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A review by bellatora
Memorial by Chris Roberson, Rich Ellis
5.0
The cover does not do this graphic novel justice at all. It also made me think that the main girl is trapped in an insane asylum, which she is not.
Em shows up one day with no memory of her past, but that part is quickly fastforwarded through to the day she finds a door that was not there before. Through the door is a key, an old man and a talking cat named Schrodinger. Em ends up in the Everlands, where an evil queen has taken over the other kingdoms and now rules over all that ever was, ever is, or ever might be. That means that legends and story figures pop up all over the place in the Everlands (Robin Hood, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Captain Hook, Mulan, Sinbad, etc. etc.).
I liked the concept - the magic key that can open a door into different places and do other cool things like sending people backwards through their own timelines reminds me of [b:Locke and Key, Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft|3217221|Locke and Key, Vol. 1 Welcome to Lovecraft|Joe Hill|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327921403s/3217221.jpg|3251160] and the Land of Famous Fictionals reminds me of [b:Fables, Vol. 1: Legends in Exile|21326|Fables, Vol. 1 Legends in Exile|Bill Willingham|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327871895s/21326.jpg|1138855]. This first volume (and I'm thinking it is a series, because Em finishes this volume still needing to defeat the evil queen, find a missing queen, and regain her shadow) is a little rushed. It felt like entire books of story were crammed together into one - Em discovers the magical key! Em goes into the magical land! Em meets lots of famous people! The evil queen keeps sending people after Em! Em meets the evil queen face-to-face! A lot is going on, is what I'm saying, and it has to chug along at a very quick pace without too much pause for character growth or interaction. But there was a lot to establish and now that it's all properly set up, the next volumes can delve in deeper.
P.S. As a native Portlander, I loved that this was set in Portland and that there were lots of little jokes about the city in there. Like one of the Evil Statutes that attacked Em in the beginning was the Umbrella Man.
Em shows up one day with no memory of her past, but that part is quickly fastforwarded through to the day she finds a door that was not there before. Through the door is a key, an old man and a talking cat named Schrodinger. Em ends up in the Everlands, where an evil queen has taken over the other kingdoms and now rules over all that ever was, ever is, or ever might be. That means that legends and story figures pop up all over the place in the Everlands (Robin Hood, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Captain Hook, Mulan, Sinbad, etc. etc.).
I liked the concept - the magic key that can open a door into different places and do other cool things like sending people backwards through their own timelines reminds me of [b:Locke and Key, Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft|3217221|Locke and Key, Vol. 1 Welcome to Lovecraft|Joe Hill|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327921403s/3217221.jpg|3251160] and the Land of Famous Fictionals reminds me of [b:Fables, Vol. 1: Legends in Exile|21326|Fables, Vol. 1 Legends in Exile|Bill Willingham|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327871895s/21326.jpg|1138855]. This first volume (and I'm thinking it is a series, because Em finishes this volume still needing to defeat the evil queen, find a missing queen, and regain her shadow) is a little rushed. It felt like entire books of story were crammed together into one - Em discovers the magical key! Em goes into the magical land! Em meets lots of famous people! The evil queen keeps sending people after Em! Em meets the evil queen face-to-face! A lot is going on, is what I'm saying, and it has to chug along at a very quick pace without too much pause for character growth or interaction. But there was a lot to establish and now that it's all properly set up, the next volumes can delve in deeper.
P.S. As a native Portlander, I loved that this was set in Portland and that there were lots of little jokes about the city in there. Like one of the Evil Statutes that attacked Em in the beginning was the Umbrella Man.