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karnakjr's review
medium-paced
3.0
Excellent design work save an underdeveloped story. It’s hard not to love the covers, the ads, the table of contents, etc. Other than that we get a decent high concept with average execution.
I was confused when this took place, as technology and certain cultural movements suggested current while the fashion and advertising say 70s? Maybe the 90s revival of the 70s? The family stuff had too many turns with no impact. There were twists in the second half that only muddied the story. It just didn’t read with any weight.
Good luck remembering this in a week.
I was confused when this took place, as technology and certain cultural movements suggested current while the fashion and advertising say 70s? Maybe the 90s revival of the 70s? The family stuff had too many turns with no impact. There were twists in the second half that only muddied the story. It just didn’t read with any weight.
Good luck remembering this in a week.
tashtash's review
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
4.75
Brilliant! Great design, loved the funny retro-style graphics. Good story too. Looking out for more Chelsea Cain and the rest of the authors' graphic novels.
arkham's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death
redhead_witch's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
lisaroystoj's review
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
2.75
The concept, fake ads, and character designs were fabulous. I loved so much of this...except for the storyline which felt rushed and not fully formed.
crookedtreehouse's review
3.0
This is a hard book to rate. I loved most of it. Cain writes great dialogue, I loved the series's conceit, and the ads based on products in the story's universe were awesome. I went into the final issue thinking this was going to be a five star book. Then it utterly fell apart. It felt like Cain was trying to pack three or four issues of story into one, and didn't know how to do it. All of the slick pacing and gradual introduction of characters and ideas were just flung into a blender and served as a big, frothy mess.
Even two more issues to tell this story, using the tone and narrative tricks of the first three issues in this volume would have made this one of my favorite books of the year.
Cain mentioned that she regretted only making this four issues, and that making the comic was just a way to get the intellectual property out into the world so she could get a TV deal. I hope she does. I'd love to see what this story would be like fleshed out at a consistent pace.
Even two more issues to tell this story, using the tone and narrative tricks of the first three issues in this volume would have made this one of my favorite books of the year.
Cain mentioned that she regretted only making this four issues, and that making the comic was just a way to get the intellectual property out into the world so she could get a TV deal. I hope she does. I'd love to see what this story would be like fleshed out at a consistent pace.
snchard's review
3.0
Not my favorite Chelsea Cain, but still definitely her writing. I love the vibe, very similar to Man-Eaters. I think it would be great if it had a bit more story among all the kitsch.
atalinay's review
I really liked the art and the vaccation-brochure theme of the separating pages. The story itself is about a spy but with a crypto twist in which mermaids exists. Overall I felt the story to be forgettable, but it did provide the various beats that a spy story does. Stealth, Sex, and Sandfleas. I would have liked to have seen more of the fun things we saw on the maps (crypto and timetravel-y stuff). But also as far as a simple spy story it's okay.