colbysearcy's review against another edition
4.0
Part political drama, part Alien invasion, what's not to like here? When the newly elected President takes office, he's given a secret letter from the previous President stating there's a secret asteroid containing alien life that the rest of the world doesn't know about and that it should be kept secret for the betterment of society.
While this volume only scratched the surface of the story being told here, there was definitely a lot to like and some great teases for what more is to come. I will definitely be checking out the rest of this series as it is released. My only real negative(and even then i can look past it) is the artwork in places, especially characters faces can get very muddy and jumbled and make them look deformed. Otherwise, very good series so far.
Full Disclosure: I received a free digital copy of Letter 44, Volume 1 through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
While this volume only scratched the surface of the story being told here, there was definitely a lot to like and some great teases for what more is to come. I will definitely be checking out the rest of this series as it is released. My only real negative(and even then i can look past it) is the artwork in places, especially characters faces can get very muddy and jumbled and make them look deformed. Otherwise, very good series so far.
Full Disclosure: I received a free digital copy of Letter 44, Volume 1 through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
daniellemarie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
themattacaster's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
biglibraryenergy's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
kristy_k's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 Stars
This comic has been on my tbr for a while so when Netgalley had it available as part of a re-release I grabbed the chance to read it.
The plot revolves around the inauguration and new term of Pres. Blake (44th US pres.) and a group of astronauts who’ve been sent to see what they can find about an alien structure. It pulls heavily from 2008 US politics but puts a spin on it. I really enjoyed this one and am excited to see where it leads.
This comic has been on my tbr for a while so when Netgalley had it available as part of a re-release I grabbed the chance to read it.
The plot revolves around the inauguration and new term of Pres. Blake (44th US pres.) and a group of astronauts who’ve been sent to see what they can find about an alien structure. It pulls heavily from 2008 US politics but puts a spin on it. I really enjoyed this one and am excited to see where it leads.
aaronfromkansas's review against another edition
1.0
The premise is cool: outgoing president has been conducting foreign wars in order to hide alien contact. Ok. The artwork is too exaggerated for me but that’s not a dealbreaker. The plot, however, makes little sense and the characters are pretty much two-dimensional. Would two women realistically agree to have sex with all of the seven men that they’re trapped in space with, whenever those men want? I’m not convinced, but thats only one of the many plot points that get rushed by so that hero President Blades can send the FBI to raid a former president’s house (yet another bizarre situation that isn’t ever discussed in depth). The story frequently cuts in jarring fashion and characters’ actions just don’t make sense. At one point, the main character, President Blades, sends a ranking cabinet member to every single embassy in the world to make him so busy that he quits. Why not just fire him? This first volume ends when President Blades sends the antagonist a letter detailing all his actions that we’ve already seen and then calls it a victory even though it resolves no conflict. I get that this is a first volume, but I think I’ll skip the rest of the series.
iffer's review against another edition
3.0
I like the idea of Letter 44, but I'm holding off judgement to see whether or not it fulfills its promise or falls flat, since it would be easy for the political storyline to be hum-drum like we've seen on other shows, and for the science fiction to just become silly, depending on how the aliens are treated. I am, however, impressed that Charles Soule manages to make both of the stories, that of the President and political machinations, and that of the crew of the explorers on the Clarke to investigate aliens, equally engaging. I'm also holding off on judgement of the female characters. Although it's refreshing that none of the female characters are weepy; they don't quite ring true since they're all a little too hardass, like they're all some Michelle Rodriguez action film character.
daynpitseleh's review against another edition
3.0
I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is a fun comic in which the 44th president inherits a big secret problem - there's aliens building a structure in the galaxy for some unknown purpose. It's part political thriller, part science fiction space opera. Overall, a fun comic that I'm interested to see where it goes next.
This is a fun comic in which the 44th president inherits a big secret problem - there's aliens building a structure in the galaxy for some unknown purpose. It's part political thriller, part science fiction space opera. Overall, a fun comic that I'm interested to see where it goes next.
villyidol's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
This is basically the opposite of the comic I previously read, insomuch as I really don’t enjoy looking at it. But the story has me intrigued.
When the new president enters office, he learns that his predecessor has left behind a letter for him. The contents are surprising, to say the least. Turns out that aliens are in fact real, we’ve discovered years ago that they are building something in the asteroid belt and we sent a ship to find out what it is. We just didn’t tell anybody.
There are two storylines unfolding in parallel. On the one side we have the political struggle on Earth, as the new president is trying to decide what to do with this new information. The other storyline is the mission to the asteroid belt itself and the weird relationships that have developed amongst the group of scientists and astronauts – well, and the matter of making contact. I’m interested to see where this goes.
The artwork really isn’t very nice though. The characters are so unbelievably ugly that when one of the astronauts remarked how handsome the new president was, I actually had to laugh out loud. It seems like recently I just can’t have it all with comics. Okay, frankly, the artwork of the last one wasn’t good either. But it somehow worked and I actually enjoyed looking at it. On the plus side, this here is a much better book. We’ll see how long I can stand looking at it.
<img src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91jP4A+5+lL.jpg" width="400" height="615" alt="description"/>
3.75 stars
Buddy read with <a href="https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/nataliya_x">Nataliya</a>.
When the new president enters office, he learns that his predecessor has left behind a letter for him. The contents are surprising, to say the least. Turns out that aliens are in fact real, we’ve discovered years ago that they are building something in the asteroid belt and we sent a ship to find out what it is. We just didn’t tell anybody.
There are two storylines unfolding in parallel. On the one side we have the political struggle on Earth, as the new president is trying to decide what to do with this new information. The other storyline is the mission to the asteroid belt itself and the weird relationships that have developed amongst the group of scientists and astronauts – well, and the matter of making contact. I’m interested to see where this goes.
The artwork really isn’t very nice though. The characters are so unbelievably ugly that when one of the astronauts remarked how handsome the new president was, I actually had to laugh out loud. It seems like recently I just can’t have it all with comics. Okay, frankly, the artwork of the last one wasn’t good either. But it somehow worked and I actually enjoyed looking at it. On the plus side, this here is a much better book. We’ll see how long I can stand looking at it.
<img src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91jP4A+5+lL.jpg" width="400" height="615" alt="description"/>
3.75 stars
Buddy read with <a href="https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/nataliya_x">Nataliya</a>.
stiricide's review against another edition
4.0
I like bits and pieces of this - it's engaging, for sure - but I also want to yell at it a whole lot. I particularly can't get over the idea that this book, written in 2015, taking place in 2015, still features a female scientist in zero g who 1) was either never given the option of having clothes that fit, or has such a hyperactive circulatory system that she is constantly running an internal temperature upwards of 98.6 degrees, even in space and 2) has long flowing hair.
Can we talk about this? There is nothing that needles me quite like dude artists who don't understand how long hair works. How it sits. Where it goes when the follicles decide they no longer want to be attached to your head. Karen Nyberg doesn't address all of this directly in this video, but it's the only astronaut video I've see where a long-haired astronaut doesn't have their hair firmly pulled back and out the ding dang way: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOIj7AgonHM
All I can think about is all the tiny hairballs running around, gumming up the spaceship, ruining everything.
Can we talk about this? There is nothing that needles me quite like dude artists who don't understand how long hair works. How it sits. Where it goes when the follicles decide they no longer want to be attached to your head. Karen Nyberg doesn't address all of this directly in this video, but it's the only astronaut video I've see where a long-haired astronaut doesn't have their hair firmly pulled back and out the ding dang way: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOIj7AgonHM
All I can think about is all the tiny hairballs running around, gumming up the spaceship, ruining everything.