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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
Nina Rodriguez always seems out of the loop on why her life sucks and why her family just can't get it together. She's always been sure that magic is real, but no one believes her. Nina is desperate for answers, but she is really desperate for some control over her own life.
Blackbird is a delightful book from co-creators Sam Humphries and Jen Bartel. Bartel's artwork makes it. The pages are just consistently beautiful.
This series is apparently on hiatus, which sucks considering all of the open-ended questions from book one. The Beacon and the Jackal? That cop who knows what's up with the cabals?
Four stars for magical romp through Los Angeles with hopefully more coming soon!
Blackbird is a delightful book from co-creators Sam Humphries and Jen Bartel. Bartel's artwork makes it. The pages are just consistently beautiful.
This series is apparently on hiatus, which sucks considering all of the open-ended questions from book one. The Beacon and the Jackal? That cop who knows what's up with the cabals?
Four stars for magical romp through Los Angeles with hopefully more coming soon!
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
relaxing
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The artwork is incredible, and the plot is really good, but the dialogue is so terrible that it ruins it.
I almost didn't finish Blackbird, but it seemed silly to DNF a comic. They're too short not to finish, you know? I also kept hoping the story would improve, but Nina was an incredibly frustrating character. She remembers magic that no one else does, and it quickly becomes an obsession.
I feel like the first issue of a new comic has to be informative, which Blackbird was not. Nina was able to predict a natural disaster before it happened, but it never tells you why. Mysterious, magical beings erase everyone's memory, but Nina managed to trick them into thinking she had forgotten. Again... how?
Fast forward (potential spoilers ahead)… she's doing drugs and abusing her prescriptions. She starts living with her sister after nearly dying, and promised to stop taking pills. Unsurprisingly, Nina is still taking pills and does a poor job of hiding it. Her life is a mess, her thoughts make zero sense (which might have something to do with how it was presented), and she still behaves liked a spoiled child.
I have no idea how she "stumbled" across a magical bracelet and knew exactly what it was. The language and magic were knew to me, but none of it was explained. At the end, she proves to be selfish and immature. Oh, and there's a cat with three eyes. I loved his name: Sharpie. This will not be a comic I continue reading in the future.
Originally posted at Do You Dog-ear? on October 26, 2018.
I feel like the first issue of a new comic has to be informative, which Blackbird was not. Nina was able to predict a natural disaster before it happened, but it never tells you why. Mysterious, magical beings erase everyone's memory, but Nina managed to trick them into thinking she had forgotten. Again... how?
Fast forward (potential spoilers ahead)… she's doing drugs and abusing her prescriptions. She starts living with her sister after nearly dying, and promised to stop taking pills. Unsurprisingly, Nina is still taking pills and does a poor job of hiding it. Her life is a mess, her thoughts make zero sense (which might have something to do with how it was presented), and she still behaves liked a spoiled child.
I have no idea how she "stumbled" across a magical bracelet and knew exactly what it was. The language and magic were knew to me, but none of it was explained. At the end, she proves to be selfish and immature. Oh, and there's a cat with three eyes. I loved his name: Sharpie. This will not be a comic I continue reading in the future.
Originally posted at Do You Dog-ear? on October 26, 2018.
Came for the pretty jen bartel art, not coming back for that weak-ass overwrought writing
Warnings: susbstance abuse (drugs and alcohol)
Rep: It has a Latinx protagonist, and a Black love interest, as well as many POC secondary characters.
I had been excited to someday possibly read this graphic novel as I kept seeing it around and I like the artist's work, but I was disappointed on finally getting to read it. The world of Blackbird is a hidden magical world within the world, but still seen enough that Nina, a believer in magic is able to find forums talking about it. The paragons, the magic-users of this world, hide themselves behind illusions and elitism, and have organized themselves into cabals that have declared turfs in the city of Los Angeles. Nina, who had seen a magical beast on the night an earthquake struck her city, retained her memories despite the cabal's efforts to wipe it, and has since then been searching for a way into their world, while also battling her own grief and insecurity, as well as her addiction.
Now, I'll first talk about the artwork because that is the better part of this book - the character design, outfits and coloring all give a nice vibrant aesthetic to this story, being set in a glamorous city. It has some cool panels for when a major character is introduced , full of drama and jazz, and the cityscapes and backgrounds are beautiful and rich, but when it came to the actual action scenes, it felt a bit flat. Still, it tries with a story that doesn't know what it really wants to do - there are jokes that fall flat in concept as well as execution, and the plot is wafer thin.
So basically what happens is, Nina is deliberately being kept out of the magic world for *reasons*, and it just circles around back again and again at that point, with her arguing with *that person* that she was deceived and hurt (so many times that it nearly comes across as whiny) while *that person* was like - I was doing it for your good, so that you could have a "normal life". Yeah, a normal life where she is being gaslit and having constant nervous breakdowns because she is being condescended to at 23 freaking years of age! Reasonable discussion and was definitely not on the agenda for this plot, and there are plotholes galore (why even change the memory if the intention was to erase it?!, why is there information of every kind of gem but none on how a paragon is initiated? why that sudden truth vision?) that could have been filled instead of circling back to the same scene in different places. Also, the magic system is never clearly explained - some are using gems, some are using spells and I don't know what they are in relation to one another. I know for a first book that is asking too much, but it wastes so much time on arguments and an abruptly developed romance that I am going to hold it against it.
Overall, I would say this is a pretty graphic novel, but has an unsatisfactory plot, even for an entry book.
Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review from Image Comics, via Edelweiss.
Rep: It has a Latinx protagonist, and a Black love interest, as well as many POC secondary characters.
I had been excited to someday possibly read this graphic novel as I kept seeing it around and I like the artist's work, but I was disappointed on finally getting to read it. The world of Blackbird is a hidden magical world within the world, but still seen enough that Nina, a believer in magic is able to find forums talking about it. The paragons, the magic-users of this world, hide themselves behind illusions and elitism, and have organized themselves into cabals that have declared turfs in the city of Los Angeles. Nina, who had seen a magical beast on the night an earthquake struck her city, retained her memories despite the cabal's efforts to wipe it, and has since then been searching for a way into their world, while also battling her own grief and insecurity, as well as her addiction.
Now, I'll first talk about the artwork because that is the better part of this book - the character design, outfits and coloring all give a nice vibrant aesthetic to this story, being set in a glamorous city. It has some cool panels for when a major character is introduced , full of drama and jazz, and the cityscapes and backgrounds are beautiful and rich, but when it came to the actual action scenes, it felt a bit flat. Still, it tries with a story that doesn't know what it really wants to do - there are jokes that fall flat in concept as well as execution, and the plot is wafer thin.
So basically what happens is, Nina is deliberately being kept out of the magic world for *reasons*, and it just circles around back again and again at that point, with her arguing with *that person* that she was deceived and hurt (so many times that it nearly comes across as whiny) while *that person* was like - I was doing it for your good, so that you could have a "normal life". Yeah, a normal life where she is being gaslit and having constant nervous breakdowns because she is being condescended to at 23 freaking years of age! Reasonable discussion and was definitely not on the agenda for this plot, and there are plotholes galore (why even change the memory if the intention was to erase it?!, why is there information of every kind of gem but none on how a paragon is initiated? why that sudden truth vision?) that could have been filled instead of circling back to the same scene in different places. Also, the magic system is never clearly explained - some are using gems, some are using spells and I don't know what they are in relation to one another. I know for a first book that is asking too much, but it wastes so much time on arguments and an abruptly developed romance that I am going to hold it against it.
Overall, I would say this is a pretty graphic novel, but has an unsatisfactory plot, even for an entry book.
Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review from Image Comics, via Edelweiss.
loved the art, premise felt a little rushed but not enough to fully detract from the overall feel of the novel
I've been a fan of Jen Bartel for a while, so I was extremely excited to start this series.
The art in this series is absolutely phenomenal. The story however felt weak in comparison. The dialog felt very weak in the beginning (probably just because most of the dialog was the main character thinking to herself) but it did get stronger as the story progressed. Certain aspects of the story did feel a bit rushed. There were a couple of times where backstory seemed to come out of nowhere, and only a few panels were used to explain.
The plot itself was entertaining enough to keep me interested through all six issues. Overall I think this is a good introduction to a series that has a lot of potential. I plan to pick up the next trade to see where the story goes.
The art in this series is absolutely phenomenal. The story however felt weak in comparison. The dialog felt very weak in the beginning (probably just because most of the dialog was the main character thinking to herself) but it did get stronger as the story progressed. Certain aspects of the story did feel a bit rushed. There were a couple of times where backstory seemed to come out of nowhere, and only a few panels were used to explain.
The plot itself was entertaining enough to keep me interested through all six issues. Overall I think this is a good introduction to a series that has a lot of potential. I plan to pick up the next trade to see where the story goes.
The art style in this series is gorgeous which is no surprise considering Jen Bartel's immense talent and dedication to her craft. From her characteristic coloring to the costume design, Blackbird is a feast for the eyes. The world proves compelling and I admit as an Angeleno, I loved seeing my various haunts showcased in this book. Unfortunately, the characters did falter a bit for me as some character choices didn't quite make sense but I'm excited to read volume 2 and get more on the fallout from that ending.
3.5 the story is intriguing but the art is what kept me reading