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libbyfrances's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
greenereader1210's review
5.0
A darker version of the D&D cartoon I watched back in the day, where a group of friends get sucked back into the fantasy game world twenty-five years later, a world full of adventure and danger where they lost their close friend, this time their quest for home is barred by new twist and turns from their adolescent memories and their middled-aged lives combined. Beautiful artwork and cool premise, I can't wait to see where the rest of the story goes. Four and a half stars for me.
atkamryn's review
5.0
I can see why this was highly recommended for RPG lovers! Unique and drawing on inspiration from the real world, I’m dying to check out the sequel!
johnnywendy's review against another edition
5.0
Beautiful art and novel setting
It seems odd that no one has written a sort of twisted, horror D&D story in the same way before but it's an amazing setting. I really enjoyed this collection and am excited to see more. I'm sure it'll continue to be this fun concept mixed with a real somber reality.
It seems odd that no one has written a sort of twisted, horror D&D story in the same way before but it's an amazing setting. I really enjoyed this collection and am excited to see more. I'm sure it'll continue to be this fun concept mixed with a real somber reality.
timwolfe's review
3.0
Interesting version of the "shared fantasy turns real" conceit. Probably my favorite aspect was how much they leaned into the trans aspect of the guy who was playing a female character.
devannm's review
3.0
This was a decent start to what could become a really great series, but I found it to be confusing a lot of the time. Maybe that's partly because my only experience with DND is listening to The Adventure Zone podcast, but honestly it's not that complicated of a concept so I think non-DND players should still be able to read and generally understand it [if not then sorry but that's just bad writing]. I'm thinking it's more like 'it's going to be really weird and confusing and then make sense right at the end' because that seems to be the over-arching style of The Wicked + The Divine so maybe that's just how Gillen writes, but it certainly makes it hard to get through his stuff at certain points.
The art here is absolutely amazing and honestly kind of outshines the plot in a lot of places. The characters are okay [except I really hate Chuck but I think you're pretty much supposed to] and their powers seem to be a bit different than what you would find in a standard fantasy world like this so that was interesting. In the second volume I'm hoping we get to see more of the world in general - and also get more into the things from the real world that inspired it and how they view them differently as adults than they did as children, like the issue where they were in Eternal Prussia with Tolkien - and also delve into what exactly is going on with Ash re: his gender and sexuality because to me that was probably the most interesting thing that's been brought up so far.
The art here is absolutely amazing and honestly kind of outshines the plot in a lot of places. The characters are okay [except I really hate Chuck but I think you're pretty much supposed to] and their powers seem to be a bit different than what you would find in a standard fantasy world like this so that was interesting. In the second volume I'm hoping we get to see more of the world in general - and also get more into the things from the real world that inspired it and how they view them differently as adults than they did as children, like the issue where they were in Eternal Prussia with Tolkien - and also delve into what exactly is going on with Ash re: his gender and sexuality because to me that was probably the most interesting thing that's been brought up so far.
elle_aime_lire's review
3.0
Un mélange entre Jumanji et Donjon & Dragon. Le concept était intéressant, mais j'ai eu du mal à suivre l'histoire au départ. J'aime prendre le temps de connaitre les personnages, mais j'ai trouvé que celleux-ci étaient peu développé.e.s.
fairymodmother's review
3.0
Pretty, relatable, well-worn paths with a bit more angst.
CONTENT WARNINGS (just a list of topics):
Things to love:
-The art. Really, just beautiful.
-The archetypes. A really cool mash up of genres and a nice homage to the idiosyncracies of homebrew games.
-The mix of realism and fantasy. LitRPG often lingers on one aspect or the other. This was a nice blend.
-The gothiness. 90s grunge goth is my jam! Children dressing in 90s couture, this is the part you should emulate, not the unfortunately high cuts and over saturated colors.
-The layout. Okay, love might be a strong word, but I sometimes find that it's hard to follow graphic novels, but the layout makes complete intuitive sense for left-right, top-bottom readers.
Things that I didn't love:
-Rushed. The pacing is pretty well off track here for me. There was no room for realities to breathe and become all-encompassing. The world didn't come alive, the trauma didn't resound, and the character depth felt suface-level even though I could tell that below the water their little legs were churning.
-Been there, done that. The notes at the back say that the creators tried to come at this "sideways" but uh...it feels more like they just gave the old vehicle a new flashy paint job.
I liked it, but it didn't grab me like others of its ilk have. It really needed to pump the brakes on the arc to build some depth.
CONTENT WARNINGS (just a list of topics):
Spoiler
loss of a parent, sick child, body horror (including eyes), coercion of will, divorce, PTSD, homophobia.Things to love:
-The art. Really, just beautiful.
-The archetypes. A really cool mash up of genres and a nice homage to the idiosyncracies of homebrew games.
-The mix of realism and fantasy. LitRPG often lingers on one aspect or the other. This was a nice blend.
-The gothiness. 90s grunge goth is my jam! Children dressing in 90s couture, this is the part you should emulate, not the unfortunately high cuts and over saturated colors.
-The layout. Okay, love might be a strong word, but I sometimes find that it's hard to follow graphic novels, but the layout makes complete intuitive sense for left-right, top-bottom readers.
Things that I didn't love:
-Rushed. The pacing is pretty well off track here for me. There was no room for realities to breathe and become all-encompassing. The world didn't come alive, the trauma didn't resound, and the character depth felt suface-level even though I could tell that below the water their little legs were churning.
-Been there, done that. The notes at the back say that the creators tried to come at this "sideways" but uh...it feels more like they just gave the old vehicle a new flashy paint job.
I liked it, but it didn't grab me like others of its ilk have. It really needed to pump the brakes on the arc to build some depth.
mollylazer's review
3.0
Reread, 12/27/20: Changing my rating to three stars, and I think I'm able to explain why: As someone who is not familiar with role-playing games, it feels like I'm missing quite a lot of things I'm supposed to come into this book already knowing. I appreciate that Gillen just jumps into things without wasting time on exposition, but without this background knowledge, I find myself a little lost. A lot of action also takes place between issues, and I found myself wanting more of the world and the characters, more explanation, etc. Gillen doesn't pander to the reader, but if the reader doesn't have the same background knowledge as the author, the story lacks some accessibility.
Original review: This is an engaging start to what looks to be a pretty epic story. I liked the cliffhanger at the end of this volume, as it propels the story forward in a direction I did not see coming.
Original review: This is an engaging start to what looks to be a pretty epic story. I liked the cliffhanger at the end of this volume, as it propels the story forward in a direction I did not see coming.