In the latest installment of Dark Horse Comics’ Horsepower column, Michael W. Conrad reflects on the upcoming series Magic: The Gathering: Untold Stories–Jace.
Conrad traces his history with the game back to middle school, recalling a time when deck-building was far less refined. “I started playing Magic in middle school when the cards of the era were nowhere near as synergistic as they are today,” he writes. Competitive metas were forming elsewhere, but his playgroup improvised with whatever cards they had on hand. “If you pulled a cool card, you would just slot it into your deck, mana curve be damned.” Without realizing it, they were building their own kind of narrative through gameplay, imagining backstories for the characters on their boards and interpreting the flavor text scattered across the cards.
Jace entered Magic: The Gathering in 2007 and has since become one of its most recognizable figures. Over the years, he has loomed large at countless tables, known for strategies that mill opponents’ libraries while refining his controller’s path to victory. That prominence has also made him divisive.
Conrad acknowledges that Jace can frustrate fans. Readers invested in the game’s lore often hold complicated views about the Planeswalker. Though he presents himself as well-intentioned, his attempts at heroism frequently lead to disastrous consequences. One could argue that his interventions have created as many problems as they have solved. That tension makes him an easy character to criticize, but Conrad suggests there is more beneath the surface.
In Conrad’s view, Jace reflects a familiar struggle. Like many people, he strives to protect others and act with integrity, only to discover that good intentions do not guarantee good outcomes. Jace represents the clash between altruism and unforeseen consequences, a character who stumbles, recalibrates, and presses forward despite uncertainty. “As someone whose job it is to know what he seeks, I still find his goals mysterious, but I suspect they elude even Jace himself. I love that.”
Conrad connects this idea to his own evolving worldview. The version of the future he imagined in middle school differs from the one he envisions today. While some core values remain, experience has reshaped his understanding of justice, inequality, and what meaningful change requires. Accepting that evolution helps him relate to Jace’s internal conflicts and shifting motivations.
“Maybe that’s the meditation presented in this Untold Story,” Conrad writes, describing his experience untangling the challenges surrounding the “Wielder of Mysteries himself.” He closes with a hope that the story resonates with readers and honors the Magic community as Jace and Tezzeret journey across the Planes.
Magic: The Gathering: Untold Stories–Jace #1, written by Conrad, illustrated by Caitlin Yarsky, colored by Alex Guimarães, and lettered by Clayton Cowles, arrives in comic shops on April 1 and is currently available for preorder at local comic shops.
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