Minor Arcana #17 Review: Jeff Lemire’s BOOM! Studios Series Turns “The Lovers” Into Something Haunted
Minor Arcana #17 continues Jeff Lemire’s emotionally strange, supernatural slow burn with “The Lovers: Part Two,” a chapter that leans hard into regret, memory, romantic damage, and the eerie feeling that the past is not done speaking.
This issue is not built like a loud horror comic. It is quieter, sadder, and more personal. That is exactly why it works. Lemire uses tarot imagery, fractured relationships, and dreamlike pacing to turn Minor Arcana #17 into one of the series’ more emotionally loaded chapters.
Readers who have followed our earlier coverage of Minor Arcana #1 and Minor Arcana #10 will find issue #17 pushing the series deeper into the emotional cost of its magic.
Minor Arcana #17 Continues “The Lovers: Part Two”
BOOM! Studios’ Minor Arcana #17 is written by Jeff Lemire, illustrated by Jeff Lemire and Letizia Cadonici, colored by Patricio Delpeche, and lettered by Steve Wands. The issue features cover art by Lemire, a tarot card variant cover by Lemire, variant cover art by Annie Wu, and an unlimited variant cover by Annie Wu.
The issue opens around the idea of searching for someone inside a strange, broken, almost impossible space. The early pages carry a haunted-house feeling, but the real horror comes from emotional recognition. This is not simply about finding a person. It is about walking back into memories, decisions, and attachments that still have power.
The title “The Lovers: Part Two” is fitting. This chapter is about love, but not the easy kind. It is about the kind of love that gets tangled with dependency, guilt, disappointment, and the fear of being left behind.
Review: A Quiet, Emotional Issue With Real Weight
What makes Minor Arcana #17 stand out is the way it balances supernatural mystery with human messiness. Lemire’s best work often understands that fantasy and horror are strongest when they expose something painfully real. This issue does that well.
The scenes involving Missy give the chapter its emotional center. The story moves through memories of closeness, arguments, fear, and abandonment, building a portrait of someone trying to understand how one relationship could become both comfort and wound. The dialogue feels raw without becoming over-explained. Characters talk around what they really mean, then crash directly into it when they can no longer avoid the truth.
Visually, the issue benefits from the contrast between Lemire’s rough, dreamlike linework and Cadonici’s more grounded emotional staging. Patricio Delpeche’s colors help separate the psychic spaces from the remembered ones, creating a flow that feels unstable in the right way. The pages shift from muted, ghostly interiors to warmer flashbacks, making the emotional timeline feel like it is folding in on itself.
The tarot imagery also remains one of the series’ strongest hooks. The Tower card variant is especially effective because it captures the issue’s mood: collapse, revelation, and the violent breaking of old structures. Collectors looking for cover options can also check out the Minor Arcana #17 Tower variant.
Why This Issue Works
Minor Arcana #17 works because it refuses to separate magic from emotion. The supernatural elements are not just plot mechanics. They are extensions of trauma, memory, longing, and unfinished business.
The issue asks a painful question: what happens when the people we loved become part of the maze we are trapped inside?
That gives the book a different kind of tension. There is danger here, but the strongest suspense comes from whether these characters can survive what they finally admit to themselves. The issue also ends with enough momentum to make Minor Arcana #18 feel essential, especially with the next issue teased for September 2026 in the back matter.
For readers who want a closer early look, FreakSugar’s preview of Minor Arcana #17 gives a strong sense of the issue’s visual tone and emotional direction.
Final Thoughts
Minor Arcana #17 is another strong chapter in Jeff Lemire’s BOOM! Studios series. It is intimate, eerie, and emotionally uncomfortable in the best way. Instead of relying on shock, the issue builds its horror through memory, regret, and the terrifying realization that some relationships keep following you long after they should be over.
This is a strong pickup for readers already invested in Minor Arcana, and it is also a reminder of why the series has become one of BOOM! Studios’ most distinctive ongoing supernatural titles.
Rating: 8.7/10
Minor Arcana #17 Details
Title: Minor Arcana #17
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Story Arc: The Lovers: Part Two
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artists: Jeff Lemire, Letizia Cadonici
Colorist: Patricio Delpeche
Letterer: Steve Wands
Main Cover: Jeff Lemire
Tarot Card Variant Cover: Jeff Lemire
Variant Cover: Annie Wu
Unlimited Variant Cover: Annie Wu
Next Issue: Minor Arcana #18, on sale September 2026
Join the Discussion
Are you reading Minor Arcana, and do you think “The Lovers” arc is one of the series’ strongest emotional storylines so far?
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