Reviews

Dear Creature by Jonathan Case

bunrab's review against another edition

4.0

Iambic-pentameter-spouting sea monster finds his agoraphobic Juliet. Happier ending than Shakespeare, apart from all the people who got eaten.

mkean's review against another edition

5.0

soo cute and wholesome. I don't know why it has such a low review! The characters are great, the art is wonderful, and everyone gets a happy ending.

keg_jpeg's review against another edition

2.0

Nothing too impactful or exciting but it’s a cute story with some heart. The artwork was more memorable than the strange story but the strangeness of it does add to the charm. It’s not a bad book by any means, just something I found forgettable.

therightprofile's review

funny mysterious tense fast-paced

chelseamartinez's review against another edition

3.0

Set in the era of Swamp Thing, this book puts together some expendable characters and throws some more crucial fleshed-out weirdos together; Giulietta, with a Janet Leigh pixie cut and hospital gown fashions, the exposed-brain fish creature of the title, some chatty crabs, some honest cops, etc. The section at the end on iambic pentameter not-withstanding, the jokey dialogues between the hero and the crabs was distracting to me but the story could totally be a movie; I think I'm not enough of a romantic for monster flicks though (and... I guess possibly The Shape of Water has done a lot of what's here, though I didn't see it). As the Foreward notes though, the line work is very striking.

daynpitseleh's review against another edition

3.0

I received this from Edelweiss and Dark Horse in exchange for an honest review.

This is a quirky love story about a Shakespeare loving sea monster - has it caught your interest yet? If that description sounds like something you would like, definitely check this one out. The artwork is awesome, and it's funny, sweet, and retro.

rouver's review

4.0

A sea monster feeds on lustful young teenagers who wander too close to the water; but he's more than a scary face. He searches for the person, his true love, who has been throwing tales from the bard into the ocean, message-in-a-bottle style. He speaks in iambic pentameter and is always accompanied by his wise-cracking side-kick crabs (since they, too, enjoy snacking on dead flesh, of course). It's a quirky fun read & I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who already enjoys graphic novels. My *only* complaint is that it wasn't done in color...but likely this was due to monetary reasons since this is the author's debut novel. Hopefully he is successful enough with this delightful tale that his publisher will go ahead & splurge on color next time.

capital_letter's review against another edition

3.0

Found it a bit hard to follow at first, but it definitely grew on me as I got used to the chaotic (but lovely!) black-and-white art.
Would probably give it a 3.5 if I could.

nnebeluk's review against another edition

3.0

An exciting concept that is rushed quickly is how'd I'd describe this book. There's just too much going on with too many different, unique characters to make sense of it all. The main love story is rushed, it's consequences never fully explored. It's a book that asks us to believe in the power of love but doesn't give us anything to love in its self

theartolater's review

3.0

What do you get when you have a sea monster that is inspired by Shakespeare to stop being such a monster and start loving? Dear Creature answers that, and with overall mixed results. It's part noir, part love story, part Beach Blanket Bingo, part mystery, so it's mostly all over the place, and that's ultimately detrimental. I love ambitious books, especially when they're graphic novels, but this one was perhaps too ambitious and felt unfocused even though the plot was tight.

Overall, a disappointment, but not necessarily in a bad way.