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crystalstarrlight's review
5.0
For fans of the web-series, The Guild, this brief graphic novel is a prequel of sorts. Cyd Sherman is a violinist in the back row of an orchestra. Her boyfriend, a former member of the orchestra, is trying to start his own rock band and completely uses her. As Cyd grows more and more withdrawn, she reaches out to an MMO she bought on a whim. In the game, she is needed and successful.
The graphic novel has three "chapters", set off in a style similar to the webseries with Cyd/Codex sitting in front of her webcam and relating the day's events. While the chapters (and graphic novel itself) are short, the humor, the characters, and zany events are not truncated. The characters come off well, as good predecessors of their video incarnations. Cyd/Codex is our highlight as this is told from her point of view and is her "beginning" story. I can't tell you how sorry I felt for her, as she struggled with her self-esteem, her desire to be important and mean something, and with her inability to stand up to people, particularly her good-for-nothing, user boyfriend. The story is great; it makes complete sense why Cyd becomes more involved in the game. As she makes more friends and as her real life becomes more intolerable, she slowly becomes more and more involved in gaming life.
Other characters are brilliant as well. Zaboo, Vork, Clara, Bladezz, and Tinkerballa all appear and befriend Codex in interesting yet believable ways (people who are accustomed to some sort of online gaming or even forum life will be able to relate to this); all of their characters are believable predecessors. I enjoyed how Vork came off as keeping track of who owes him what (in order to get people to help him), while Tinkerballa charges gold. And I laughed when Clara continues to game while in the hospital after giving birth.
As for the graphic novel format, I liked how the art was used to differentiate between real world (harsh lines and colors) and game world (almost watercolor).
If I have any complaints, it is about two things: one the shortness of the graphic novel and the inconsistent art. For the first, the novel was so good, it should have been a hundred pages long. I can understand, however, why it was so short. It's brevity is reminiscent of the web series. The artwork, however, is more difficult to excuse. Cyd especially comes off as startlingly different from frame to frame. Some scenes with her are well-rendered while others are not.
Regardless, I still enjoyed this little graphic novel and highly recommend it to fans of the series and those in the gaming and internet forum worlds. It's a smart prequel, and in this day and age, that is a rare compliment indeed!
The graphic novel has three "chapters", set off in a style similar to the webseries with Cyd/Codex sitting in front of her webcam and relating the day's events. While the chapters (and graphic novel itself) are short, the humor, the characters, and zany events are not truncated. The characters come off well, as good predecessors of their video incarnations. Cyd/Codex is our highlight as this is told from her point of view and is her "beginning" story. I can't tell you how sorry I felt for her, as she struggled with her self-esteem, her desire to be important and mean something, and with her inability to stand up to people, particularly her good-for-nothing, user boyfriend. The story is great; it makes complete sense why Cyd becomes more involved in the game. As she makes more friends and as her real life becomes more intolerable, she slowly becomes more and more involved in gaming life.
Other characters are brilliant as well. Zaboo, Vork, Clara, Bladezz, and Tinkerballa all appear and befriend Codex in interesting yet believable ways (people who are accustomed to some sort of online gaming or even forum life will be able to relate to this); all of their characters are believable predecessors. I enjoyed how Vork came off as keeping track of who owes him what (in order to get people to help him), while Tinkerballa charges gold. And I laughed when Clara continues to game while in the hospital after giving birth.
As for the graphic novel format, I liked how the art was used to differentiate between real world (harsh lines and colors) and game world (almost watercolor).
If I have any complaints, it is about two things: one the shortness of the graphic novel and the inconsistent art. For the first, the novel was so good, it should have been a hundred pages long. I can understand, however, why it was so short. It's brevity is reminiscent of the web series. The artwork, however, is more difficult to excuse. Cyd especially comes off as startlingly different from frame to frame. Some scenes with her are well-rendered while others are not.
Regardless, I still enjoyed this little graphic novel and highly recommend it to fans of the series and those in the gaming and internet forum worlds. It's a smart prequel, and in this day and age, that is a rare compliment indeed!
brendalovesbooks's review
4.0
If you're a fan of The Guild, you'll like this. It was really fun to read.
marieintheraw's review
4.0
now that I've finally read the first volume, I know I'll get around to watching the show.
evermoreliterary's review
4.0
I loved watching the web series when it was first coming out years ago. When I recently discovered there was a book prequel for it, I jumped right on it. I loved it! Getting to experience it again brought back so much nostalgia. If you loved the web series, definitely pick this up. If you have not seen the web series, please look it up! Preferably before you read this book, as I believe it will only make your experience better.
jeslyncat's review
5.0
This is a great story that any online gamer (or loved on of an online gamer) will adore.
authoress233's review
5.0
Felicia Day sinks another. She deserves all the recognition possible. Her girl gamer stories are so relatable - sometimes painfully so - but she never fails to deliver a humor and pleasure in her craft inherent to nerds and gamers the world over. This graphic novel is beautifully written and illustrated. It serves as an excellent prequel to the Web series "The Guild." Day's memoir was phenomenal and this bit of back story is a lovely "based loosely on true events" take on entering the all-encompassing world of online cooperative gaming. I can't wait to read or watch her next intellectual project.