Scan barcode
trevoryan's review against another edition
4.0
Possibly the darkest, harshest, most gruesome graphic novel I've ever read. I made myself read it quickly because of that. It actually made me shout "holy shit!" more than once. Not recommended for everyone. But, this is powerful stuff.
colindalaska's review against another edition
5.0
A loser scumbag gets super powers and sets out to get revenge on everyone he thinks (mistakenly) have wronged him.
Not a hero, not a villain, just a petty loser with powers. And for the short run very satisfying.
Not a hero, not a villain, just a petty loser with powers. And for the short run very satisfying.
belle_fiction's review against another edition
1.0
This was so bad! Gawd, it was AWFUL!
I have read the short story some years ago and I don't remember it being this bad!! Saying that, this isn't written by Joe Hill but based on his short story of the same name, and my God, it shows!
The story is terrible! Basically, a complete douche named Eric goes round killing people and blames it on his mom taking away his cape when he was a kid (a cape which gave him the ability to fly and somehow made him feel invincible). That's it! He kills his ex-girlfriend, his mom (and a plane full of innocent passengers), a random man on his way to work by hooking a wild bear out of the zoo and dropping it on his car and takes delight in watching the bear maul the man to death! Oh, and he also tries to kill his successful brother, Nicky, who went to Harvard. All I got from Eric's character was that he was a lazy bum, a good for nothing who didn't even want to try in life, who was jealous of his doctor brother, clearly had psychological issues and begrudged his mom for taking away his cape when he was a child purely because he fell out of the tree and was critically injured which makes complete and utter sense!!!
I hated it! There was no depth to the characters, no interesting plot lines; it was Eric just thinking of another macabre way of killing those who cared about him. Th only redeeming feature was the artwork, although even that, at times, was a bit too gory for my liking! Hence my one star rating.
Avoid at all costs!
I have read the short story some years ago and I don't remember it being this bad!! Saying that, this isn't written by Joe Hill but based on his short story of the same name, and my God, it shows!
The story is terrible! Basically, a complete douche named Eric goes round killing people and blames it on his mom taking away his cape when he was a kid (a cape which gave him the ability to fly and somehow made him feel invincible). That's it! He kills his ex-girlfriend, his mom (and a plane full of innocent passengers), a random man on his way to work by hooking a wild bear out of the zoo and dropping it on his car and takes delight in watching the bear maul the man to death! Oh, and he also tries to kill his successful brother, Nicky, who went to Harvard. All I got from Eric's character was that he was a lazy bum, a good for nothing who didn't even want to try in life, who was jealous of his doctor brother, clearly had psychological issues and begrudged his mom for taking away his cape when he was a child purely because he fell out of the tree and was critically injured which makes complete and utter sense!!!
I hated it! There was no depth to the characters, no interesting plot lines; it was Eric just thinking of another macabre way of killing those who cared about him. Th only redeeming feature was the artwork, although even that, at times, was a bit too gory for my liking! Hence my one star rating.
Avoid at all costs!
caitcoy's review against another edition
4.0
Probably one of the fastest graphic novel reads and SO messed up! Nick and Eric are brothers and when they were kids, like a lot of little boys, they played superheroes and villains. Except that Nick had a special cape, a cape that actually let him fly, until an accident ends with Nick in the hospital and their mom getting rid of the cape. Years later, Nick finds the cape again and finds power where he previously had none. To say it goes to his head is a serious understatement. Definitely a must for horror and graphic novel fans but don't say I didn't warn you!
helpfulsnowman's review against another edition
3.0
This sorta plays out the classic "Flight or Invisibility" hypothetical.
Would you rather be able to fly or turn invisible?
Keeping in mind that these powers come with NO other powers. So, you are not super strong and could only carry someone while flying if you could carry them while walking. You could fly at a moderate speed, let's say 30 mph, but not like 1,000 mph.
If you were invisible, you couldn't turn other things invisible, like your clothes. I'm going to say we wouldn't see food going through your body, and anything, like let's say you have a metal pin somewhere in your body, would also be invisible. We'll say your outer layer of skin, basically, is invisible and hides everything inside. But again, no other powers.
Flight is more amazing. Even flying kinda average speed and whatnot, it'd be pretty awesome. Even if you were going 30, you could probably get to work WAY faster because you'd go straight there, right?
Okay, the actual travel time, if you're over 30 minutes or so by car, is going to be almost identical. But it's gotta be more pleasant.
I guess it'd come in handy if you were ever in danger, your car broke down, whatever. Also, you could bail out of an airplane, so if you had anxiety about flying, that'd make things a little better, I expect.
But.
Invisibility is definitely the ticket to never working a day in your life. Robbing banks would be SO easy. The court cases would be easy. Even if you totally got caught because someone saw a stack of bills float away, how would they prove it was you?
A) "Are you suggesting that I'm able to turn invisible?
B) "If you CAN prove that I am able to turn invisible, somehow, wouldn't it then be plausible that other people can turn invisible, and therefore, how can you prove that I'm the ONLY invisible man, and how can you prove that I robbed the bank? Even if you found my DNA and fingerprints on the scene, we've now learned that something we previously thought impossible is completely possible in terms of invisibility powers, so wouldn't it stand to reason that other things, like DNA and fingerprinting being wrong or my DNA being planted, are also possible?"
I think I'd choose invisibility. But it IS sort of too bad to get invisibility powers after aging out of the interest in spying on a girls' locker room. Maybe it's for the best.
Flying would primarily be of benefit to me in that I could have a more pleasant commute to work. With invisibility, I wouldn't have to go at all. So...that's a slam dunk.
Would you rather be able to fly or turn invisible?
Keeping in mind that these powers come with NO other powers. So, you are not super strong and could only carry someone while flying if you could carry them while walking. You could fly at a moderate speed, let's say 30 mph, but not like 1,000 mph.
If you were invisible, you couldn't turn other things invisible, like your clothes. I'm going to say we wouldn't see food going through your body, and anything, like let's say you have a metal pin somewhere in your body, would also be invisible. We'll say your outer layer of skin, basically, is invisible and hides everything inside. But again, no other powers.
Flight is more amazing. Even flying kinda average speed and whatnot, it'd be pretty awesome. Even if you were going 30, you could probably get to work WAY faster because you'd go straight there, right?
Okay, the actual travel time, if you're over 30 minutes or so by car, is going to be almost identical. But it's gotta be more pleasant.
I guess it'd come in handy if you were ever in danger, your car broke down, whatever. Also, you could bail out of an airplane, so if you had anxiety about flying, that'd make things a little better, I expect.
But.
Invisibility is definitely the ticket to never working a day in your life. Robbing banks would be SO easy. The court cases would be easy. Even if you totally got caught because someone saw a stack of bills float away, how would they prove it was you?
A) "Are you suggesting that I'm able to turn invisible?
B) "If you CAN prove that I am able to turn invisible, somehow, wouldn't it then be plausible that other people can turn invisible, and therefore, how can you prove that I'm the ONLY invisible man, and how can you prove that I robbed the bank? Even if you found my DNA and fingerprints on the scene, we've now learned that something we previously thought impossible is completely possible in terms of invisibility powers, so wouldn't it stand to reason that other things, like DNA and fingerprinting being wrong or my DNA being planted, are also possible?"
I think I'd choose invisibility. But it IS sort of too bad to get invisibility powers after aging out of the interest in spying on a girls' locker room. Maybe it's for the best.
Flying would primarily be of benefit to me in that I could have a more pleasant commute to work. With invisibility, I wouldn't have to go at all. So...that's a slam dunk.
books_dogs_lexi's review
4.0
What the aych ee double hockey sticks did I just read?
Not to say it wasn’t good or interesting. It was, but it was hella brutal and hella violent and can someone else read it so I can talk about it, ‘Kay?
Not to say it wasn’t good or interesting. It was, but it was hella brutal and hella violent and can someone else read it so I can talk about it, ‘Kay?
universalbookworm's review against another edition
3.0
This is an anti-hero story, with all the charisma characteristic of Joe Hill.
kandicez's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this short story included in [b:20th Century Ghosts|373915|20th Century Ghosts|Joe Hill|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388224829s/373915.jpg|1049073]. It was a little strange, but not scary at all. A boy has a cape that actually allows him to fly. No one else really
In this graphic novel, that little 12 page story is fleshed out into an entire "book." Here, the boy who owns that cape is just...wrong somehow. This was very dark, and not just because of the graphic violence. There were also illustrations showing how dark this young man's feelings and heart were.
The illustrations were pretty good. I think the way Eric's jeans, especially the ripped out knees, were drawn was truly art, but because of the tone of the story I had a hard time appreciating it.
In this graphic novel, that little 12 page story is fleshed out into an entire "book." Here, the boy who owns that cape is just...wrong somehow. This was very dark, and not just because of the graphic violence. There were also illustrations showing how dark this young man's feelings and heart were.
The illustrations were pretty good. I think the way Eric's jeans, especially the ripped out knees, were drawn was truly art, but because of the tone of the story I had a hard time appreciating it.
deepfreezebatman's review against another edition
3.0
Saw this comic a few years ago at the public library I worked at. I saw that it was based on a short story by Joe Hill, so I decided I’d wait until after I had read the short story to check out the comic adaptation.
The first part of the comic is a quick recap of Joe Hill’s story, which is about a boy that discovers his cape made from a blanket has magic powers. While Joe Hill’s story is very dark and has a sinister twist, the comic expands on the story and adds a second act.
Overall I’m mixed on how I feel about this comic. While I can appreciate the creativity of the adaptation and the addition to the story, the purist in me can’t help but think that the additional material is unnecessary and completely misses the point of the original story.
The first part of the comic is a quick recap of Joe Hill’s story, which is about a boy that discovers his cape made from a blanket has magic powers. While Joe Hill’s story is very dark and has a sinister twist, the comic expands on the story and adds a second act.
Overall I’m mixed on how I feel about this comic. While I can appreciate the creativity of the adaptation and the addition to the story, the purist in me can’t help but think that the additional material is unnecessary and completely misses the point of the original story.
jonathonjones's review against another edition
2.0
This felt brutal, but without anything to make the brutality worth it. Like, here’s a character with no redeeming qualities, who then goes on to do awful things. Possibly that’s an interesting perspective for someone, but to me it was just kind of miserable and purposeless.