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joelipsett's review
4.0
Liked it despite not really knowing what the hell was going on most of the time
the_bookubus's review
3.0
It was good but not good enough to really hook me in. The story is complex with a LOT of characters over different time periods. I liked the general premise but it seemed overly complicated and I didn't connect with the characters or the story so I don't think I'll continue with the series.
minataur's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
theartolater's review
3.0
Jonathan Hickman is rarely one to take the easy route on a story, and I suppose an occultist central banking conspiracy is certainly not the easy road in many respects. With that said, there’s a lot to like here (good art, some interesting mysteries) and a lot that I didn’t love (it’s hard to make a central banking conspiracy truly compelling). Will I stick with this? Yeah, probably, but I’m definitely a little wary.
Closer to a 3.5.
Closer to a 3.5.
jakekilroy's review
5.0
This absolutely had everything for me, from an sinister and supernatural ancient language to a new and unsettling sci-fi/fantasy take on everyday life to a chill and curious homicide detective who will do whatever it takes to keep digging at the weird. And it's all to unpack a lil' saga about finances being an unsettling underworld of blurred-line mysticism and legacy evil? Oh my god, count me in forever.
bstratton's review
5.0
Everything 100 Bullets and The Invisibles wished they could be. Top-notch stuff.
mcacev's review
4.0
Black Monday Murders is a new ongoing series by Jonathan Hickman, which follows demons and economics. If that sounds interesting to you, and you are a fan of Hickman's writing, then this is a story for you. However, if you are still on the fence about it or just want to hear my non-spoilery opinions, keep reading.
I like Jonathan Hickman, though I'm not his greatest fan. I liked his run on the Fantastic Four and Infinity, but there was always something about his characters that kept me at arms length, no matter how interesting the plot or beautiful the art. He writes writes really complex, very involving stories that span centuries, different characters, complicated politics and span a great number of issues.
All of that is true here; it took me until issue 4 to actually really get into the story and start connecting to the characters. Even then, I never truly connected to any of them, but I at least got a grasp on who they are and I did start rooting for both Ria and Detective Dumas.
Black Monday Murders follows several different characters and timelines, and it deals with demons and economics. It essentially follows a 'family' of people who are either demons or have made pacts with demons (it isn't entirely clear yet) who run a cooperation and manipulate the global market. When Daniel Rothschild is murdered, his twin sister Ria is called back into New York to take his seat, and we follow her as she starts enacting revenge on the conspirators, as well as Detective Dumas, who is investigating the murder. Other characters include a Dr Gaddis, a professor at Fordham, Victor Ersko another board member, Abby, a mysterious demon lady, and Thomas Dane, who was Daniel's head of security and seemed to have a deeper relationship with him.
The plot is very complicated, jumping between different timelines and explaining the really specific lore and history of both the different economic schools and the Rothschild family. I found it all interesting, if a little overwhelming. It's the same problem I tend to have with Hickman's writing though I really enjoy it, and it's that the characters are really just there to move the plot forward, and he focuses way more on world-building, theme and story, than characters.
The art is amazing; Tom Coker and Michael Garland are doing a beautiful job at creating atmosphere. All the characters look distinct, and the backgrounds are detailed and have a very noir, yet photo-realistic quality to them , that really lends itself well for the tone and type of story Hickman is delivering. I especially love how they create contrast with the heavy inks and coloring and honestly, the art is what originally got me hooked on this series.
I am curios to read more about Dumas and Ria's journeys and learn more about this world. It's definitely the type of series that requires commitment and a lot of time getting into it, but the world is so fascinating, I'm willing to stick with it and see where it goes.
I like Jonathan Hickman, though I'm not his greatest fan. I liked his run on the Fantastic Four and Infinity, but there was always something about his characters that kept me at arms length, no matter how interesting the plot or beautiful the art. He writes writes really complex, very involving stories that span centuries, different characters, complicated politics and span a great number of issues.
All of that is true here; it took me until issue 4 to actually really get into the story and start connecting to the characters. Even then, I never truly connected to any of them, but I at least got a grasp on who they are and I did start rooting for both Ria and Detective Dumas.
Black Monday Murders follows several different characters and timelines, and it deals with demons and economics. It essentially follows a 'family' of people who are either demons or have made pacts with demons (it isn't entirely clear yet) who run a cooperation and manipulate the global market. When Daniel Rothschild is murdered, his twin sister Ria is called back into New York to take his seat, and we follow her as she starts enacting revenge on the conspirators, as well as Detective Dumas, who is investigating the murder. Other characters include a Dr Gaddis, a professor at Fordham, Victor Ersko another board member, Abby, a mysterious demon lady, and Thomas Dane, who was Daniel's head of security and seemed to have a deeper relationship with him.
The plot is very complicated, jumping between different timelines and explaining the really specific lore and history of both the different economic schools and the Rothschild family. I found it all interesting, if a little overwhelming. It's the same problem I tend to have with Hickman's writing though I really enjoy it, and it's that the characters are really just there to move the plot forward, and he focuses way more on world-building, theme and story, than characters.
The art is amazing; Tom Coker and Michael Garland are doing a beautiful job at creating atmosphere. All the characters look distinct, and the backgrounds are detailed and have a very noir, yet photo-realistic quality to them , that really lends itself well for the tone and type of story Hickman is delivering. I especially love how they create contrast with the heavy inks and coloring and honestly, the art is what originally got me hooked on this series.
I am curios to read more about Dumas and Ria's journeys and learn more about this world. It's definitely the type of series that requires commitment and a lot of time getting into it, but the world is so fascinating, I'm willing to stick with it and see where it goes.
zlwrites's review
4.0
Paranormal investigation, Wall Street cults, and little tidbits of world building layered throughout. A good horror read before October comes round.
alexauthorshay's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
4.0
This is a re-read from a few years ago. Oddly I staff picked this at work and I don't really remember why. It was good, but I'm tempted to lower my rating to 3 stars on this read through. The art is that traced-over-photograph style I really don't like, but also very dark with lots of weird angles, and the same art will be used for multiple panels, just zoomed in or offset from the last panel, and I wasn't impressed.
The storyline itself intrigued me, though I'm not even remotely interested in Wall Street and any of that stuff. Because of that, it's a little hard to follow the details and the bonus transcrips/info bits included don't really help me any. But Hickman obviously put a lot of thought into this world, there's clearly an entire hierarchy and system of how everything works, and most of the characters (Caina and Kankrin members especially) are utterly remorseless, so it's the kind of read where you want to know what happens next, though I'm definitely not attached to any of the characters (how can you be when they're all so despicable?)
The storyline itself intrigued me, though I'm not even remotely interested in Wall Street and any of that stuff. Because of that, it's a little hard to follow the details and the bonus transcrips/info bits included don't really help me any. But Hickman obviously put a lot of thought into this world, there's clearly an entire hierarchy and system of how everything works, and most of the characters (Caina and Kankrin members especially) are utterly remorseless, so it's the kind of read where you want to know what happens next, though I'm definitely not attached to any of the characters (how can you be when they're all so despicable?)