Review by Ian Keogh

If you want unlikely revolutionaries, Spencer Dales fits the bill. Born into an important magical family, his presumed inherited talents didn’t manifest, and the longer this went on, the deeper the resentment between father and son became. However, as seen in Kill the Past, Spencer was just a late developer, and he has both plenty of original ideas about magic and the role of the Aegis, traditional protectors of its legacy.

Khary Randolph began drawing Excellence by putting all his effort into the admittedly impressive figures, leaving Emilio Lopez to fill the backgrounds with colour. As it continued, though, he gradually became a more complete artist, and from the first chapter of The Present Tense he’s really showing off. The backgrounds are full, there are some great silhouettes, and while the nature of the magical tricks means Lopez still has a valuable role, it’s no longer to fill in the art.

It’s not only Randolph who impresses. It’s been complex, but by now you probably thought you had an idea of where Thomas was taking Excellence, and you’re going to be wrong, as there’s a massive allegory in progress. However, as good as Excellence becomes here, it doesn’t quite live up to the name and that’s because there’s a feeling that Thomas sometimes sacrifices clarity in order to show how smart he is. Everything is there on the pages, but not always in a way that makes it clear what’s going on. At least right at the end he answers the question of why one of the primary foundations of this society is that women shouldn’t use magic.

Well, we say right at the end, but as of writing Excellence remains incomplete, and with two years having passed since the last issue the omens aren’t high it’s going to return. That’s a shame. It’s always intelligent, always well drawn, and pulls together really nicely in The Present Tense.