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A review by talon1010
Blackbird #1 by Fiona Staples, Sam Humphries, Jen Bartel
2.0
I, like you, picked this up from my library because of its GORGEOUS cover art. The art, while not as phenomenal as that on the cover(s), stays pretty good throughout, though less is true of the story.
My only note against the art is the figures. It sounds somewhat minor (and I really hate to suggest it and make any readers of this here comment see it in every panel), but with a few dramatic exceptions, almost all of the figures look like poorly-posed Barbie dolls. Not only their costumes and bodies, though that's also true, but in their posing. Whatever rendering or drafting software was used, revealed itself, because there's no way this is what a human hand thinks humans stand like; it's a little eerie, on the low lip of the uncanny valley. Still, I can't dip below 3 stars because of how gorgeous some rare moments of the art are.
Aside of that, of course, there's the writing. As a beautifully-covered Image comic, I anticipated some killer storytelling like Saga or The Wicked + the Divine, but found far less intrigue. The start is compelling, but the story soon reveals unsensible, unbelievable characters laid out in a dollhouse decked in hypebeast decorum. It's interesting enough, some stuff about modern witches, but the story feels handed over. I sympathize with the struggle to show, not tell, but I've always imagined that would be a lot easier to handle when the medium is visual. Still, every twist, magical detail, and element of worldbuilding, as well as even much of the dialogue feels obvious and unsubtle.
My only note against the art is the figures. It sounds somewhat minor (and I really hate to suggest it and make any readers of this here comment see it in every panel), but with a few dramatic exceptions, almost all of the figures look like poorly-posed Barbie dolls. Not only their costumes and bodies, though that's also true, but in their posing. Whatever rendering or drafting software was used, revealed itself, because there's no way this is what a human hand thinks humans stand like; it's a little eerie, on the low lip of the uncanny valley. Still, I can't dip below 3 stars because of how gorgeous some rare moments of the art are.
Aside of that, of course, there's the writing. As a beautifully-covered Image comic, I anticipated some killer storytelling like Saga or The Wicked + the Divine, but found far less intrigue. The start is compelling, but the story soon reveals unsensible, unbelievable characters laid out in a dollhouse decked in hypebeast decorum. It's interesting enough, some stuff about modern witches, but the story feels handed over. I sympathize with the struggle to show, not tell, but I've always imagined that would be a lot easier to handle when the medium is visual. Still, every twist, magical detail, and element of worldbuilding, as well as even much of the dialogue feels obvious and unsubtle.