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njdarkish's review
2.0
Though the art was pretty decent (with the exception of a couple of characters who were drawn in a way that felt like caricature that you'd get in a tourist trap) and the creature design was pretty cool, I largely was unimpressed by this graphic novel. I felt like there was a lot going on-- a monster in the woods, a silent wild child, a town built on principles of atheism, military desertion, racism, sexism... I don't mind there being many facets to a story, but many of these didn't really connect to each other in any meaningful way, which made the shotgun-blast of ideas covered a bit confusing (which then left me bored).
geekwayne's review against another edition
3.0
'Fraternity Vol. 1' by Juan Diaz Canales with art by Jose-Luis Munuera is a story about a boy and his relationship with a strange creature. At least that's what the cover would have you think.
It is 1863 in Fraternity, Indiana, and the community is trying to be a utopia. They want nothing to do with the war, and they really don't want their lives disrupted. When a young feral boy is found in the wild, the town takes him in, but food is scarce and the town seems to be on the brink of failure. The young boy seems to be connected to a large creature, but when the town stumble across him, they react with fear. That and the prejudice the townspeople have make this a less than idyllic utopia.
Let's start with the positive. I really liked the illustrations. They do a great job of setting the mood. The color is muted and some of the drawings are muted and mysterious.
The story may just be setting things up, so I'm going to cut it a bit of a break. All the elements are here for an interesting story, but I'm left with questions. Is the large creature an alien or some odd native creature? How did this group of people ever agree to live together? Why is this boy alone? None of these are answered, and the story feels a bit lacking in momentum because of this.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Lion Forge, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
It is 1863 in Fraternity, Indiana, and the community is trying to be a utopia. They want nothing to do with the war, and they really don't want their lives disrupted. When a young feral boy is found in the wild, the town takes him in, but food is scarce and the town seems to be on the brink of failure. The young boy seems to be connected to a large creature, but when the town stumble across him, they react with fear. That and the prejudice the townspeople have make this a less than idyllic utopia.
Let's start with the positive. I really liked the illustrations. They do a great job of setting the mood. The color is muted and some of the drawings are muted and mysterious.
The story may just be setting things up, so I'm going to cut it a bit of a break. All the elements are here for an interesting story, but I'm left with questions. Is the large creature an alien or some odd native creature? How did this group of people ever agree to live together? Why is this boy alone? None of these are answered, and the story feels a bit lacking in momentum because of this.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Lion Forge, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
spiffysarahruby's review against another edition
3.0
The art was beautiful, the monster and the boy were fascinating, and I didn't care about anything else in the book at all. I get what the book was saying but... just meh.
jhstack's review against another edition
2.0
The plots and characters take a while to reach an unsatisfactory ending. There's no answer to the creature or its potential connection to Emile, the love triangle fizzles, and the town council is stuck in their ways. (e-galley from NetGalley)
anastasia18's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
becks_books's review against another edition
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a free review copy in exchange for an honest review.
I unfortunately didn't finish this because it really isn't my kind of thing. I found it confusing and I couldn't tell the difference between most of the male characters because it's set at a time where I think all men pretty much looked and dressed the same. The time setting seems kind of interesting and I liked the art, but I wasn't getting anything out of the reading experience so I think I'll just try Blacksad by the author which gets much better reviews instead.
I unfortunately didn't finish this because it really isn't my kind of thing. I found it confusing and I couldn't tell the difference between most of the male characters because it's set at a time where I think all men pretty much looked and dressed the same. The time setting seems kind of interesting and I liked the art, but I wasn't getting anything out of the reading experience so I think I'll just try Blacksad by the author which gets much better reviews instead.
zionacook's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
wwtpeng's review against another edition
2.0
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for granting me an ARC of this book. This book deals with a small town following the civil war, conflicts between the Town's residents, and a Beowulf style monster. The art is quite good with crisp lines and colors.
I am going to come out and say my major issue with the book: it certainly wasn't the artwork and it wasn't the plot of the story. It was the PDF file that could only be viewed in Aldiko Book Reader. Every time I needed to zoom in to view text the page had to refresh and every time I had to zoom out the page had to refresh. The app also does not allow for viewing with the screen rotated. Many pages were also just blanks in the viewer. I'd say 20 percent of the content was missing.
I am going to come out and say my major issue with the book: it certainly wasn't the artwork and it wasn't the plot of the story. It was the PDF file that could only be viewed in Aldiko Book Reader. Every time I needed to zoom in to view text the page had to refresh and every time I had to zoom out the page had to refresh. The app also does not allow for viewing with the screen rotated. Many pages were also just blanks in the viewer. I'd say 20 percent of the content was missing.
thebookishaustin's review against another edition
3.0
I read an ARC of this, from the publisher.
As far as graphic novels go, this one was ok. I think there's a lot of set up in these first two parts but also not a lot happens. The characters definitely need to be developed more in depth. I'd be curious to see where these story arcs are going though...
In terms of artistry, I thought the book was beautiful; the different color palettes for different settings were fantastic and added different vibes throughout.
As far as graphic novels go, this one was ok. I think there's a lot of set up in these first two parts but also not a lot happens. The characters definitely need to be developed more in depth. I'd be curious to see where these story arcs are going though...
In terms of artistry, I thought the book was beautiful; the different color palettes for different settings were fantastic and added different vibes throughout.