Reviews

Victor LaValle's Destroyer by Dietrich Smith, Victor LaValle

tobin_elliott's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Hmmm...

While I enjoyed this one...especially the art...I will say I believe LaValle may have bitten off more than he'd realized with all the things going on in this story. There's racial tension. There's 3-D printing of living beings. There's nanobots. There's secret gov't agents. Oh, and there's Frankenstein's monster, who's suddenly a couple of hundred years old and superpowered as the Hulk.

I honestly believe LaValle could have left Mary Shelley's most famous creation right out of the mix and made it more about the NanoBoy and had a cleaner story. 

I enjoy LaValle's writing, and I enjoy seeing things we see everyday...such as casual racism...dealt with in a strong way. 

But overall, as a Frankenstein's monster story? No, I believe it was an abject failure. When you've got a piecemeal human—made solely from human parts—doing Hulk-style jumps and ripping apart huge metal robots with his bare hands? Nope. You've kinda left Mary Shelley's true creation on the cutting room floor.

snorlaxative's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

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

3.5

cyanstrawberry's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

internationalkris's review against another edition

4.0

I really appreciated the narrative choices and gorgeous artwork in this graphic adaptation of the Frankenstein story, though the story itself was occasionally a bit rushed and therefore hard to follow. The central character of the scientist mom was really well developed including solid connections to both #blacklivesmatter and #metoo. Her son was killed by a police officer while coming home from a little league game and though she was able to use her skills in nanotechnology to bring him back him in a form, she had to keep her accomplishments and anger hidden in order to function in society. But when the original monster created by Dr. Frankenstein returns to seek vengeance she also finds an outlet for her rage.

brennadonelan's review against another edition

fast-paced

3.0

ohsheread's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

4.25

violetlily13's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

ceeelizabethreads's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.0

joshgauthier's review against another edition

4.0

Finding surprising parallels between Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and modern social issues, LaValle's "Destroyer" is not only a story about technology and morality - but it also finds great depth in the age-old examination of the monsters we create and the monsters we ourselves become.

In this graphic novel, science-fiction and monsters meet with timely themes of race and gender conflict. Violence and loss of love have the potential to shape a person, and LaValle's story embraces the tension between rage and hope. Merging social commentary with effective fiction is a difficult balance, and "Destroyer" does not always manage this perfectly - but it succeeds much more often than it stumbles.

Often with simplicity, "Destroyer" draws the reader's attention to immediate questions about technology and social advancement, braiding Shelley's source material with modern themes and futuristic possibility. The result is strong, both as a graphic novel and as a piece of science fiction. LaValle's goals for this story are bold, and for the most part, he and the rest of the creative team achieve them with skill - creating a story that is engaging on the page, but that also turns an eye to the social questions we find ourselves facing today.

alyssalizarraga's review against another edition

4.0

While the summary of this book describes it as a modern re-telling of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, I would argue that LaValle takes it one meta step further. Destroyer is set in a world where Frankenstein’s monster is fact rather than fiction, and the consequences of both the creature himself and the consciousness behind his creation are just as real. The book follows a grieving scientist as she grapples with the losses in her life and uses her genius to fight the prejudices, physical and mental decay, and brutality that conspire to take everything away from her.

This book had one of the most captivating opening sequences that I’ve ever read (seen? I don’t know the language of graphic novels). There was something so unsettling about the visual combination of human gore and mechanical destruction that gave LaValle’s story a deep sense of gruesomeness. This book took me more than one read to really grasp, and I’m still not sure I understood all of the relationships and the timeline of the intertwining storylines. Another few chapters or volumes of this story would be greatly welcome. I would recommend this book to anyone who wishes they could have seen Frankenstein’s monster learn about the iPhone and battle a sentient Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robot.