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4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Crow is one of my favorite movies of all time, but the comic was just good to me. There was more of Shelly and Eric, and I liked that, but the actual story fell a little flat. I'm glad I finally got to read this though!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence
Minor: Self harm
Wow. The Crow was an impulse purchase I made just two days ago. Of course I've seen the 1994 movie, but I never got around to reading the graphic novel despite meaning to. And with every turn of a page, I kicked my arse harder for it.
There isn't a deep story here filled with hidden meanings. The dialogue isn't poetry or thought provoking as such. Neither are there any real character arcs. Instead, there is a violent journey of revenge and catharsis. Each frame is a reflection of anguish and the inability to let go. The story also deals with a lot of dark content, including.
Once I started reading, I didn't want to put it down. With every painful memory I saw Eric (the main character) recall, I recalled my own past pain. The Crow barrages you with a cascade of emotions; self-accusation, self-destruction, loss, hatred, desire for revenge, search for catharsis, not wanting to let go or forget, and love. All of us have suffered at some point in our lives. And it's that pain, those traumas, those moments in time in our lives, that The Crow calls to. It is through those that we connect to Eric's story. And through Eric's story, we ultimately connect with James O'Barr, and his loss.
The art of The Crow has a very fitting and gritty style overall, and it's entirely black & white. I love how certain sections have a more dreamy / surreal style, which helps accentuate certain emotions the scene evokes. The angles and perspectives serve emotional impact well. I also find the paneling very good overall, keeping in mind functionality and readability, while serving dramatic needs and storytelling / pacing.
The Crow shot its way straight into my all-time favourite works of fiction. I absolutely loved how it's heavy with emotion, but that can possibly be a bit too much for some. Especially if you don't like evoking negative memories or feelings of your own when reading. I only regret that I didn't get around to reading The Crow when I was struggling with my mental health in my early adulthood, as I think it would've been a huge help. But even now, nearly two decades later, I feel like reading it still eased some of the lingering agony of my past.
To everyone struggling, I know it may not always seem like it, but remember; "it can't rain all the time."
There isn't a deep story here filled with hidden meanings. The dialogue isn't poetry or thought provoking as such. Neither are there any real character arcs. Instead, there is a violent journey of revenge and catharsis. Each frame is a reflection of anguish and the inability to let go. The story also deals with a lot of dark content, including
Spoiler
rape, necrophilia, drug use, self-harm, and goreOnce I started reading, I didn't want to put it down. With every painful memory I saw Eric (the main character) recall, I recalled my own past pain. The Crow barrages you with a cascade of emotions; self-accusation, self-destruction, loss, hatred, desire for revenge, search for catharsis, not wanting to let go or forget, and love. All of us have suffered at some point in our lives. And it's that pain, those traumas, those moments in time in our lives, that The Crow calls to. It is through those that we connect to Eric's story. And through Eric's story, we ultimately connect with James O'Barr, and his loss.
The art of The Crow has a very fitting and gritty style overall, and it's entirely black & white. I love how certain sections have a more dreamy / surreal style, which helps accentuate certain emotions the scene evokes. The angles and perspectives serve emotional impact well. I also find the paneling very good overall, keeping in mind functionality and readability, while serving dramatic needs and storytelling / pacing.
The Crow shot its way straight into my all-time favourite works of fiction. I absolutely loved how it's heavy with emotion, but that can possibly be a bit too much for some. Especially if you don't like evoking negative memories or feelings of your own when reading. I only regret that I didn't get around to reading The Crow when I was struggling with my mental health in my early adulthood, as I think it would've been a huge help. But even now, nearly two decades later, I feel like reading it still eased some of the lingering agony of my past.
To everyone struggling, I know it may not always seem like it, but remember; "it can't rain all the time."
dark
sad
medium-paced
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
** I received a copy of this book for free through a Goodreads giveaway. **
I both liked and disliked this book. I loved the dark tone and actually enjoyed the disjointed thought patterns of the hero. However, it was just.....too easy? The main character moves through his dark world with no barriers, he completes his quest for revenge much too easily. I understand that he's basically unkillable and that he appears to be invulnerable but this story makes hunting down more than an entire gang's worth of people and killing them seem to be no more difficult than (literally) taking out the trash. Also, the cats. I love cats. And I'm always up for the inclusion of cats in stories but the cats did nothing. They were just there. No explanation for them or reason for them. I know that's a silly little thing but it just....annoyed me. I just feel there could have been so much more to this character but I really got no sense of him, other than his obvious need for revenge. How did he survive? What's up with the crow? (Yeah, I'll admit, I've never seen the movie.) Why can't he be killed? What the hell is going on with the horse? So, while I did like the darkness and the disjointed flow, I would have appreciated some more background or explanation. I also didn't feel much for the main character because the few scenes detailing the MCs life with his girlfriend before the tragedy didn't give me any real sense of....anything really. They were just there. Oh well. Because my rating kept fluctuating between 2 stars and 4 stars, I decided to go with 3. But it could have been an easy 4 stars with just a bit more description.
I both liked and disliked this book. I loved the dark tone and actually enjoyed the disjointed thought patterns of the hero. However, it was just.....too easy? The main character moves through his dark world with no barriers, he completes his quest for revenge much too easily. I understand that he's basically unkillable and that he appears to be invulnerable but this story makes hunting down more than an entire gang's worth of people and killing them seem to be no more difficult than (literally) taking out the trash. Also, the cats. I love cats. And I'm always up for the inclusion of cats in stories but the cats did nothing. They were just there. No explanation for them or reason for them. I know that's a silly little thing but it just....annoyed me. I just feel there could have been so much more to this character but I really got no sense of him, other than his obvious need for revenge. How did he survive? What's up with the crow? (Yeah, I'll admit, I've never seen the movie.) Why can't he be killed? What the hell is going on with the horse? So, while I did like the darkness and the disjointed flow, I would have appreciated some more background or explanation. I also didn't feel much for the main character because the few scenes detailing the MCs life with his girlfriend before the tragedy didn't give me any real sense of....anything really. They were just there. Oh well. Because my rating kept fluctuating between 2 stars and 4 stars, I decided to go with 3. But it could have been an easy 4 stars with just a bit more description.
Achei que acaba sendo muito repetitivo, embora isso provavelmente se deve ao espelhamento do pensamento neurótico obsessivo do protagonista, enfim, gosto mais da adaptação cinematográfica que está completando hoje 30 anos de seu lançamento.
I can see why it's a cult classic but I've never really been impressed with the story. It's so emo and goth that I want to laugh.
I don't know why I put this one off. Art is beautiful. Dark and edgy, but actually filled with poetry and loss.
Grief as a punk rock poem. After trying to read it several times over the past two years, finally sat down and restarted and got through it all in one sitting. The melancholy, the language, the power of it all. A masterpiece.
After he and his girlfriend are murdered, a man returns to exact revenge. Approaching the original comic when familiar with the film adaptation can feel like a disappointment: there's less narrative here and the structure is more disjointed. Mostly this is a sign of a strong adaptation, because the film manages to take a slew of elements and build them into a more coherent structure--sometimes seen slantwise, sometimes a direct page-to-screen translation--while including a dozen easter eggs that reference scenes in the comic which aren't included in the film.
But the comic isn't just the same story, unrefined. The comic and film share an aesthetic but the comic is messier, more chaotic, unrelenting in harsh black and white. The tone is crazed, littered with non sequiturs and quotations, rich with introspective moments that explore Eric's unresolved grief. The lack of structure is a thematic echo: the Crow's violence is perpetuating and destructive--like the film it has catharsis, but it offers so little resolution. These two versions are for me inextricable. O'Barr said in an interview:
and the comic and film reflect this. The comic is painful and unfulfilling; it's less successful as a stand-alone work, but the film couldn't exist--or say so much--without its predecessor and without the cumulative interplay between the versions, and the metaknowledge of O'Barr and of Brandon Lee. I love both versions; the comic is less fun to revisit, but it always gives me a deeper appreciation of the work entire.
But the comic isn't just the same story, unrefined. The comic and film share an aesthetic but the comic is messier, more chaotic, unrelenting in harsh black and white. The tone is crazed, littered with non sequiturs and quotations, rich with introspective moments that explore Eric's unresolved grief. The lack of structure is a thematic echo: the Crow's violence is perpetuating and destructive--like the film it has catharsis, but it offers so little resolution. These two versions are for me inextricable. O'Barr said in an interview:
Basically, when I was 18, my fiancé was killed by a drunk driver. I was really hurt, frustrated, and angry. I thought that by putting some of this anger and hate down on paper that I could purge it from my system. But, in fact, all I was doing was intensifying it--I was focusing on all this negativity. As I worked on it, things just got worse and worse, darker and darker. So, it really didn't have the desired effect--I was probably more fucked up afterwards than before I started. It was only after becoming friends with Brandon, experiencing his death, and seeing the film--perhaps 17 times now--that I finally reached what is currently called "closure" while visiting his grave in Seattle.
and the comic and film reflect this. The comic is painful and unfulfilling; it's less successful as a stand-alone work, but the film couldn't exist--or say so much--without its predecessor and without the cumulative interplay between the versions, and the metaknowledge of O'Barr and of Brandon Lee. I love both versions; the comic is less fun to revisit, but it always gives me a deeper appreciation of the work entire.