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A review by ellelainey
Kill a Man by Steve Orlando, Phillip Kennedy Johnson
3.0
** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Copy received through Netgalley
~
Kill A Man
Steve Orlando, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Alec Morgan
★★★☆☆
128 Pages
Content Warning: violence, MMA, homophobia, death of a character
This was an interesting graphic novel, with an up-to-date, relevant plot that explores the trials of homophobia within sports, and also takes a look at coming-out, both in terms of a young man being outed and the struggles faced through that process.
However, I do have to point out that one of the reasons I wanted to read this was because it was billed as a YA graphic novel. I was so excited, thinking there would be a sports-and-queer positive storyline in a graphic novel aimed at young men. Instead, I found the book was filled with swearing, homophobia, bloody violence and an MC that had zero romance in his life until the final few pages and was instead consumed by nameless/meaningless hook-ups. The one supposedly positive queer relationship within the story fell flat in terms of actually inspiring sympathy, compassion or a sense of romance. It felt lacklustre and lacked affection. I was never inspired to like or feel a connection to Mayne.
I would never bill this story as suitable for the YA market. Perhaps a NA, 17+ market, but definitely not for anyone younger, which is what YA means.
I did like that the story explored the concept of coming out, as a sportsman, dealing with homophobia in sports, and rigged matches. However, the ultimate message that came across was that gay men can't/shouldn't exist in the world of sports, because they will never be given a fair chance by the sporting community or other sportsmen. Unless those sportsmen were gay, no one would ever accept them for who they were. There was a really HUGE opportunity to portray otherwise, but it didn't, and that really felt like a loss, especially if they do intend to market this to the YA audience.
I genuinely felt that the overall message was negative – it focused so intensely on the fact that a gay man killed a straight man. The story was so set on emphasising this that it came across very negatively towards gay men. It also focused a lot on the concept of gay man not having romantic or intimate relationships, rather just focusing on James' flings and hook-ups. It had ample opportunity to portray two sides of a story, but focused too much on one storyline and that meant it didn't have the chance to properly explore the relationships it should have.
The reality of James' experience with his family, and dealing with his coming out, was realistic and well handled.
Overall, the story was good and had a lot of potential, I was just disappointed to see that some opportunities had been given an opening that was never followed through on. I was also less inspired to forgive those failings, since the story did come across as a bit of a blend between the Rocky IV and Creed movies. As a massive fan of the Rocky franchise, this was far too close to the plot of both movies, and lacked the originality I was hoping for.
Copy received through Netgalley
~
Kill A Man
Steve Orlando, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Alec Morgan
★★★☆☆
128 Pages
Content Warning: violence, MMA, homophobia, death of a character
This was an interesting graphic novel, with an up-to-date, relevant plot that explores the trials of homophobia within sports, and also takes a look at coming-out, both in terms of a young man being outed and the struggles faced through that process.
However, I do have to point out that one of the reasons I wanted to read this was because it was billed as a YA graphic novel. I was so excited, thinking there would be a sports-and-queer positive storyline in a graphic novel aimed at young men. Instead, I found the book was filled with swearing, homophobia, bloody violence and an MC that had zero romance in his life until the final few pages and was instead consumed by nameless/meaningless hook-ups. The one supposedly positive queer relationship within the story fell flat in terms of actually inspiring sympathy, compassion or a sense of romance. It felt lacklustre and lacked affection. I was never inspired to like or feel a connection to Mayne.
I would never bill this story as suitable for the YA market. Perhaps a NA, 17+ market, but definitely not for anyone younger, which is what YA means.
I did like that the story explored the concept of coming out, as a sportsman, dealing with homophobia in sports, and rigged matches. However, the ultimate message that came across was that gay men can't/shouldn't exist in the world of sports, because they will never be given a fair chance by the sporting community or other sportsmen. Unless those sportsmen were gay, no one would ever accept them for who they were. There was a really HUGE opportunity to portray otherwise, but it didn't, and that really felt like a loss, especially if they do intend to market this to the YA audience.
I genuinely felt that the overall message was negative – it focused so intensely on the fact that a gay man killed a straight man. The story was so set on emphasising this that it came across very negatively towards gay men. It also focused a lot on the concept of gay man not having romantic or intimate relationships, rather just focusing on James' flings and hook-ups. It had ample opportunity to portray two sides of a story, but focused too much on one storyline and that meant it didn't have the chance to properly explore the relationships it should have.
The reality of James' experience with his family, and dealing with his coming out, was realistic and well handled.
Overall, the story was good and had a lot of potential, I was just disappointed to see that some opportunities had been given an opening that was never followed through on. I was also less inspired to forgive those failings, since the story did come across as a bit of a blend between the Rocky IV and Creed movies. As a massive fan of the Rocky franchise, this was far too close to the plot of both movies, and lacked the originality I was hoping for.