Reviews with content warning for Child death - Victor LaValle's Destroyer

Frankenstien's Monster awakens in the Arctic. A broken-down, burnt out scientist is perfecting her next experiment. When it works, her son is brought back. This places him in the middle of a tug a war between his mother's old boss, his mother, and the monster.

I loved the art. I loved the story. Some of the scenes felt disconnected and unclear. I wish this had been a 3 series arc.

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jessereadsthings's review against another edition

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dark sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Good concept, but I think I would have enjoyed it more as a book or maybe a longer form comic series.

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devin_raquel's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

FAVORITE QUOTE: “Who benefits from your ignorance?”

Another graphic novel assigned to me in my Literature & Medicine class. This book is a “continuation” of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and explores concepts of medicine, social injustice, and enviromental terrorism. The art style reminded my A LOT of The Walking Dead comics, and the use of color is really unique and engaging. In 180 pages LaValle and Smith have created a story that encompasses so many important ideas, made palatable by the inclusion of a story we’re already familiar with. I gave this graphic novel an overall rating of 3.5 stars simply because of the abrupt ending. I’m aware this is the first installment of a series, but I think Lavalle could’ve ended in a “cleaner” manner.

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kingcrookback's review against another edition

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dark reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

This is a very interesting take on the themes of humanity and hubris that Shelley explored in the original Frankenstein. I would have gladly spent more time reading about how race and racism affect people's perception of humanity and compassion (especially in America) and about the intersection between science/the pursuit of knowledge and capitalism. But maybe it's a characteristic of the more visual medium (I don't have much experience with graphic novels, so I wouldn't know) or a consequence of the shorter length of the story, a lot of the themes felt very heavy-handed.

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