Reviews

Heaven No Hell by Michael DeForge

basedgoth's review

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1.0

i didn't get much out of the stories here.

glitzard's review

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challenging emotional fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

YES

bente123's review

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

4.5

uosdwisrdewoh's review

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4.0

In Heaven No Hell, Michael DeForge invites you into his strange, off-kilter worlds, ranging from bratty kids forming “kid mafia” in order to blackmail their sister to one woman’s doomed romance on a space escape pod. The best selections in this volume evoke George Saunders—like Saunders, DeForge tells stories that are surreal and often fantastical but never in ways that fit easily within genre conventions. Oftentimes, though, DeForge will leave plot aside and boldly dive into formalist experiments, like one where nightmarish visions are reflections of pieces on a chessboard, which only succeeds as a curiosity rather than as a story in of itself. These bizarre tales are brought to life by his seemingly simplistic art style which renders people either as unadorned, often blobby, figures or as nearly stick figures, but it sometimes verges so deeply into abstraction as to almost lose narrative thread completely. But his experimental nature, and his command of the pages carries you through the most bizarre tangents. It’s a refreshing read, and I look forward to more of his work.

abrown_be's review

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3.0

Wildly inconsistent but consistently wild

gretrascis's review

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4.0

Experimenting with form and style, but within my feeble comics reading power, with interesting choices and execution. But best of all, really weirdly funny. I really enjoyed this one more than I thought I would.

lucysmom828's review

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4.0

The artwork is wonderfully weird and the stories are strange and incredible.

literallytouko's review

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emotional funny inspiring sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

billybookmark's review

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4.0

what I admire about deforge is despite how different his work becomes, you still know it's his
my new stepdad is a disgusting bug and I hate him was a personal favourite

stasibabi's review against another edition

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fast-paced

4.5