There’s this idea that sometimes you just have to throw everything you can at the wall and see what sticks. It’s messy, but sure, some ideas do stick and they can be good. It’s rare, though, to see that same philosophy play out and have everything stick. This is the case of Ben Ross Davis’s Hexas, a queer magic story that takes on authoritarianism, self-creation, the wonderful chaos of pure self-expression.
Hexas follows a young witch that hopes to hypnotize an authoritarian leader into resigning. To do so, he coordinates with a secretive magic council that operates in a hidden realm where technology and paganism intersect. Gooey portals, liquid teleportation, and strange museum mirrors all play a role in this quest.
While the narrative elements are all present and remain relevant throughout, what makes Hexas special is the journey. Traversing the shadow realm and seeing how the tech-infused fantasy behind it reveals itself to the witch is particularly enticing and gratifying. The book is presented in a pattern-heavy greyscale color palette. It evokes the buzz of a dead channel and mixes it with cyberpunk-like industrial sensibilities, all with a mysterious sense of beauty governing it. It allows Ross Davis to experiment with shapes and angles in truly unique ways, allowing for a deeper dive into the type of magic the witch both embodies and experiences.
Text is minimal. The flow is set on a visual level first, indulging multiple styles of representation that remind of 90s CGI in parts. Everything is imbued with a sense of early digital art nostalgia, from the character designs to the various fashion choices they make. Where Ross Davis succeeds, and a lot of others who try their hand at this falter, is in making the trippy and liquid-like visuals accessible to readers. There’s a kind of mad structure keeping everything from veering into incomprehensibility, and it works to make sure readers extend their stays on each page.
Queerness takes to the same interpretative designs of the world the young witch navigates. There are no attempts at offering strict definitions for the human relationships at the center of the story. Instead, Ross Davis establishes an environment that’s beneficially shapeless for everyone in it, more interested in what people bring to it rather than the things they have to force themselves into. There’s no deep questioning of where anyone stands in terms of identity. Everyone exists and they manifest however they want, owing nothing to no one.
Hexas is an impressive and welcoming storytelling experience that asks readers to find the meanings behind its pages themselves. It’s like an inventive art exhibit in comic book form, there to be appreciated by the reader at their own pace. For full enjoyment, embrace the liquid nature of magic and offer your own definitions of reality. And remember, use any and all available spells at your disposal when fighting authoritarianism.
English (US) · 