Home Without Heart: Reviewing ‘Minor Arcana’ #1

They say you can’t go home again. In many respects that is far truer than the words convey. That’s very much the case for Theresa St. Pierre when it comes to the small town of Limberlost.

A story of family strife, additions, tarot, small town natures, and magical elements begins with Minor Arcana #1. The series comes from writer and artist Jeff Lemire, making his BOOM! Studios debut, and letterer Steve Wands.

What I know about tarot could fill a very small thimble. Some of the cards are familiar from other pop culture, and that’s about the gist of it. It’s not one of the things that piqued my interest or was encountered in my everyday life. Yet, the premise of this series, and the creator behind it, had me wanting to read it right away.

When this series was announced, Lemire expressed a desire to build a true ongoing series out of this concept. Ongoing doesn’t have the same meaning it once did with the bigger of the two publishers (relaunches and reboots taking over). It gets complicated with licensed books, and with creator owned there is a smattering of ongoing mixed with more limited or precisely planned things.

Either way, there is a way to target readers when trying to build an ongoing story. Lemire knows how to do that, and showcases it with this book.

Right away, I’m pulled into Theresa’s orbit and want to know more about her and her world. We’re given enough snippets to understand her relationship with her mother, some of her personal issues/beats, and how she sees Limberlost. Every thread is well defined and woven alongside the others, guiding us toward the eventual end product.

He does that dance of giving us enough to whet the appetite but not so much that we feel too full or don’t want to even look at the plate anymore. Hell, we don’t even really get into the magical or supernatural elements all that much.

I’m quite behind on reading much of Lemire’s creator owned catalogue, so I haven’t really experienced his artistic style. Once upon a time I was all about art needing to be ‘realistic’ or ‘like a photo’ or whatever. Silly silly young me, denying myself so much great artwork.

Lemire’s work hits that really rough, whimsical, skewed, proportions out of whack, emotionally charged type of artwork I crave now. Giving the world and characters this familiar but also unrealistic appearance and energy that elevates the story. I especially dug the hyper realized facial expressions on display.

Theresa’s mad face is so powerful and loud that It’s almost scary. Like she’s about to burst out of the page and scream at me.

Washed out color palettes where things are really light and old feeling, splashes of more vibrant colors peppered into the world. Colors that are akin to watercolors in stylistic appearance are something I truly love to see. The whole things just feels so unique and different, creating such a fun overall visual style.

Adding to the visuals and helping weave this story are the letters from Wands, a lettering style that I first really noticed in his work over on Detective Comics. Allowing all the dialogue and captions room to breathe and grow, flowing around the rest of the visuals in the smoothest way possible.  Adding those inflections through modifiers that change the tone, volume, or emotional energy instantly.

Can’t forget the SFX that feel so authentic and organically part of any scene. Helping give the world it’s depth and connection to a reality that we know and feel.

I’m so ready for the next issue of this series, because the first really got me hooked. If you couldn’t tell.

Minor Arcana #1 is now available from BOOM! Studios.