heartthedead's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
4.25
spooderman's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Confinement, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Cursing, Medical content, Torture, Child abuse, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Violence, War, Ableism, Body horror, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Deportation, Medical trauma, Murder, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Slavery, Abortion, Toxic friendship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Abandonment and Eating disorder
thoroughlymodernreviewer's review
adventurous
dark
funny
2.5
Imagine a world controlled entirely by corporations. A world where humans are nothing more than commodities to be used until they’re dead. And a world where the "Sesame Street" gang acts as freedom fighters, fighting the good fight and protecting the innocent. That’s the basic premise behind "Survival Street". And it’s a great one. It’s just a shame the comic doesn’t really do anything with that premise.
While trying to make everything as absurd as possible, presumably to keep the story from being too depressing, the writers forget to keep the vast majority of the characters grounded enough for them to be relatable. Or, in fact, to give them much of a personality at all. There are a lot of backstories that get hinted at, but never properly explored. And so the characters end up feeling quite undefined - existing basically as obvious homages to other characters and not characters in their own right.
And the same is true for the plot, itself. All the pieces are there, but the comic just doesn't assemble them into a cohesive whole, nor does it spend any time truly delving into the ideas it brings up. Honestly, it feels like "Survival Street" wholly skips the first half of its story and jumps right into the deep end. And it makes for a really confusing, disorienting read. There’s little here to care about, and there’s little depth to be found in the very broad, surface-level satire. It often feels like the story’s aimless, heading nowhere in particular. And even when it finally seems to be heading towards a destination, it cops out on actually settling on a conclusion. It’s just the middle chapter of a story - but one without a beginning or an ending. And that's such a shame given how interesting some of its ideas are. But interesting ideas can only carry a story so far if it's unwilling to properly explore them.
Still, there’s some fun to be had here. The artwork is delightfully macabre, as is most of the plot. The action sequences are exceedingly cool, too - like something out of an '80s action movie. And there’s definitely a perverse joy in seeing these twisted versions of beloved childhood characters - especially given how little the book tries to hide its inspirations. But those small amounts of joy don’t really add up to anything particularly noteworthy. As it is, "Survival Street" is too fast-paced, too surface-level, and too noncommittal to be anything particularly memorable. It’s worth a read if you’re curious, but it didn’t really live up to my expectations.
Disclaimer: a review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for a fair review.
While trying to make everything as absurd as possible, presumably to keep the story from being too depressing, the writers forget to keep the vast majority of the characters grounded enough for them to be relatable. Or, in fact, to give them much of a personality at all. There are a lot of backstories that get hinted at, but never properly explored. And so the characters end up feeling quite undefined - existing basically as obvious homages to other characters and not characters in their own right.
And the same is true for the plot, itself. All the pieces are there, but the comic just doesn't assemble them into a cohesive whole, nor does it spend any time truly delving into the ideas it brings up. Honestly, it feels like "Survival Street" wholly skips the first half of its story and jumps right into the deep end. And it makes for a really confusing, disorienting read. There’s little here to care about, and there’s little depth to be found in the very broad, surface-level satire. It often feels like the story’s aimless, heading nowhere in particular. And even when it finally seems to be heading towards a destination, it cops out on actually settling on a conclusion. It’s just the middle chapter of a story - but one without a beginning or an ending. And that's such a shame given how interesting some of its ideas are. But interesting ideas can only carry a story so far if it's unwilling to properly explore them.
Still, there’s some fun to be had here. The artwork is delightfully macabre, as is most of the plot. The action sequences are exceedingly cool, too - like something out of an '80s action movie. And there’s definitely a perverse joy in seeing these twisted versions of beloved childhood characters - especially given how little the book tries to hide its inspirations. But those small amounts of joy don’t really add up to anything particularly noteworthy. As it is, "Survival Street" is too fast-paced, too surface-level, and too noncommittal to be anything particularly memorable. It’s worth a read if you’re curious, but it didn’t really live up to my expectations.
Disclaimer: a review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for a fair review.
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