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writeralicia's review
2.5 stars
I'm giving this novel 2.5 stars because I liked the artwork very much. The work was dynamic and dark. The scene lighting was appropriately varied, creating great atmosphere. The various creatures were beautifully rendered, and some of them were quite complex. I wish I had liked the story better so that I could give this graphic novel a higher rating overall.
The story was cliche, and the dialog was contrived. An unpopular guy finds an occult item and unwittingly gains great power. At the same time, he becomes a target for bad guys and has to learn to use his new powers quickly in order to defend himself. Along the way, he runs into a hot, female detective who, at first, considers him a suspect in murders related to the bad guys chasing him. We've all heard this story before, but at least the drawings helped bring it some originality.
I didn't appreciate the dialog either. The characters often made statements that I can't imagine real people making. For example, toward the beginning, one character practically announces her own full name (first and last) and her boyfriend's name, so that the reader will know what to call them. On at least two occasions bad guys expressly stated their own weakness. I'm paraphrasing here, but it went something like: "You cannot defeat me because you do not know my name." "We can't see him because he's wearing a wizard's cloak." Not exactly believable dialog.
I'm giving this novel 2.5 stars because I liked the artwork very much. The work was dynamic and dark. The scene lighting was appropriately varied, creating great atmosphere. The various creatures were beautifully rendered, and some of them were quite complex. I wish I had liked the story better so that I could give this graphic novel a higher rating overall.
The story was cliche, and the dialog was contrived. An unpopular guy finds an occult item and unwittingly gains great power. At the same time, he becomes a target for bad guys and has to learn to use his new powers quickly in order to defend himself. Along the way, he runs into a hot, female detective who, at first, considers him a suspect in murders related to the bad guys chasing him. We've all heard this story before, but at least the drawings helped bring it some originality.
I didn't appreciate the dialog either. The characters often made statements that I can't imagine real people making. For example, toward the beginning, one character practically announces her own full name (first and last) and her boyfriend's name, so that the reader will know what to call them. On at least two occasions bad guys expressly stated their own weakness. I'm paraphrasing here, but it went something like: "You cannot defeat me because you do not know my name." "We can't see him because he's wearing a wizard's cloak." Not exactly believable dialog.
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