Review by Karl Verhoven
Eli has realised for some time he has some form of magical abilities, which he practises alone in a deserted farmhouse. What he doesn’t know is that other witches exist and they’re more likely to be grouped together. His actions have drawn the attention of the Arcana group, and they’ve sent a trainee named James to investigate what’s happening in a deserted rural farmhouse.
Although intimidatingly bulky, The Lost Heirs is actually relatively quickly consumed as writer and artist Sam Prentice-Jones has a very decompressed style of storytelling. An indication as to the leisurely approach is supplied over the first two chapters telling several of the same events as separately experienced by Eli and James. There’s always room for a few more scene-setting pages, while dialogue is kept to a minimum. It’s not greatly accomplished, often unnecessary and sometimes extremely gushy. “Oh my GOD, you guys are so in love, that’s adorable. I’m so happy that you’re happy” is meant to be genuine, but oozes insincerity. Arcana is a story about magic, but set in a recognisably real world, and it would take a very strange person to come out with that line under the circumstances. Yet Koko does, and there are many similarly awkward examples.
Koko is one of four people already in training with Arcana who along with Eli form the core cast. Arcana present themselves as working alongside human governments to protect humanity from magical threats and to keep their existence secret, but when Eli first meets the ruling council something about them puts him ill at ease.
Simple linework defines the cast elegantly with the priority being emotional response. The art works without needing much in the way of backgrounds due to the colour wash applied to the pages. Prentice-Jones is greatly fond of brown, but a nice touch is the colours changing according to the application of magic.
That’s actually kept to a minimum, more mentioned and investigated than used, as Prentice-Jones prioritises the lives of the protagonists, with the growing closeness between Eli and James occupying the most pages. 75% of The Lost Heirs has expired before Prentice-Jones reaches the crux of what’s to propel the plot forward, at which point the pace picks up and everything becomes more interesting. It reveals a subtlety to the way things have been set up, but doesn’t excuse the glacial pace.
For all the pages, there’s not a great heart to The Lost Heirs. It seems to take a merging of Harry Potter and Heartstopper as a starting point, and like both is intended as a continuing arc, as there’s no closure here. Matters coalescing before the end offers some hope for what follows, but there needs to be a greater concentration on what really matters.
