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kjfaulkner's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars. This book builds on a really Interesting concept and the art is very well done. It brings up some thought provoking critiques of society, but unfortunately doesn’t spend as much time as I’d like considering them. So again, my only criticism is that I wanted more back story and depth in some aspects. It could have easily been twice as long.
fritz_thyia's review against another edition
4.0
Incredibly unique and packed to the brim with just enough material to still make you want more by the time it's finished.
munksbooks's review against another edition
5.0
I read the first 6 issues of this comic over a year ago and finally finished. Heavy inspiration from Frankenstein is what drew me in and the writing is phenomenal. An emotional story that is heavy and necessarily so. The art is fantastic as well. I only wish it had been a little longer, but it did wrap up nicely.
christinemomo's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic novel with a modern take on Frankenstein.
Wish I liked this more, some of the info in the synopsis wasn’t clear in the book (I was a bit relieved to see that was a repeated refrain on goodreads) and being confused as some events happened really took away from it for me.
Frankenstein has come back from living in the Arctic for reasons after 100+ years and is healthy as ever. He sits on a boat and is radicalized by a YouTube video and kills everyone. He starts traveling the world murdering everyone.
Dr. Baker is a brilliant scientist that was kicked out of her lab for getting pregnant but made her own super lab at home and dedicated herself to perfecting nanotechnology to bring her son back to life, who was tragically shot at age 12 by a police officer.
Some other people from her old lab invade her lab and she shows off her back-from-the-dead cyborg son. Her ex shows up in a big robot suit. Frankenstein shows up. Dr. Baker uses her undead cyborg son as a weapon. lots of people die.
From the synopsis but not actually clear in the story: Frankenstein and Dr. Baker are apparently supposed to team up to destroy the world? I don’t know, they never speak. The people from her old lab are supposed to help or protect Dr. Baker?
The social themes of the dehumanization of Black children, parents’ grief and rage, and the idea that it was the OG Victor Frankenstein’s unresolved grief of his mother’s death that led him on his obsession to overcome death were all great ideas. The execution left a lot to be desired. Things were unclear, and too much time was spent on her old lab and too little on her son or on providing clarity on what Frankenstein’s whole deal was.
“Destroyer” by Victor LaValle, illustrated by Dietrich Smith and Joana LaFuente.
Wish I liked this more, some of the info in the synopsis wasn’t clear in the book (I was a bit relieved to see that was a repeated refrain on goodreads) and being confused as some events happened really took away from it for me.
Frankenstein has come back from living in the Arctic for reasons after 100+ years and is healthy as ever. He sits on a boat and is radicalized by a YouTube video and kills everyone. He starts traveling the world murdering everyone.
Dr. Baker is a brilliant scientist that was kicked out of her lab for getting pregnant but made her own super lab at home and dedicated herself to perfecting nanotechnology to bring her son back to life, who was tragically shot at age 12 by a police officer.
Some other people from her old lab invade her lab and she shows off her back-from-the-dead cyborg son. Her ex shows up in a big robot suit. Frankenstein shows up. Dr. Baker uses her undead cyborg son as a weapon. lots of people die.
From the synopsis but not actually clear in the story: Frankenstein and Dr. Baker are apparently supposed to team up to destroy the world? I don’t know, they never speak. The people from her old lab are supposed to help or protect Dr. Baker?
The social themes of the dehumanization of Black children, parents’ grief and rage, and the idea that it was the OG Victor Frankenstein’s unresolved grief of his mother’s death that led him on his obsession to overcome death were all great ideas. The execution left a lot to be desired. Things were unclear, and too much time was spent on her old lab and too little on her son or on providing clarity on what Frankenstein’s whole deal was.
“Destroyer” by Victor LaValle, illustrated by Dietrich Smith and Joana LaFuente.
prophetofguillotines's review against another edition
4.0
While this was underdeveloped and needs so much to break up the story we did have, I truly appreciated the intent, message, and art of this whole story. I would of really appreciated if LaValle would of taken his time to develop this story and give the characters a chance to build something with the reader rather than a giant punch in the face from start to finish. This has such an important message and that's why I wish to see more development of the characters in the future.
aubsterthehamster's review against another edition
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
5.0
madeleinelaine's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent combination of classic horror and current tensions.
apworden's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
octavia_cade's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
4.0
I read and reviewed each of the six issues collected here separately, so this is basically just for my own records. In short: I'm going to have to get my own copy of this to keep, because I got this from the library and I want my own. I love Frankenstein, so I'm always willing to read any interpretations of it, and Destroyer - which reimagines Victor as Dr. Josephine Baker, who rebuilds her twelve year old son Akai after he is shot to death by police in an instance of racial violence - is fantastic. It's so good, and Josephine and Akai are drawn so strongly, that I genuinely don't care about the original monster when it turns up. It does so, periodically, and I almost wished that it would go away so that the focus would remain strongly on that mother-son relationship.
There are so many elements here that work so well: that focus on police (and societal) violence against Black kids, the twist as to the identity and function of the Bride, who benefits from ignorance, the really excellent art... I want my own copy. I do.
There are so many elements here that work so well: that focus on police (and societal) violence against Black kids, the twist as to the identity and function of the Bride, who benefits from ignorance, the really excellent art... I want my own copy. I do.