The Price of Magic (Sleepless Domain #1)

Magical Girls are the last barrier of defense in a city plagued by nightly monster attacks. Public favorite Team Alchemical uses their elemental powers every evening between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. Consisting of glamorous, blonde, pale Alchemical Air, Sylvia Skylark; stoic, brown-haired, light brown–skinned Alchemical Earth, Gwen Morita; timid, blue-haired, brown-skinned Alchemical Water, Undine Wells; impulsive, redheaded, light-skinned Alchemical Fire, Sally Fintan; and powerful leader, pink-haired, tan-skinned Alchemical Aether, Tessa Quinn, the quintet easily fends off monsters by combining their powers. When a leadership disagreement arises, however, Tessa opts out of patrol, leading to devastating tragedy. As resolute Undine decides to continue as a solo Magical Girl, she finds friendship with outspoken pink-haired, light-skinned soloist Kokoro, aka Heartful Punch, even as a shadowy presence haunts Undine and she must learn to navigate some consequences on her own. In this first collected volume of the ongoing webcomic, Cagle (Let’s Speak English) offers a sinister flip side to the oft-sweet magical girl genre, juxtaposing brightly colored, big-eyed, and innocent character designs with darker visual elements while exploring topics such as survivor’s guilt, power, and exploitation, making for a propulsive series starter. Back matter features concepts and commentary. Ages 13–up. (Oct.)