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daisyrain98's review
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
martereadsbooks's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Animal death, Murder, Sexual content, Gore, Blood, War, and Gun violence
Moderate: Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
shadowagentzero's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
tense
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
5.0
daja's review
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
queenqueso's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The art and take of the "white plague" is interesting, but otherwise it suffers from being a run-of-the-mill Apocalypse Comic in that it's mainly focused on being edgy, sexy, and falls into common overly done tropes without really expanding on or thinking through any of them.
Fat People Can't Survive The Apocalypse jokes? Check. Girls mainly being involved through being sexy and if not they're dead or bitchy? Check. The safe community is actually corrupt and evil? Check. Orientalism for the sake of adding cool swords? Check check.
It's just tiresome and in the end I barely finished this first volume. Avoid if you're looking for something different out of the zombie stories.
Fat People Can't Survive The Apocalypse jokes? Check. Girls mainly being involved through being sexy and if not they're dead or bitchy? Check. The safe community is actually corrupt and evil? Check. Orientalism for the sake of adding cool swords? Check check.
It's just tiresome and in the end I barely finished this first volume. Avoid if you're looking for something different out of the zombie stories.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Racism
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, and Fatphobia
Minor: Sexual assault
fragilelunar's review
4.0
I received this graphic novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This graphic novel was really cool! It was gritty and dark. It hooked my interest from the first page. The storyline is interesting and engaging. The characters are all intriguing and I’d like to learn more about them and their backstories. The art gives the perfect vibe for the story. I’m really looking forward to seeing where this story goes and how it evolves.
crittersandpageturners's review
2.0
"Fort Apache is a jail. But it is not the walls that are imprisoning it is the animals outside of them. This White Plague is a wall of fangs, claws and bloodthirsty beasts."
The desolation of the imagery made me thing we were entering a zombie apocalypse. I was surprised to learn it was a dystopian future in which beasts have savagely wiped out a lot of the human race. We do not have a lot of answers in this first volume because the story is still setting up but I can see a lot of potential here! The main premise is that two orphaned brothers enter a human compound of 400 other survivors. The compound, Fort Apache, is not a glorious human city. It is known for being in the centre of a dangerous and desolate area roaming with the beasts.
The care and consistency put into the artwork of this graphic novel is unparalleled. You could flip to any page, land your finger on a random square, and it will be beautiful. I thought that the art really helped to create the atmosphere of this story because it wasn't particularly dark. The plot-line focuses on living rather than being in fear; at least for this first volume. You can definitely see a darker, deeper theme developing for future volumes. I really enjoyed the way in which we slowly got to know all the characters in classic comic book style. I'm looking forward to learning more about Zach in further chapters. So far, I'm impartial to his brother Archer who is the second main protagonist in this series.
The desolation of the imagery made me thing we were entering a zombie apocalypse. I was surprised to learn it was a dystopian future in which beasts have savagely wiped out a lot of the human race. We do not have a lot of answers in this first volume because the story is still setting up but I can see a lot of potential here! The main premise is that two orphaned brothers enter a human compound of 400 other survivors. The compound, Fort Apache, is not a glorious human city. It is known for being in the centre of a dangerous and desolate area roaming with the beasts.
The care and consistency put into the artwork of this graphic novel is unparalleled. You could flip to any page, land your finger on a random square, and it will be beautiful. I thought that the art really helped to create the atmosphere of this story because it wasn't particularly dark. The plot-line focuses on living rather than being in fear; at least for this first volume. You can definitely see a darker, deeper theme developing for future volumes. I really enjoyed the way in which we slowly got to know all the characters in classic comic book style. I'm looking forward to learning more about Zach in further chapters. So far, I'm impartial to his brother Archer who is the second main protagonist in this series.
dhrish's review
2.0
CW: Nudity, sex, implied drug addiction, implied underage sex (character seemed to be under 18), violence, stereotypes
Let me get this out there. The premise of "Gung-ho" is an incredible take on a post-apocalyptic world. I did not expect Rippers to look like white killer monkeys. The incredible art-work by Thomas von Kummat was stunning, every panel felt like a painting.
"Gung-Ho" from those two points above was definitely on its way to getting between a 4-5 star rating. Where it loses it a bit for me are the characters themselves rather than anything innately wrong with the storyline. When I strip back the initial post-apocalyptic premise (including the killer-monkeys) of the story I don't really see anything I haven't seen a million times before in this genre. Which may be a really good thing if you are looking for something familiar to read but with a new package.
However, there were plot inconsistencies that made no sense to me and were not things I could ignore. The teenagers in this story have no regard for their own safety nor for the safety around them and while this is meant to be read as just a part of the world they live in, I can't help but think that their lack of fear makes no sense considering the kind of world they live in. Moments shown about the teenagers go further than just rebellion and there is not a single voice of reason among them which is unusual in a group of teenagers that big (whether they be fictional or not)
I don't mind nudity or sex panels in my graphic novels or manga. Sometimes they are an inevitable part of the story or genre setting. Those things I can live with and appreciate. Let me preface this by saying that apart from Archer, there was no indication that any of the other teenagers were 18 or older. However, stereotypes and just the use of the underage female characters in sex-scenes (or in general) made me really uncomfortable. While I don't think every piece of work published needs to be "woke"; there were too many obvious moments for my liking that leaned into an uncomfortable territory in that regard for no reason other than it could.
The ending to this volume was such a whiplash and would have been a 5 star read on its own. I'm not even joking.
However, the novel as a whole didn't hold up to the volume end. At this moment I don't think I'm going to pick up the second volume for reasons stated above.
Thank you to NetGalley and Diamond Book Distributors for allowing me to read an e-arc of this graphic novel. All opinions are my own.
Let me get this out there. The premise of "Gung-ho" is an incredible take on a post-apocalyptic world. I did not expect Rippers to look like white killer monkeys. The incredible art-work by Thomas von Kummat was stunning, every panel felt like a painting.
"Gung-Ho" from those two points above was definitely on its way to getting between a 4-5 star rating. Where it loses it a bit for me are the characters themselves rather than anything innately wrong with the storyline. When I strip back the initial post-apocalyptic premise (including the killer-monkeys) of the story I don't really see anything I haven't seen a million times before in this genre. Which may be a really good thing if you are looking for something familiar to read but with a new package.
However, there were plot inconsistencies that made no sense to me and were not things I could ignore. The teenagers in this story have no regard for their own safety nor for the safety around them and while this is meant to be read as just a part of the world they live in, I can't help but think that their lack of fear makes no sense considering the kind of world they live in. Moments shown about the teenagers go further than just rebellion and there is not a single voice of reason among them which is unusual in a group of teenagers that big (whether they be fictional or not)
I don't mind nudity or sex panels in my graphic novels or manga. Sometimes they are an inevitable part of the story or genre setting. Those things I can live with and appreciate. Let me preface this by saying that apart from Archer, there was no indication that any of the other teenagers were 18 or older. However, stereotypes and just the use of the underage female characters in sex-scenes (or in general) made me really uncomfortable. While I don't think every piece of work published needs to be "woke"; there were too many obvious moments for my liking that leaned into an uncomfortable territory in that regard for no reason other than it could.
The ending to this volume was such a whiplash and would have been a 5 star read on its own. I'm not even joking.
However, the novel as a whole didn't hold up to the volume end. At this moment I don't think I'm going to pick up the second volume for reasons stated above.
Thank you to NetGalley and Diamond Book Distributors for allowing me to read an e-arc of this graphic novel. All opinions are my own.
entanglednovels's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
michellehogmire's review
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0