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2.95 AVERAGE
2.95 AVERAGE
I really enjoyed all this alternative story of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
The first part of this double album is really good and I was prepared for another amazing delivery by Jodorowsky.
Unfortunately, the second part of the album was the exact opposite. It was confusing. Not very captivating. I really disliked Napoleon as a character and the character who has been the best one in the first part, Louis XVII, is almost completely absent in this second part.
It's like both parts were written by two complete different people.
Jérémy's art is fantastic all through the book.
Hoping for a better volume 2.
The first part of this double album is really good and I was prepared for another amazing delivery by Jodorowsky.
Unfortunately, the second part of the album was the exact opposite. It was confusing. Not very captivating. I really disliked Napoleon as a character and the character who has been the best one in the first part, Louis XVII, is almost completely absent in this second part.
It's like both parts were written by two complete different people.
Jérémy's art is fantastic all through the book.
Hoping for a better volume 2.
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Two stars mainly because the art (including the covers) was detailed and often well-rendered. The story went everywhere but mainly nowhere and in many places induced cringes and eye rolls. There was a way to play with gender and reject binaries.... but this was not it. Many parts felt very male-gazey. There is also a way to blend genres.... but also not this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder
Outdated terminology referring to intersex individuals (not really LGBT content), questionable depiction of Asian and African cultures
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I’m only giving it a half star because I at least was able to finish the book. (Though multiple times, I was tempted to just not do that…)
Overall, the story is confusing and very weird at the end… It is also incredibly ablest and sexist… among other things. Even though there are a lot of things going on (at a very strenuous pace), the plot twists and turns into a storyline that is very hard to follow. The “romantic relationships“ in the story fall very flat, and there’s absolutely no chemistry between the characters, other than what you’re “told” to believe in the story. The ending also doesn’t make much sense…
I guess the only positive I can really find with the story is that the main character is intersex, which you don’t really see much of…though the author handled that poorly. The art is pretty good, if you don’t consider the blatant objectification of women, the lightening of dark-colored skin, and the depiction of mentally ill people.
It’s very telling that Kanye West has a positive review plastered on the front cover of the edition I read (which I honestly didn’t notice until after finishing the book).
I would not recommend this book to anybody.
Overall, the story is confusing and very weird at the end… It is also incredibly ablest and sexist… among other things. Even though there are a lot of things going on (at a very strenuous pace), the plot twists and turns into a storyline that is very hard to follow. The “romantic relationships“ in the story fall very flat, and there’s absolutely no chemistry between the characters, other than what you’re “told” to believe in the story. The ending also doesn’t make much sense…
I guess the only positive I can really find with the story is that
It’s very telling that Kanye West has a positive review plastered on the front cover of the edition I read (which I honestly didn’t notice until after finishing the book).
I would not recommend this book to anybody.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Infertility, Infidelity, Racism, Xenophobia, Vomit, Islamophobia, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
DNF @ 50%
I feel like a broken record—because I say this about so many graphic novels—but the story barely holds a candle to the art. This is why (usually) the best GN's come from artist and writer duos who work together, because illustrations and storytelling are two entirely different art forms. It's rare when one person can master both and create a truly incredible GN (Monstress by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda is a great example of this occurrence), but Knights of Heliopolis sadly wasn't that.
The story is based around historical figures who are part of an ancient secret cult, but all of its disparate elements and characters were so confusing from part to part that I barely had any idea what was happening. The beginning started off fine, with the birth of the King of France and then his acceptance into the cult of historical figures. The Napoleon chapter started to pick up and become a bit interesting, but it took me forever to read, so I just didn't want to continue on. As breathtaking as the art could be, the story didn't do much in the way of character development or guiding the reader through any important themes for me to want to read more unfortuntately.
I feel like a broken record—because I say this about so many graphic novels—but the story barely holds a candle to the art. This is why (usually) the best GN's come from artist and writer duos who work together, because illustrations and storytelling are two entirely different art forms. It's rare when one person can master both and create a truly incredible GN (Monstress by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda is a great example of this occurrence), but Knights of Heliopolis sadly wasn't that.
The story is based around historical figures who are part of an ancient secret cult, but all of its disparate elements and characters were so confusing from part to part that I barely had any idea what was happening. The beginning started off fine, with the birth of the King of France and then his acceptance into the cult of historical figures. The Napoleon chapter started to pick up and become a bit interesting, but it took me forever to read, so I just didn't want to continue on. As breathtaking as the art could be, the story didn't do much in the way of character development or guiding the reader through any important themes for me to want to read more unfortuntately.
