kafie's review
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
garrodot's review
4.0
5/5 gorgeous, jaw-dropping art
4/5 tone, what a sordid world and pitch black cynicism
1/5 to the choices to make your tough, grizzled killer so two-dimensional and unsurprising
4/5 tone, what a sordid world and pitch black cynicism
1/5 to the choices to make your tough, grizzled killer so two-dimensional and unsurprising
briannadasilva's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
I had complicated feelings about this one.
On one hand, from a purely artistic/craft side, this is excellent. The art is so unique and stylistic, and the writing is sharp and paced really well. As someone interested in writing for the comic form at some point, it would be worth returning to this and studying it on a minute, granular level.
On the other hand, I just didn't enjoy the story. And it's a me thing; it's not the book. That's why I don't want to give it a star rating one way or another.
The story and character tropes in here feel very much like a raw, primal, visceral hetero male fantasy. Absolutely nothing wrong with that, but as a lesbian female I just could not relate to it. The way the female characters—especially the one lesbian female character—were portrayed was also really off-putting. Women are being fridged left and right; they have very little voice in the story, but serve mostly as sexy props to motivate the antihero into action.
Again... unlike what some feminists might argue, I don't really think this is inherently wrong. I can understand why a certain kind of reader would be entertained by this. And I imagine there are probably equivalent raw, primal, visceral lesbian fantasies that I would enjoy the hell out of, but a hetero guy might feel equally put off by. Lol. It's possible. I gotta allow that possibility, just to be fair.
But yeah, the story didn't resonate with me, and I found it impossible to truly root for the protagonist. He's an antihero for sure; he has positive traits like courage and tenacity, and some vulnerabilities that give him depth and dimension. But he's also a terrible person. He delights in sadistically torturing the bad guys. I don't care if they're bad guys; taking violence that far is never justifiable, and anyone who does that is a monster in my books. He's kind of homophobic too. I really found it difficult to like him...
...up until the end, when the story takes an interesting turn that actually made me like it and the protagonist a little more. SPOILER WARNING but basically he becomes a self-sacrificial character, and ultimately faces death with the same kind of grit and nonchalant courage we've seen him embody throughout the book. It made me respect him... a little.
So, yeah. Complicated feelings. Objectively good writing and good art. But ultimately I'm not the right reader for it.
On one hand, from a purely artistic/craft side, this is excellent. The art is so unique and stylistic, and the writing is sharp and paced really well. As someone interested in writing for the comic form at some point, it would be worth returning to this and studying it on a minute, granular level.
On the other hand, I just didn't enjoy the story. And it's a me thing; it's not the book. That's why I don't want to give it a star rating one way or another.
The story and character tropes in here feel very much like a raw, primal, visceral hetero male fantasy. Absolutely nothing wrong with that, but as a lesbian female I just could not relate to it. The way the female characters—especially the one lesbian female character—were portrayed was also really off-putting. Women are being fridged left and right; they have very little voice in the story, but serve mostly as sexy props to motivate the antihero into action.
Again... unlike what some feminists might argue, I don't really think this is inherently wrong. I can understand why a certain kind of reader would be entertained by this. And I imagine there are probably equivalent raw, primal, visceral lesbian fantasies that I would enjoy the hell out of, but a hetero guy might feel equally put off by. Lol. It's possible. I gotta allow that possibility, just to be fair.
But yeah, the story didn't resonate with me, and I found it impossible to truly root for the protagonist. He's an antihero for sure; he has positive traits like courage and tenacity, and some vulnerabilities that give him depth and dimension. But he's also a terrible person. He delights in sadistically torturing the bad guys. I don't care if they're bad guys; taking violence that far is never justifiable, and anyone who does that is a monster in my books. He's kind of homophobic too. I really found it difficult to like him...
...up until the end, when the story takes an interesting turn that actually made me like it and the protagonist a little more. SPOILER WARNING but basically he becomes a self-sacrificial character, and ultimately faces death with the same kind of grit and nonchalant courage we've seen him embody throughout the book. It made me respect him... a little.
So, yeah. Complicated feelings. Objectively good writing and good art. But ultimately I'm not the right reader for it.
kelleydoesbooks's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
kandicez's review
5.0
His style is so....AWESOME!!! It's so stark, and gritty! His stories are so in your face honest. He doesn't sugar coat anything. I would read anything he did, just because he did it!
bea_666's review against another edition
3.0
TW: extreme violence, lots of cases of outdated offensive language.
Marv wants revenge on whoever murdered Goldie, the prostitute who showed him kindness. He's mentally unwell (potentially schizophrenic?), and will stop at nothing.
I would have appreciated knowing more about Marv's backstory in this book. We can presume he had a very tough life - he has been in and out of prison, was bullied as a child, and hadn't experienced much kindness (might partly be the reason for his obsession with Goldie? Unclear...). Despite this, I found it difficult to sympathise with him, and I didn't completely understand his intense drive for revenge.
An interesting story which I got through in a day. Whilst I can appreciate Frank Miller's negative-space artwork for the talent it requires, I found it difficult to understand what was going on in some panels, which took me out of the story.
I found the outdated language in really poor taste, but unfortunately I think that might be part of this genre (particularly at the time of publication).
I will continue the series, mainly because it's a very popular series. I'm not going to shout about it to friends though.
Marv wants revenge on whoever murdered Goldie, the prostitute who showed him kindness. He's mentally unwell (potentially schizophrenic?), and will stop at nothing.
I would have appreciated knowing more about Marv's backstory in this book. We can presume he had a very tough life - he has been in and out of prison, was bullied as a child, and hadn't experienced much kindness (might partly be the reason for his obsession with Goldie? Unclear...). Despite this, I found it difficult to sympathise with him, and I didn't completely understand his intense drive for revenge.
An interesting story which I got through in a day. Whilst I can appreciate Frank Miller's negative-space artwork for the talent it requires, I found it difficult to understand what was going on in some panels, which took me out of the story.
I found the outdated language in really poor taste, but unfortunately I think that might be part of this genre (particularly at the time of publication).
I will continue the series, mainly because it's a very popular series. I'm not going to shout about it to friends though.
strawberryteeth's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
sacastilow's review
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
fakespy87's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-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
3.0