art, while giving new meaning to the term “selling out.”
Story and Characters
Written by Christopher Painter (Dungeons and Dragons, Disney Dreamlight Valley), Black Cat Social Club is about, well, the Black Cat Social Club, a pop punk band made up of three witches. Our heroes are Alice, the lead vocalist and guitarist, Hazel, the bassist, and Maggie, the drummer. The reader follows their journey as they perform gigs across Los Angeles, using their magic to summon crowds to hear them perform. When their crowds are beginning to dwindle, Hazel exchanges her soul for more power to Peter, a demon working in a hellish office (literally), who is trying to improve some quotas to complete an evil plan and impress his boss. What follows is bombastic musical battles, a cool songwriting process, and the good old fashioned power of love.
The writing is super fun in this book. It toes that very gossamer thread of snappy and self-referential without getting into obnoxious, eye-rolling territory. The in-text segues to backstories and cutting away to things the characters weren’t there for were cute and well executed, as the whole story has the air of an epic tale, one where everything is larger than life and belief can be suspended easily. The protagonists are charming and likable, with defined personalities but also room to grow. Alice, the de facto leader of the group, is quick witted, headstrong, and loves her friends to the ends of the earth. Hazel is a bit more introverted but isn’t a wilting violet, having moments where she asserts herself. Maggie is the bubbly, cheerful one, a crunchy granola type who sees meaning in everything. It would have been nice to see her grow a bit more throughout the story; she remains virtually the same from beginning to end. Not the end of the world, as she balances out the other two in a way that avoids being annoying, but I would have appreciated seeing all of them change, at least somewhat.
The characters from hell are a bunch of fun, too. The three demons we follow, Peter, Bastian, and Stan, are great archetypes of who you deal with (or who you are) in the office. Peter is the world-weary one, trying to get credit for an important project, Bastian is the irritating co-worker who gets all the credit and tries to one-up his colleagues (and even has a little crown, to boot), and Stan is….Stan should quit that job because he’s too good for it. Making hell a lifeless, white collar office is always a fun choice to see as well, one I’ll always cherish whenever it comes up.
Art and Visuals
The art and colors are done by Bob Quinn (Uncanny X-Men, Ms. Marvel) and Meg Casey (Psychonauts 2, Money Island) and Fred Stresing (Invader ZIM, Rick and Morty) respectively. This book is a total feast for the eyes. The designs for the three witches are distinct, with their clothes, hair, etc. showing off their personalities; Alice in a bold orange and black ensemble, Hazel in an iconic-yet-modest black dress with a huge hat, and Maggie in a bright yellow getup. Their designs are full of dynamic and scratchy lines and intense facial expressions, especially when they’re performing; they look like they stepped out of a hand-made poster for a punk rock band at all times. The designs for the demons are a lot of fun, too; their lines are a bit cleaner and more defined, but their colors are muted, a good way to show the contrast between the buttoned up demons and our more flashy and fun heroes.
The graphic novel really shines with their performance scenes. There are full page spreads of the band using their magic to wow a crowd, and Casey, Stresing, and letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou (The Sickness, PanelxPanel, All Against All) really give their all to these. The colors leap and the lyrics swirl around the page, as if the reader is getting hypnotized along with the concert goers. The art in the concert scenes really shines in the grand finale; I won’t give anything away, but it was so beautiful it almost brought me to tears.
Finding Family and their Own Tune
There are three things that will always be constant: death, taxes, and me loving found family narratives. I’m always elated to read them, and Black Cat is a wonderful addition to that collection. The friendship between the trio is fleshed out and you can tell they all care deeply about one another. It’s very easy for stories with a found family motif to just shove some characters together and say, “they are friends, just believe us.” In Black Cat, we believe their relationship. All the friends know their backstories, family dynamics, and the like. It may seem like a small thing, but it makes a world of difference when trying to get your reader to root for the characters. They are playful and rib at their hobbies and quirks, get into conflicts, but support themselves in the end. I was glad to see that the book avoided the tired trope of “we’re in a band, there is a big argument, and we’re gonna split up because of it” only to have a messy Act 3 reunion. There is a disagreement, yes, but what friend group doesn’t have those?
It was quite refreshing to see them all stick together for most of the story. Good thing, too, because if I was in a battle with unimaginable horrors and the only way to beat them was with music, I’d want friends to do it with. Oh, wait, I guess we are dealing with unimaginable horrors in real life, aren’t we? When I wake up and brace myself for whatever macabre nonsense we have to interact with nowadays, I’m very blessed to be in a friend group where there is support, safety, and unconditional love. That kind of resource is vital, when every marginalized group is threatened and impacted by violence. While things are getting way worse, it’s times like these that finding and keeping affirming communities can, is, and will be life saving. I’m very glad this book came into my life and, inspired by Alice, Hazel, and Maggie, I’m gonna love my friends and love them as hard as the characters’ music.
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