Minor Arcana Vol. 1

Minor Arcana #1-5

by Jeff Lemire (Writer / Artist), Patricio Delpeche (Colorist), Steve Wands (Letterer)

New York Times bestselling and award-winning cartoonist Jeff Lemire brings his first solo longform project since Sweet Tooth to BOOM! Studios, bringing with him an iconic protagonist rooted in the Tarot!

Theresa’s mother has fallen ill, and as a young bitter misanthrope, returning to her hometown to take care of her phony psychic of a mom is the last thing on Theresa’s bucket list. But when Theresa finds out these abilities might be real after all, it will up to her to reconcile with her ailing mother, confront the failures of her past, and help the townsfolk she’d spent her life running from not so long ago… New York Times bestselling author Jeff Lemire (Descender, Black Hammer), garnering Eisner, Harvey, and Ignatz Awards and nominations for both written and illustrated works, as well as working with top talent like Andrea Sorrentino, Gabriel H. Walta, and Dustin Nguyen, debuts his first project at BOOM! Studios with this heart-gripping supernatural story about life, family, community, grief, mortality, and the power of human connection. Collects Minor Arcana #1-5.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fantasy, Graphic Novels Comics, Mystery, Horror, Fiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published March 25, 2025

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Jeff Lemire is a New York Times bestselling and award winning author, and creator of the acclaimed graphic novels Sweet Tooth, Essex County, The Underwater Welder, Trillium, Plutona, Black Hammer, Descender, Royal City, and Gideon Falls. His upcoming projects include a host of series and original graphic novels, including the fantasy series Ascender with Dustin Nguyen.

Reviews

[s.penkevich [hiatus-will return-miss you all] · Rating 3 out of 5]

A paranormal romp full of psychics, family drama, and hurt feelings, Minor Arcana is off to a fun start. Jeff Lemire of Sweet Tooth brings us rumbling into the rundown town of Limberlost, Canada along with protagonist Theresa where she quickly finds herself haunted by the past and lost souls both alive and long gone. Returning to a dreaded hometown is never fun and she’s there to care for her ailing mother who Theresa thinks is a phony psychic, but when the tarot cards begin to launch her into unknown realities she might be about to embark on a bigger adventure than just confronting her own past…

While admittedly it took me a bit to get into this, by the time I finished the fifth issue (Vol 1 presents issues 1-5) I discovered I am now hooked and cannot wait for more. Lemire has a gift for stringing a story along and this really picks up momentum as each new character tangles into the narrative web and mysteries begin to pile up. The watercolor art is pretty great as well even though I’m not huge on the character designs—particularly the rather harsh faces—but it grew on me as it went along (and also seems to get more detailed and sleek as it goes?):

As a big fan of tarot cards I was also pretty into the use of tarot and the ways the chapters reference different cards in ways that their divination meaning makes sense with the section. And the Tower keeps coming up, which is my favorite tarot card:

There’s a lot going on in these early volumes and I can’t wait to see what is in store. We have the girlfriend who slipped from Theresa’s grasp in her youth now married to a cop, an over eager waitress who desperately wants to be friends, an old lady missing her long dead husband, the chain-smoking, wine guzzling mother, and more. Like Theresa’s dead grandfather who…might not be as dead as we usually expect dead people to be????

There is some wildly trippy shit here and I love it. The art works really great for the more surreal stuff and there is PLENTY of that.

Pretty into that. And pretty into this series so far. So despite the lukewarm rating, Minor Arcana is worth diving into and I can’t wait to see what comes next.

3.5/5


text: ‘In the end, maybe that's all we are…the things we choose to believe.’

[Elizabeth A · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's Jeff Lemire so I know I'm going to like the sketchy illustration style and quirky story. Paranormal tale with family drama and lost loves. A fun start to a new series. Will continue.

[Oscar · Rating 3 out of 5]

4.3 🌟

[Dave Whalen 🐋 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume feels like another uninspired Jeff Lemire comic. It has gotten to the point that if you read any of his recent output you’ve just about read it all. Being prolific isn’t always a good thing…

However, the final issue focused on the main character’s grandfather saves this volume from a completely negative review

[Rick Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Minor Arcana is a new ongoing series written, drawn and colored by Jeff Lemire. The story has familiar Lemire elements - a melancholic small Canadian town setting, generational trauma, an adrift protagonist, and a splash of magical realism. Here, we follow Theresa's return to her hometown to look after her ailing mother, the local "psychic". Theresa's relationship with her mother has strained over the years, in part due to her seeing her mother's career as fraudulent, and so they rekindle their relationship in a begrudging fashion. While back home, Theresa also begins to meet old school friends and her former romantic partner, which kicks off her own path towards self-discovery. What we soon learn though is that Theresa's mother may not be the hack she once thought her to be, and so we follow a series that is part slice-of-life and part fantastical.

The opening five issues of this series serves as an introduction of the themes, characters and setting, along with developing some of the magical undertones of the world. The story is not overly quick to its pace, rather Lemire prefers to let the various characters stew in their setting a fair bit. It works for this type of story, allowing the world to come into its own. This first volume may have benefitted a fair bit more from having a bit more meat to the bone, though as it stands the intrigue of the world serves to be alluring enough to keep readers excited for the next installment. Though Lemire may simply be sticking to his wheelhouse, it's hard to deny that his formula isn't an effective one since Minor Arcana executes its concepts at a high level.

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bitter woman returns to her hometown to help her ailing mother and maybe take over her psychic storefront. While mom is upfront about being more of an amateur talk therapist with trappings, the daughter starts having some actual paranormal encounters.

Since this is a Jeff Lemire book, everyone has baggage and/or drinking problems and/or tangled and ambivalent relationships.

I'm a little on the fence because I'm not sure where this is heading, but I do want to read the next volume, so I'll give this a thumbs up for accomplishing that much.


Side note: I thought this was a companion book to Lemire's Fishflies, which also had a small town psychic with the last name of "St. Pierre." But I double-checked, and in that book the mother character is named "Yvette," while here she is "Victoria" or "Vickie." Also, the small town there is "Belle River," while this one is called "Limberlost." I wonder if Lemire is just riffing off some ideas he had while working on Fishflies or if he does intend to tie into that work at some point?


FOR REFERENCE:

Contains material originally published in single magazine form as Minor Arcana #1-5.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars--A troubled, angry young woman named Theresa returns to her hometown to help care for her ill mother, a small-town tarot reader with whom she has a fraught relationship.

At first, it was hard to get into this story. There is a lot of conflict and none of the characters are particularly likable. However, things begin to take a turn when Theresa accidentally discovers that there may be more to the netherworld than she has previously believed--and it may be key to solving some mysteries about her small town and her own life.

By the time the cliffhanger ending comes around, I was becoming quite curious about how all of the puzzle pieces fit together. However, by the time the next volume comes out, I'll probably have forgotten it all, knowing me.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Jeff Lemire series, you know exactly what you're getting into (small towns, family issues, *~*cosmic mysteries*~*) and, once again, it's a fantastic start. Theresa burned a lot of bridges when she left her hometown, but now she's back to support her dying mother and her psychic business. Theresa's a traditional Lemire grump, hard to love and continuing to burn every bridge. But when she reluctantly reads the cards for someone, she's pulled into an alternate reality that might in some way be related to her grandfather (and spooky ghosts too, of course).

Lemire's evocative art matches perfectly to the story's flimsy grasp on reality. It's a very compelling package that (hopefully this time) builds to a logical conclusion. Looking forward to more!

[Michael Doane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven’t been so excited for a series in a long time. This one starts off strong. Teresa returns to her hometown to help her ailing mother run her life and business. But something unexpected happens one night when one of her mother’s clients shows up for a psychic reading that sets Teresa on a path through the hero’s journey. She discovers powers that will help her confront the town’s problems, her past, and herself while fulfilling her family destiny. The story is tight, the art beautiful, and the concept unique.

[Rhobot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything I wished for in a small town mystery, it has Jeff lemires Wit and thought provoking storytelling.

Unique modern and inclusive, artwork is absolutely outstanding, I almost cried reading this , the love in this story is in depth wrecking souls .

I can only dream of more , not as dark as Gideon falls which I adore and reread often but definitely has been in my thoughts after reading what’s out there

Jeff you can do no wrong

[Alican Kunta · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had no idea Jeff Lemire went over to Boom Studios with this new indie book, so I’m glad I didn’t miss this one out looking for Lemire stuff in the Image catalogue.

Another great personal storyline from Lemire, very much reminiscent of Royal City. Looking forward to reading more. Unfortunately us nerds will have to wait all the way into April for the next issue.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found this while perusing Hoopla and it is a pleasant surprise. It's nostalgia for me, I'm talking sheer X-files vibes, the excitement I used to get watching an episode back in high school. It ends on a cliffhanger, which stinks, but is not wholly unexpected for a start to a series. I can't wait for more issues to be released.

[Patricia Q · Rating 4 out of 5]

How long until the next one??? I hate waiting.

[Larakaa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unsettling like only Lemire can do it.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked it, good setup. It's almost all setup though. Cautiously optimistic to see where Lemire goes with this.

[Wavieff · Rating 5 out of 5]

when the jeff lemire story is about someone who can't escape their small town and not being satisfied with the everyday despite daily moments of beauty ❤️❤️❤️

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a fan of the art style but I really like the story.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew this was only vol. 1 but I didn't know the next one hadn't come out yet 😔💀guess I'll just have to wait to see what happens next.

[Eric Morneau · Rating 4 out of 5]

je suis un fan de Jeff Lemire, donc j'aime beaucoup cette série....

[Kenny Ketner]

off to a great start. the art and the writing are both compelling

[Jaimie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new graphic novel series based around tarot cards? Count me IN! Though I do wonder in the back of my head on what basis Jeff Lemire is drawing his knowledge on tarot, besides the research and reading he said he engaged in that sparked the story’s central motif… Tarot and the mystical arts aren’t something someone should dabble in casually, even though he’s absolutely right that the cards’ lore is full of wonderful imagery and infinite storytelling potential which practically begs putting pen to paper. Lemire’s tale follows our baggage-ladden protagonist, Theresa, as she returns to the small town where she grew up to take care of her ailing mother - who just happens to run the local psychic shop. It’s not clear whether she’s a real medium (or even believes in the schtick she sells her patrons), as her sickness dominates her scenes, but when Theresa picks up the cards to satisfy an old client who comes calling in the middle of the night she is thrust into a trance-state and comes out the other side with an unexpected glimpse behind the veil. After a more modulated test run it’s clear that there’s something in her mental state that has left her open to a particular string of magic, but what its purpose is has yet to be revealed in this first storyarc. Alongside the story’s magical aspects, Lemire focuses on small town drama and challenging family themes to ground the story in a gritty reality that matches his scratchy style of artwork. While we’re still in the early days of the tale unfolding, and it’s clear that this series is not meant to go anywhere near the high magic motifs of Constantine or Lucifer (which also used the tarot to wonderful effect), Lemire has infused his tale with just enough curiosity that I am left wanting to continue the story into its next reading of cards. Whether he will rise to the occasion and give us a bit more tarot lore besides the more obvious references that set the story softly off is yet to be seen, but I am hopeful for something interesting, at the very least.

[Fraser Simons · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intriguing start. A queer woman goes back home to help her sick mom out, only to fall into old patterns immediately—until she sits in a tarot reading and is transported to some kind of mindscape? Afterlife? Where she’s able to talk with the customer’s long dead husband.

It gets weirder and wilder from there. And it’s more difficult than typical to like the protagonist, who just gets in her own way constantly. But I think this has some potential, both in terms of story arc and where it could be going. It’s certainly not tropey by the end of the volume. I really am not sure what’s going on. And I like that.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeff Lemire is so good about showcasing the human element. Here, Theresa returns home to small town Canada to helping her ailing mother. Their relationship is strained to say the least, and she's not in the best place mentally. While home she unlocks possible powers reading tarot cards and conversing with the dead. The book is full of emotion with an air of magical elements but its still grounded. Lemire also serves as the artist so if you've experienced his work in the past you know exactly what to expect here. Overall, a solid but short read that has potential.

[Norman Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

2025 Eisner Award finalist - Best New Series

This is a family drama where everybody is basically an unlikeable jerk. There's some supernatural stuff going on that's only touched upon in this first volume. Lemire is a favorite author of mine, but I'm not sure I have the stomach to continue to read about these troubled people. Lemire's artwork doesn't really work for me--too loose for my tastes.

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A miserable main lead, a supernatural twist, and a way to say goodbye to loved ones who have passed away. Overall very Jeff Lemire, though I find the main character's overall attitude a bit too exhausting to really get into it.

[kaitlphere · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the focus on the spooky kid coming back to their small town. I also really like the theme of the jacket connecting the protagonist and her grandfather. Volume 1 is a promising start to this story.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded to 4

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cards are dealt...or at least shuffled.

[John Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good small-town vibes and Lemire pathos, with enough teases to make me want to see what’s next.

[Odo · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10