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prophetofguillotines's review against another edition
4.0
This is a cute idea and I'm loving where it's going.
krystlocity's review against another edition
3.0
The art is gorgeous, and it's good enough to keep reading, but I'm not sold yet. It's a little interesting and a little cute, but I'm still missing a little something.
katepiccolo's review against another edition
3.0
i like the art a lot. the storyline moves too fast.
blam's review against another edition
4.0
Quick disclaimer : I bought the first, printed volume of this webcomic at TCAF in may last year. Last week, I read this book, and then I immediately rushed online and binge-read a huge chunk of what came next. So while I’m going to try and only review the content of the first book here, keep in mind that I am speaking with knowledge of the awesome things that come after it.
I picked up Namesake partly because I love the work of the artist (who has contributed to a few comic anthologies I am particularly fond of, including the Valor anthologies) and partly because I am a huge fan of re-imagined fairy tales. (Before anyone rushes to ask me to review their novels: NON-GRIMDARK re-imagined fairy tales. Thank you very much.)
While I have never been much of a fan of the wizard of Oz, and I haven’t read/seen Wicked, I love the concept of a ~not that evil~ wicked witch of the west. And BOY does that book deliver. At TCAF, when I bought the book, I flipped through it at random and asked the artist to sketch me Warrick next to her autograph, and I am not regretting that decision in the least. I have a new favourite character everyone, and he is absolutely worth the several evenings I spent binge-reading the webcomic to find out what happens to him. Not only does the story get better and better, but the art also gets better and better so Warrick gets even cuter as time goes on. Perfect.
But this book isn’t about Warrick, so enough about my weird crush. This book is about Emma, and the world of namesakes. Namesakes, as explained in the blurb of the book, are people who sometimes randomly get transported to other worlds to live out fairytales, according to their names. Simple, right?
But that simple premise quickly gets derailed. Emma isn’t a Dorothy, the organization over-seeing the namesakes have no idea who or what she is, and terrible shadow monsters are spreading confusion and terror into the fairy tale world… This first book does a very good job of setting up it’s mysteries fast, and making us want to read on to figure out just what the heck is going on. With a big cast of characters that are all incredibly charming and an art style that gets more and more beautiful as the series goes on, Namesake is a great webcomic for fans of portal fantasies, and complicated world-building. It also does a terrific job at working with both the historical elements around how and why the original fairy tales were written, and the « canon » of each of those stories.
In conclusion, I have to go back to reading the webcomic now, Warrick is the best, and I’m considering how much buying all of the volumes of the printed comic is going to break my bank.
I picked up Namesake partly because I love the work of the artist (who has contributed to a few comic anthologies I am particularly fond of, including the Valor anthologies) and partly because I am a huge fan of re-imagined fairy tales. (Before anyone rushes to ask me to review their novels: NON-GRIMDARK re-imagined fairy tales. Thank you very much.)
While I have never been much of a fan of the wizard of Oz, and I haven’t read/seen Wicked, I love the concept of a ~not that evil~ wicked witch of the west. And BOY does that book deliver. At TCAF, when I bought the book, I flipped through it at random and asked the artist to sketch me Warrick next to her autograph, and I am not regretting that decision in the least. I have a new favourite character everyone, and he is absolutely worth the several evenings I spent binge-reading the webcomic to find out what happens to him. Not only does the story get better and better, but the art also gets better and better so Warrick gets even cuter as time goes on. Perfect.
But this book isn’t about Warrick, so enough about my weird crush. This book is about Emma, and the world of namesakes. Namesakes, as explained in the blurb of the book, are people who sometimes randomly get transported to other worlds to live out fairytales, according to their names. Simple, right?
But that simple premise quickly gets derailed. Emma isn’t a Dorothy, the organization over-seeing the namesakes have no idea who or what she is, and terrible shadow monsters are spreading confusion and terror into the fairy tale world… This first book does a very good job of setting up it’s mysteries fast, and making us want to read on to figure out just what the heck is going on. With a big cast of characters that are all incredibly charming and an art style that gets more and more beautiful as the series goes on, Namesake is a great webcomic for fans of portal fantasies, and complicated world-building. It also does a terrific job at working with both the historical elements around how and why the original fairy tales were written, and the « canon » of each of those stories.
In conclusion, I have to go back to reading the webcomic now, Warrick is the best, and I’m considering how much buying all of the volumes of the printed comic is going to break my bank.
edwardshaddow's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
epicpseudonym's review
4.0
It's like someone tossed a bunch of classic fantasy novels in a tornado as it ripped through Kansas, then ejected the contents on the magical side of the rainbow. Do recommend. Also, wonderful illustration. Read it here: http://namesakecomic.com/comic/prologue-cover-3/
aveincobalt's review
5.0
This is a brilliantly done webcomic.
Despite being a webcomic, it is so well written that you can hear the characters accents in your head. This is not accomplished by unusual spellings of words, but rather by the careful consideration of which words these characters would and would not use. This results in a delightful range of dialogue that spans over 200 years worth of expressions.
The artwork is astonishing, mostly being done in black and white, with only one specific color being used on the highlights of a page. That one color tells more about the mood, the setting, and the personality of the characters contained on that page then an entire spectrum of colors would.
While some of my friend whom I have recommended the series to, that did not have a basic knowledge of fairy tales, say that it can sometimes be a bit confusing, I believe that to be intentional. The main character, having found herself thrown into Oz with only a vague recollection of the movie, is just as lost to any references as the average reader. This is what I think makes this series brilliant, that we all have the potential to enter the fairy tales that we fantasized about as children. But once we got there would we be able to make it back out again?
Despite being a webcomic, it is so well written that you can hear the characters accents in your head. This is not accomplished by unusual spellings of words, but rather by the careful consideration of which words these characters would and would not use. This results in a delightful range of dialogue that spans over 200 years worth of expressions.
The artwork is astonishing, mostly being done in black and white, with only one specific color being used on the highlights of a page. That one color tells more about the mood, the setting, and the personality of the characters contained on that page then an entire spectrum of colors would.
While some of my friend whom I have recommended the series to, that did not have a basic knowledge of fairy tales, say that it can sometimes be a bit confusing, I believe that to be intentional. The main character, having found herself thrown into Oz with only a vague recollection of the movie, is just as lost to any references as the average reader. This is what I think makes this series brilliant, that we all have the potential to enter the fairy tales that we fantasized about as children. But once we got there would we be able to make it back out again?
ember_eyes_are_for_tigers's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Minor: Blood
ladynigelia's review
5.0
This is a compilation of the webcomic. I love the way color is used to highlight key aspects or give a tone to scenes. The world building is captivating and being able to read it all together in print is wonderful!