Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
While the foreword and afterword explain a lot, I can't help but be disappointed there was no deeper theme to the murdering other than violence. What is it to take a life, right vs wrong, consequences, etc wasn't fully explored. It was just a bunch of misfits killing each other. And the art was average, nice tone though.
Really love how dark this is! I'm definitely interested to continue reading the rest of the comics and (maybe) starting the show.
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
This was a fun graphic novel, a good distraction for this pandemic year. A secret school that trains assassins, but they are kids who make normal kid mistakes? There is some humor inside all the bloodshed.
Summary
Marcus is down on his luck after his parent's died and he left the boy's home. He's being chased by the cops, and gets saved by students from a school for assassins. The headmaster offers him a place there, and Marcus, at first, isn't sure about what he's in for. Seeing as he has no other options, he enters the school knowing his life is panning out much differently than anticipated.
Short Review
I bought this comic on buzz, and the fact that it sounded fascinating. However, all I can say is that the art in this graphic novel is the only saving grace. It is doing nothing new in the way of subverting character tropes or situations. The characters are stereotypes of that year, and there is only some depth and complexity to a few characters. This might be the kind of series that I'll have to wait for awhile to see anything really interesting from it, but all I have to say is that I was less than impressed by it.
The pacing is good, and the dialogue is tight (when there is dialogue). However, the exposition is quite long, and that is problematic for the story because through this first volume I didn't really get a good sense of any kind of story arc beyond Marcus's back story, entering the school for assassins, and falling in with a certain crowd.
I wanted a lot more out of this volume. Generally speaking, I'm quite easy to please with graphic novels, but I wasn't a fan of this story because nothing new is being done. The art is nice, but that's about it.
Marcus is down on his luck after his parent's died and he left the boy's home. He's being chased by the cops, and gets saved by students from a school for assassins. The headmaster offers him a place there, and Marcus, at first, isn't sure about what he's in for. Seeing as he has no other options, he enters the school knowing his life is panning out much differently than anticipated.
Short Review
I bought this comic on buzz, and the fact that it sounded fascinating. However, all I can say is that the art in this graphic novel is the only saving grace. It is doing nothing new in the way of subverting character tropes or situations. The characters are stereotypes of that year, and there is only some depth and complexity to a few characters. This might be the kind of series that I'll have to wait for awhile to see anything really interesting from it, but all I have to say is that I was less than impressed by it.
The pacing is good, and the dialogue is tight (when there is dialogue). However, the exposition is quite long, and that is problematic for the story because through this first volume I didn't really get a good sense of any kind of story arc beyond Marcus's back story, entering the school for assassins, and falling in with a certain crowd.
I wanted a lot more out of this volume. Generally speaking, I'm quite easy to please with graphic novels, but I wasn't a fan of this story because nothing new is being done. The art is nice, but that's about it.
First of all, I love the art in this book. It's gorgeously graphic (in the artistic sense, not the violent one). The use of color is brilliant, and I'm amazed at how easy it is to identify each character despite Craig's seeming aversion to detailed faces.
The story itself is interesting. It touches on so many topics that are downright taboo with alacrity while still making it pretty clear they're big, bad things. It's just too bad that everything seems rushed and not like we're getting the full story. Each chapter is composed of snippets of the story that give you the basics of what's going on but never explore what is actually going on.
It also suffers from Remender's early obsession with fitting a script fit for a novel within the pages of a comic. There is so much tiny text. Paragraphs and paragraphs of text that add to the psychology of Marcus, but make it a slog to get through some parts.
The story itself is interesting. It touches on so many topics that are downright taboo with alacrity while still making it pretty clear they're big, bad things. It's just too bad that everything seems rushed and not like we're getting the full story. Each chapter is composed of snippets of the story that give you the basics of what's going on but never explore what is actually going on.
It also suffers from Remender's early obsession with fitting a script fit for a novel within the pages of a comic. There is so much tiny text. Paragraphs and paragraphs of text that add to the psychology of Marcus, but make it a slog to get through some parts.
I don't understand the hype - this is all just trying too hard and failing too hard. You are supposed to root for the main character but he is unlikeable, unsympathetic and poorly developed. Maybe the series gets better as it goes along but I don't see how.