Graphic Novel Review: The Montague Twins: The Witch’s Hand by Nathan Page & Drew Shannon

The Montague Twins: The Witch’s Hand by Nathan Page & Drew Shannon (illustrator). Alfred A. Knopf, 2020. 9780525646761. 352pp. including sketches and a few pages of the script in back.

After twins Peter and Al’s parents disappeared, they started living with David, Shelly, and their daughter Charlie. What they don’t know is that magic is real, and that their parents were practitioners (as is David). The twins have managed to teach themselves a little magic and they’ve been using it (without really knowing) to solve crimes. But that all becomes clear when, on their day off, they encounter a strange storm and a spooky witch. Three girls in their town have been messing with magic, have disappeared, and may have set the witch loose. The brothers investigate with Charlie’s help. Cops hassle them. David tells the boys what their parents really did, and gives all three teens a teacher – David’s assistant, Rowan — whose explanations about magic are wonderfully ambiguous as there’s no right way to do it.

This is a fun, not too scary YA mystery with a secondary LGBT theme (it’s set during the time of the Stonewall Uprising, which we hear about in a newscast). Shannon’s drawings are colorful and friendly and then just a bit freaky when they have to be. (The book made me think about the original Scooby-Doo series, and I think it will hold special appeal for older fans like me.)

 

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