kandicez's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this short story included in [b:20th Century Ghosts|373915|20th Century Ghosts|Joe Hill|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388224829s/373915.jpg|1049073]. It was a little strange, but not scary at all. A boy has a cape that actually allows him to fly. No one else really
In this graphic novel, that little 12 page story is fleshed out into an entire "book." Here, the boy who owns that cape is just...wrong somehow. This was very dark, and not just because of the graphic violence. There were also illustrations showing how dark this young man's feelings and heart were.
The illustrations were pretty good. I think the way Eric's jeans, especially the ripped out knees, were drawn was truly art, but because of the tone of the story I had a hard time appreciating it.
In this graphic novel, that little 12 page story is fleshed out into an entire "book." Here, the boy who owns that cape is just...wrong somehow. This was very dark, and not just because of the graphic violence. There were also illustrations showing how dark this young man's feelings and heart were.
The illustrations were pretty good. I think the way Eric's jeans, especially the ripped out knees, were drawn was truly art, but because of the tone of the story I had a hard time appreciating it.
deepfreezebatman's review against another edition
3.0
Saw this comic a few years ago at the public library I worked at. I saw that it was based on a short story by Joe Hill, so I decided I’d wait until after I had read the short story to check out the comic adaptation.
The first part of the comic is a quick recap of Joe Hill’s story, which is about a boy that discovers his cape made from a blanket has magic powers. While Joe Hill’s story is very dark and has a sinister twist, the comic expands on the story and adds a second act.
Overall I’m mixed on how I feel about this comic. While I can appreciate the creativity of the adaptation and the addition to the story, the purist in me can’t help but think that the additional material is unnecessary and completely misses the point of the original story.
The first part of the comic is a quick recap of Joe Hill’s story, which is about a boy that discovers his cape made from a blanket has magic powers. While Joe Hill’s story is very dark and has a sinister twist, the comic expands on the story and adds a second act.
Overall I’m mixed on how I feel about this comic. While I can appreciate the creativity of the adaptation and the addition to the story, the purist in me can’t help but think that the additional material is unnecessary and completely misses the point of the original story.
jonathonjones's review against another edition
2.0
This felt brutal, but without anything to make the brutality worth it. Like, here’s a character with no redeeming qualities, who then goes on to do awful things. Possibly that’s an interesting perspective for someone, but to me it was just kind of miserable and purposeless.
belle_fiction's review against another edition
1.0
This was so bad! Gawd, it was AWFUL!
I have read the short story some years ago and I don't remember it being this bad!! Saying that, this isn't written by Joe Hill but based on his short story of the same name, and my God, it shows!
The story is terrible! Basically, a complete douche named Eric goes round killing people and blames it on his mom taking away his cape when he was a kid (a cape which gave him the ability to fly and somehow made him feel invincible). That's it! He kills his ex-girlfriend, his mom (and a plane full of innocent passengers), a random man on his way to work by hooking a wild bear out of the zoo and dropping it on his car and takes delight in watching the bear maul the man to death! Oh, and he also tries to kill his successful brother, Nicky, who went to Harvard. All I got from Eric's character was that he was a lazy bum, a good for nothing who didn't even want to try in life, who was jealous of his doctor brother, clearly had psychological issues and begrudged his mom for taking away his cape when he was a child purely because he fell out of the tree and was critically injured which makes complete and utter sense!!!
I hated it! There was no depth to the characters, no interesting plot lines; it was Eric just thinking of another macabre way of killing those who cared about him. Th only redeeming feature was the artwork, although even that, at times, was a bit too gory for my liking! Hence my one star rating.
Avoid at all costs!
I have read the short story some years ago and I don't remember it being this bad!! Saying that, this isn't written by Joe Hill but based on his short story of the same name, and my God, it shows!
The story is terrible! Basically, a complete douche named Eric goes round killing people and blames it on his mom taking away his cape when he was a kid (a cape which gave him the ability to fly and somehow made him feel invincible). That's it! He kills his ex-girlfriend, his mom (and a plane full of innocent passengers), a random man on his way to work by hooking a wild bear out of the zoo and dropping it on his car and takes delight in watching the bear maul the man to death! Oh, and he also tries to kill his successful brother, Nicky, who went to Harvard. All I got from Eric's character was that he was a lazy bum, a good for nothing who didn't even want to try in life, who was jealous of his doctor brother, clearly had psychological issues and begrudged his mom for taking away his cape when he was a child purely because he fell out of the tree and was critically injured which makes complete and utter sense!!!
I hated it! There was no depth to the characters, no interesting plot lines; it was Eric just thinking of another macabre way of killing those who cared about him. Th only redeeming feature was the artwork, although even that, at times, was a bit too gory for my liking! Hence my one star rating.
Avoid at all costs!
kriff08's review against another edition
4.0
I feel like if capes really did fly this could be real and that’s what I found terrifying. The concept really hit home for me. I feel like I completely know Eric this guy who for some reason wastes his life and seems to be constantly angry that others aren’t wasting theirs with him. I’m not sure if the accident made him that way or if he chose to be that way, but it’s scary to think about. It’s scary to think that people can see the world the way Eric did in our glimpse into his mind.... But then he lifted a bear into the sky and this story got a frown from me. For one he lifted it by its neck which seems not good and for another why? It seemed like one of those things the writer did just to do it and sadly it threw me off. But perhaps I needed that so this story wasn’t so real to me? Nah could have done without the bear.
samlo28's review against another edition
3.0
This was good, but if it would have been a longer series with time to flesh out the characters and their motivations, it would have been great.
showlola's review against another edition
3.0
Horror books are difficult to do in graphic novel format - this is very solidly done. Really unnerving and interesting read.
collegecate's review against another edition
3.0
Not your typical superhero tale. And (as far as I can tell) a complete story with no plans for sequels. One of the better stories nominated for the Hugos this year.
villyidol's review against another edition
1.0
Now that was just awful.
When Eric was a kid his mother made a cape for him out of his beat-up lucky blanket. For some reason the cape enables him to fly. But when as an 8-year-old he falls out of a tree and badly hurts his head, his mother puts the cape away.
Years later Eric is a complete loser who does nothing but sit on his lazy ass. When his long-time girlfriend finally has enough of his shit and breaks up with him he moves into his mother’s basement, where he finds the cape. And what does he do, now that he can fly again? Of course he’s just going to kill everybody that actually cares for him. Because it isn’t his fault that his life turned out so bad. Of course it is their fault. Yeah, right, asshole!
I think his brother says it best in the following panel:
I mean you just can’t root for the main character here. His mother’s only intention was to protect him. His girlfriend showed so much patience with him, even though he did nothing to earn it, before she finally and understandably had enough. And his brother also always tried to protect Eric, and his only fault seems to be that he is successful in life.
Long story short, the main character is the villain in this story. But he is not a scary villain. He is just a self-centered, sad-sack, mopey fucking cry-baby.
Awful!
1.5 stars, because of decent artwork and some nice action.
When Eric was a kid his mother made a cape for him out of his beat-up lucky blanket. For some reason the cape enables him to fly. But when as an 8-year-old he falls out of a tree and badly hurts his head, his mother puts the cape away.
Years later Eric is a complete loser who does nothing but sit on his lazy ass. When his long-time girlfriend finally has enough of his shit and breaks up with him he moves into his mother’s basement, where he finds the cape. And what does he do, now that he can fly again? Of course he’s just going to kill everybody that actually cares for him. Because it isn’t his fault that his life turned out so bad. Of course it is their fault. Yeah, right, asshole!
I think his brother says it best in the following panel:
I mean you just can’t root for the main character here. His mother’s only intention was to protect him. His girlfriend showed so much patience with him, even though he did nothing to earn it, before she finally and understandably had enough. And his brother also always tried to protect Eric, and his only fault seems to be that he is successful in life.
Long story short, the main character is the villain in this story. But he is not a scary villain. He is just a self-centered, sad-sack, mopey fucking cry-baby.
Awful!
1.5 stars, because of decent artwork and some nice action.
hugtherocks's review against another edition
4.0
Very dark. This perfectly illustrates why we can't have nice things like super powers.