Reviews

Little Bird: The Fight for Elder's Hope by Darcy Van Poelgeest

crookedtreehouse's review

3.0

A story about a hero vs a tyrranical religious movement should be right up my alley. But somewhere around the second issue, my interest in the story started to wane. The dialogue and narration suggested an epicness in scope that the story didn't really deliver on. The grotesque violence was rendered beautifully by Ian Bertram but it was too over the top for me.

I found no plot point unexpected, no resolution made me happy or angry. I just wasn't invested in the characters. The villains too cartoonishly evil. The protagonists too martryish and magically invincible.

Fans of art that ranges from Frank Quitely to Moebius will probably love this book. It also has some Grant Morrisonly appeal. So it's not a bad book. It just isn't for me.

themattacaster's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

geoccali's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

1.0

bisexualwentworth's review

Did the plot make sense? Meh. Was the art gorgeous? Yes very much so. Was the world fascinating? Also yes. Did I vibe with the themes of the story? Also also yes.

chamblyman's review

4.0

Little Bird is a treat for fans of dark fantasy and weird dystopian worlds. There are shades of a His Dark Materials style totalitarian theocracy in Darcy Van Poelgeest's story, mixed with brutal, Mad Maxian violence and an almost Dune-like combo of science fiction and mysticism. Ian Bertram's visuals are wild, gorgeous, grotesque, and eye-poppingly otherworldly in a Princess Mononoke meets Moebius kind of way. Book one comes to a somewhat satisfying stopping point, yet definitely whets the appetite for a book 2, 3 or more.

oliverluca's review

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Really wonderful concept, I just struggled to understand what was happening all the time, though I’m sure this is at least in part due to my inexperience in reading comics. 

misssusan's review against another edition

1.0

once again book club is making me read books i'd have dropped in three pages otherwise

shea_proulx's review

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

It was hard to understand what was happening, they could have drawn it out a little more and explained things better. The art is pretty amazing though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

joelevard's review

3.0

Started strong, but the last issue or two descended into violent incomprehensibility. I love the art style but I doubt it will keep me going through the next book.

toniherrero's review

adventurous dark medium-paced

4.5

A favor: m'ha flipat molt el dibuix i l'ús del color. El disseny dels personatges, els escenaris i la paleta de colors m'han recordat Moebius, i això sempre és un punt a favor. La barreja de sci-fi i gore és atractiva i contundent, i genera una distopia de tall militarista i ultracatòlica amb un potencial visual més que evident i difícil d'oblidar.

En contra: l'element d'especulació narrativa pel que fa als gens de la reencarnació és un element poc explicat dins de la trama, però, en canvi, afegeix un plus de complexitat que en el meu cas m'ha dificultat traçar la linearitat de l'argument; personalment, he acabat bastant perdut en el tram final. D'altra banda, resulta sorprenent que l'excel·lència mostrada al llarg de tota la il·lustració es perdi en la concepció de la Groundhog, que resulta bastant maldestra i mal concebuda en les poques vinyetes en què apareix.

En definitiva: Little Bird és molt la meva merda, visualment i conceptualment. Sang i fetge a dojo i un ús sublim de la tecnologia i els colors fan d'aquest còmic un exponent de la ciència-ficció a tenir molt en compte. Reconec que és fàcil no entendre quasi res d'allò que envolta algun personatge, però servidor sempre s'ha mogut més per les sensacions que per la lògica de la trama. I aquest llibre ho té tot: resulta visualment punyent, ens presenta personatges memorables i fa gala d'un missatge anticlerical i sovint anticolonialista —la defensa acèrrima dels aborígens canadencs, no tant de la bandera i la pàtria en si, ja m'ha guanyat per la causa— que la converteix en un cavall guanyador. Molt i molt content d'haver-la descobert.