Interview: Sam Prentice-Jones talks debut graphic novel ARCANA: THE LOST HEIRS

Sam Prentice-Jones‘s debut graphic novel Arcana: The Lost Heirs launched on June 24, 2025, with Hot Key Books, and is the Bonnier Books UK imprint’s first graphic novel acquisition. Featured as a Summer 2025 Indie Introduce Pick by independent booksellers across the United States, author and illustrator Prentice-Jones has filled the Harry Potter-shaped hole in queer hearts worldwide with their stunning tarot-inspired fantasy graphic novel.

Arcana tells the story of Eli, James, Daphne, Koko, and Sunny—five individuals brought up in the magical society of Arcana, a coven dedicated to safeguarding the magical realm. They stumble upon a dark scheme linked to their cursed legacy that they inadvertently triggered. United, they must confront fate and untangle a decades-old mystery to secure their destinies before time runs out. The graphic novel delves into themes of battling destiny, reconciling ancestral actions, and the beauty of found family.

The Beat caught up with Prentince-Jones over email to discuss his debut graphic novel Arcana: The Lost Heirs, how it was inspired by tarot, and what it was like being the first graphic novel to be published by Hot Key Books.

OLLIE KAPLAN: Arcana is your debut graphic novel. Have you always wanted to create comics? Do you have a first comics memory?

SAM PRENTINCE-JONES: Creating comics and coming up with stories has always been a part of my life, although I wasn’t particularly original back in the day. I would draw out my version of whatever cartoon I was watching at the time. I remember when I was like 7, I had a big Garfield phase, and that was all I would draw. When I hit my teens, that was when I really started to fall in love with comics, and I drew my first full-on graphic novel that took me months, and looking back is very sweet but will never see the light of day!

KAPLAN: Were there any creative hurdles you had to overcome when telling a story in this format? How did POOF Magazine prepare you for these challenges?

PRENTINCE-JONES: I think I’ve been very graphic novel-minded for a really long time, everything is tuned in to the perfect frame. Even the films I love have a slightly comic book feeling about them (I love Wes Anderson). I guess the main hurdle was trying to figure out the pacing between these beautiful, quiet moments that I love to draw and the plot-moving conversations.

I think more so than formatting POOF magazine got me really engaged with people from across the world and across the queer community to see their work and how their lives and culture affect their creative output, and it helped me to see how important it is to platform and tell these diverse stories.

KAPLAN: Is the sequel already in the works? What can fans look forward to?

PRENTINCE-JONES: The sequel may or may not already be in the bag. I’m a very fast worker, and I just couldn’t put these characters that I love so much down just yet. Arcana 2 is definitely more full of drama, we start to see if the gang can really hold up under the pressure of their situation, and we get to see things really start to get real! I’ve got a couple of other projects in the pipeline, going much more autobiographical and significantly less witches, haha. But with the release of The Lost Heirs, it’s got me even more excited and galvanised to keep this world growing, this first saga may be coming to the end in book two, but who knows what could happen after that.

KAPLAN: How did you develop the Arcana universe? What was your research process like?

PRENTINCE-JONES: The world of Arcana actually began with the designing of my own Tarot deck, which is featured heavily in the book. Because of the research needed for that, I felt super steeped in the world and themes of Tarot and thought it might be interesting as a storytelling exercise to create something where each chapter is headed by and then influenced by the themes of a Tarot card and the world. I created a cast of characters inspired by a mishmash of the people that I love, and the world just snowballed from there. I’ve always loved the Urban Fantasy genre, and I feel like we’ve seen a lot of Witchcraft in old castles and ancient halls, so I loved the idea of creating this almost corporate-new-wave-spa-organisation hub to be the centre of the story.

KAPLAN: Each Arcana chapter opens with a different tarot card, each illustrated in one of four colors, coinciding with the elements in the tarot; at least that’s how I interpreted it. Can you walk me through your inspiration/intent with the graphic novel’s color scheme?

PRENTINCE-JONES: I’ve never been a huge fan of full colour comics, I think that they sometimes feel a bit juvenile, which is great if that’s your audience! But I’ve been super inspired by Tillie Walden and Jon McNaught, their uses of limited pallets to create such ambience and depth really elevate the world of graphic novels and comic books to a place of high art. I’ve always loved working in limited colour palettes, and you can’t really go wrong with the primary colours, but I wanted the palette to feel a bit more grown up, so I shifted it to the brick, tea,l and ochre. I found that working in this kind of triadic colour way allowed me to create mood and time shifts as well as magic accents whilst still keeping it feeling cohesive and grown up.

KAPLAN: Are there any specific panels or scenes that you’re especially proud of?

PRENTINCE-JONES: Like I said, I adore drawing these big quiet moments. The panel of Eli first climbing the hill to the farmhouse, Sonny in the library, Eli and James at the 24-hour diner. But I think the most fun to draw was the double-page spread of the Halloween party. I put up a poll on Instagram to take suggestions for Halloween costumes, and they pretty much all made it in, so if you look closely, there’s a bunch of fun pop culture and movie costume references!

KAPLAN: Why are stories of queer and trans people finding community and love so important in today’s world?

PRENTINCE-JONES: Where to even start! When I started writing this book I thought we were about to enter a golden age of queer media and that the market would be so saturated by the time the book got released that no one would care. But how could I have foreseen the absolute nosedive that the world, and specifically the UK, has taken on queer and trans rights. I want this book to show that creating connection not just within the queer community but with all those with common goals and adversaries is the only way that we as a people will claw our way back to a society of tolerance and peace.

KAPLAN: This is Hot Key Books’ first graphic novel acquisition. How does it feel to have created the book that launched this imprint’s new line?

PRENTINCE-JONES: Honestly it feels amazing, I’m so excited that Hotkey are as excited about this book as I am and see that the world wants a queer diverse cast of witchy characters to root for to fill that void in their lives.

Arcana: The Lost Heirs debuted on June 24, 2025. Get your copy here.