min_deore's review
5.0
So excited to see more!
For those who always knew there was more to this story. I eagerly await more. Beautiful work, impressive art that brought it to live in my mind almost as if I was watching a new episode. Curious to see where this goes!
For those who always knew there was more to this story. I eagerly await more. Beautiful work, impressive art that brought it to live in my mind almost as if I was watching a new episode. Curious to see where this goes!
merricatct's review
5.0
This is exactly what I was hoping for from this sequel series!! I'm so happy to be spending a little more time with these beloved characters and in the Demimonde itself. I can't wait for #2!
jmbz38's review
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
bitchburgerbibliophile's review
5.0
I was very upset when the show ended, but the story continues with a comic series and I couldn't be happier with this first volume! The story is fantastic and the art is gorgeous! When does Volume 2 come out?!?!?
shelleys_shelf's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
museoffire's review
3.0
I was a huge fan of this television series and frankly pretty crushed when it got canceled. I do not believe for a second that it was only intended to be three seasons and the story that evolves in "The Awakening" certainly bears that out. This review will be spoiler heavy for anyone who hasn't seen the show before but for the uninitiated I will say two things;
1.) Go watch this show because it is marvelous. Also you will not have any clue what is going on because the graphic novel definitely assumes you already know what is going on.
2.) If you can't be bothered to watch the show (in which case I have no idea why you're reading the graphic novel) what we're dealing with here is a group of people, some of whom are literary creations of the gothic victorian persuasion (Dracula, Dorian Gray, Frankenstein's monster etc.) and some of whom might as well be getting together to do evil and to fight evil. The entire concept is a literal, live action "penny dreadful" from days of yore with lots of sex, blood, and corsets.
The story is pretty solid too. The action picks up right where we left off. Ethan and Sir Malcolm are trying to figure out life without Vanessa, which for Ethan means trying to gain control of "The wolf of God" aspect of himself. So he seeks out Dr. Seward and the two journey to the cut wife's old house where the good doctor works her mojo to try to give Ethan control over his werewolf half.
Meanwhile Sir Malcolm and (the barely introduced in the actual show) Catriona Hartigan are attending the latest museum gala arranged by my personal favorite character, Mr. Lyle, who is showing off a very impressive Egyptian collection that he unearthed with the monetary backing of a nefarious noble who was clearly after more than just gold and jewels.
Turns out a cult of baddies is once again trying to end the world.
While I liked the story, which gives us a bit more background on the whole Amunet, Amun-Ra, Belial story that was only ever hinted at in season 1, its more or less a rehashing of what we already saw with Vanessa, Lucifer, and Dracula albeit in Ancient Egypt. Its pretty action packed, there's lots of the gang fighting newly raised zombie hordes, but again its all kind of been done before.
We also get a little window into what Lily/Branagh has been up to post ditching Dorian and I found her whole story line kind of odd. She's somewhat inexplicably linked up with some ass kicking nuns and is spouting a whole "fight for christ" thing that is a far cry from the women's lib attitude of season 3. Still I've been gunning for a reunion for her and Ethan if only to see what the heck would happen and the series is obviously looking to get into that, so that's cool.
We get virtually no Dr. Frankenstein who shows up, as he often did on the show, in kind of an "oh wait we need some sciency to solve this" way and there's is literally no Dorian (fine by me) and no Caliban (not at all fine by me).
I also wasn't exactly crazy about the dialogue. There's a modernity to it that feels very, very out of place much like Dorian with his circa 1995 mall hair cut always did. Things happened very quickly which obviously makes sense in a comic book but I'm kind of used to these characters working through their issues over a longer period.
So definitely worth checking out for any fan of the show because it captures a lot of what made it great. But I do think it'll take me awhile to warm to this format.
1.) Go watch this show because it is marvelous. Also you will not have any clue what is going on because the graphic novel definitely assumes you already know what is going on.
2.) If you can't be bothered to watch the show (in which case I have no idea why you're reading the graphic novel) what we're dealing with here is a group of people, some of whom are literary creations of the gothic victorian persuasion (Dracula, Dorian Gray, Frankenstein's monster etc.) and some of whom might as well be getting together to do evil and to fight evil. The entire concept is a literal, live action "penny dreadful" from days of yore with lots of sex, blood, and corsets.
Spoiler
So the obvious question is if you, like me, are a big honkin' "Penny Dreadful" fan is this worth your time? The short answer is yes. There is quite a bit to like here and I'm definitely gonna be sticking with this. The art work is pretty great, Jesus Hervas the illustrator is rocking a sort of dirty Rembrandt thing with lots of deep, rich colors but very jagged, incomplete lines. Faces end up looking scrambled and bit distorted which is really neat. The look is absolutely right for a gothic, slightly campy environment.The story is pretty solid too. The action picks up right where we left off. Ethan and Sir Malcolm are trying to figure out life without Vanessa, which for Ethan means trying to gain control of "The wolf of God" aspect of himself. So he seeks out Dr. Seward and the two journey to the cut wife's old house where the good doctor works her mojo to try to give Ethan control over his werewolf half.
Meanwhile Sir Malcolm and (the barely introduced in the actual show) Catriona Hartigan are attending the latest museum gala arranged by my personal favorite character, Mr. Lyle, who is showing off a very impressive Egyptian collection that he unearthed with the monetary backing of a nefarious noble who was clearly after more than just gold and jewels.
Turns out a cult of baddies is once again trying to end the world.
While I liked the story, which gives us a bit more background on the whole Amunet, Amun-Ra, Belial story that was only ever hinted at in season 1, its more or less a rehashing of what we already saw with Vanessa, Lucifer, and Dracula albeit in Ancient Egypt. Its pretty action packed, there's lots of the gang fighting newly raised zombie hordes, but again its all kind of been done before.
We also get a little window into what Lily/Branagh has been up to post ditching Dorian and I found her whole story line kind of odd. She's somewhat inexplicably linked up with some ass kicking nuns and is spouting a whole "fight for christ" thing that is a far cry from the women's lib attitude of season 3. Still I've been gunning for a reunion for her and Ethan if only to see what the heck would happen and the series is obviously looking to get into that, so that's cool.
We get virtually no Dr. Frankenstein who shows up, as he often did on the show, in kind of an "oh wait we need some sciency to solve this" way and there's is literally no Dorian (fine by me) and no Caliban (not at all fine by me).
I also wasn't exactly crazy about the dialogue. There's a modernity to it that feels very, very out of place much like Dorian with his circa 1995 mall hair cut always did. Things happened very quickly which obviously makes sense in a comic book but I'm kind of used to these characters working through their issues over a longer period.
So definitely worth checking out for any fan of the show because it captures a lot of what made it great. But I do think it'll take me awhile to warm to this format.
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