Jade Street Protection Services #1

Jade Street Protection Services

Author: Katy Rex

Illustrator: Fabian Lelay

Publisher: Black Mask

Mattsdotter Academy is a school where magical girls learn to hone their skills. Our main characters Divya, Saba, Noemi, Kai, and Emma are brought together when they attend gym class. Saba has to pee badly and it throws her magic off, crashing giant toilets all over the field. Their teacher, Mrs. Farro, sentences them to detention for the disruption. In true Breakfast Club fashion, the girls ditch detention to get a bite to eat when they realize their teacher isn't coming. On their excursion, the girls spy on Mrs. Farro and they learn a dark secret that endangers them all.

The cast of characters is wonderfully diverse. Divya appears to be Indian; she is a highly organized honor roll student whose specialty is blade mastery. Saba is Muslim, loves Lolita fashion, playing practical jokes, and excels in trapsmithing. Noemi has a cool girl vibe but stands up for those who are bullied; she loves music and controls darts through harmony. Kai is a part of the LGBTQ community and she is a tough chick who specializes in brawling. Emma is on the Autism spectrum and is non-verbal; she communicates through text messages and is the narrator of issue #1. Emma is an extremely fast typist and her skill set is marksmanship.

As far as world building, we learn couple different things about how society works in this world:

Magical girls are referred to as witches and their magic is channeled through gems that may be embedded in their weapons or their skin. The concept of stripping a person's magic is raised but no explanation has been given yet for how this happens.

Mrs. Farro has a discussion with an outsider and is preoccupied with the idea of her students learning how to become “suitable wives” and brings this up numerous times throughout the conversation. We haven't seen any men or boys with magic powers- is it just girls? What would it mean for them if that's the case?

Witches are also forbidden from creating things with their hands- knitting is an example given in this first issue. There is no explanation given, but we learn that it does not interfere with their magic. It will be interesting to see how this concept develops.

I absolutely loved this comic and I cannot wait to see what is in store for the girls. This is a perfect series for Sailor Moon, Lumberjanes, Zodiac Starforce, and Gotham Academy lovers.