In the village of Hage of the Clover Kingdom, there is a young boy named Asta, who, along with his friend, Yuno, is found abandoned as a small child.  Asta dreams of one day being the “Wizard King,” the greatest mage in the land.  He has one big problem; he can't use magic.  When he is 15-years-old, Asta receives the rare “five-leaf-clover grimoire” (a book of magic), which gives him the power of anti-magic.  Can Asta become the Wizard King without being able to use magic, and can he be worthy of being in the “Magic Knights” squad, “the Black Bulls?”

As Black Clover, Vol. 11 (Chapters 91 to 100; entitled “It's Nothing”) opens, Asta and his friends continue their battle against both the forces of the Diamond Kingdom and “the Eye of the Midnight Sun.”  Can they save “the Forest of Witches?”  First, they have to defeat the Diamond Kingdom's Ladros and then, the Eye's “Fana,” and it seems as if Asta will be the last man standing to face off against these foes.  Plus, an ally reveals her true self in her bid for “the Red Thread of Fate.”

[This volume includes bonus art and text.]

THE LOWDOWN:  I am back in the groove with the Black Clover manga.  After not reading it for about a year or so, I have read two volumes in the past month.

Black Clover Graphic Novel Volume 11 is as intense a read as were Vols. 9 and 10.  The fury of combat magic rages throughout most of its 180 pages of narrative, as was the case with the previous two volumes.  However, creator Yuki Tabata has a surprise reveal or two, one of them involving Asta.  While he makes the narrative pound the reader with battles, Tabata continues to give us more about the characters, tying us to an increasingly diverse and intriguing cast.

And there are some new reveals about Asta, so get your read on.  Black Clover is like a wizards and magic version of Naruto.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of everything from Naruto to Harry Potter will definitely want to try the “Shonen Jump” series, Black Clover.

A
9 out of 10