ariellesbooked's review against another edition
3.0
4 stars for the artwork (Fiona Staples is wonderful as always), 2 stars for the story.
sarah2's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
The story felt rushed and there was very little room for character development. The art was dynamic and the action conveyed well. Overall not my favorite, but still worth checking out.
eoghann's review
3.0
So close!
This had all the elements lined up to be a great book and yet it just doesn't _quite_ come together.
Admittedly the biggest draw initially for me was the art by Fiona Staples because I love the work she has done on _Saga._ And she doesn't let me down here.
But there were other exciting elements here. Jules Verne's brain in a giant robot? Yup that's cool. A husband and wife mystery solving team? Yeah I'll go for some of that.
You see this book really wants to be wacky and crazy and it throws out some big ideas. The husband and wife team are ridiculously, crazy rich, so they've got a UFO shaped escape craft and a jet that actually has bubbles for 5 people. Like I said, it wants to be wacky. There's a character whose last name is *Culprit*
But maybe it's trying too hard. Maybe it's trying to do too much. In this volume there's the main plot and a B plot. The B plot doesn't get enough time to justify its existence. Calling it a plot would be overstating it. So it wastes the characters that are involved in it.
And that time could probably have been better spent on the pacing of the main plot and fleshing it out a bit more. Because we're left with some terrible cliches, like the old dog general and the spoilt military brat. Stuff we've seen a million times before. I'd also be happy if we never saw Area 51 again in fiction. I'm tired of secret government committees. It's been done to death.
But it's *so* close. So close. The repartee between the husband (who looks rather like Cary Elwes in _The Princess Bride)_ and wife team is delightful. The character designs are great. And the possibilities set up here are boundless.
I enjoyed it. But it didn't live up to its potential.
This had all the elements lined up to be a great book and yet it just doesn't _quite_ come together.
Admittedly the biggest draw initially for me was the art by Fiona Staples because I love the work she has done on _Saga._ And she doesn't let me down here.
But there were other exciting elements here. Jules Verne's brain in a giant robot? Yup that's cool. A husband and wife mystery solving team? Yeah I'll go for some of that.
You see this book really wants to be wacky and crazy and it throws out some big ideas. The husband and wife team are ridiculously, crazy rich, so they've got a UFO shaped escape craft and a jet that actually has bubbles for 5 people. Like I said, it wants to be wacky. There's a character whose last name is *Culprit*
But maybe it's trying too hard. Maybe it's trying to do too much. In this volume there's the main plot and a B plot. The B plot doesn't get enough time to justify its existence. Calling it a plot would be overstating it. So it wastes the characters that are involved in it.
And that time could probably have been better spent on the pacing of the main plot and fleshing it out a bit more. Because we're left with some terrible cliches, like the old dog general and the spoilt military brat. Stuff we've seen a million times before. I'd also be happy if we never saw Area 51 again in fiction. I'm tired of secret government committees. It's been done to death.
But it's *so* close. So close. The repartee between the husband (who looks rather like Cary Elwes in _The Princess Bride)_ and wife team is delightful. The character designs are great. And the possibilities set up here are boundless.
I enjoyed it. But it didn't live up to its potential.
isthar23's review
3.0
Ha sido una lectura interesante. No suelo leer cómic o novela gráfica y estoy comenzando con ellos. Me ha gustado, tiene cierto toque de humor, me recuerda a las situaciones del matrimonio Beresfordm, de Agatha Christie, por ejemplo. Una lectura agradable que ayuda a continuar con la novela gráfica.
old_tim's review against another edition
3.0
Nick Hammond and Anastasia Collins are rich adventurers devoted to getting answers to the mysterious questions that plague the world. They investigate conspiracies, cover-ups, and strange occurrences while exchanging witty banter and looking fantastic. In a sense it’s a mashup of The Thin Man, Buckaroo Banzai, & the X-Files and assorted 90s conspiracy stories.
While self-contained, the story alludes to numerous past adventures (some of which seem to have led to a certain amount of notoriety. Unfortunately I had the sense that the earlier adventures were significantly more compelling that the story that we are actually told. It’s not that the plot is bad… it’s just not that compelling. The light tone of the dialogue cuts against the tension that Niles needs for the plot to actually feel dangerous. If the light tone is intended, then perhaps a clever story would have been a better option.
The artwork by Fiona Staples is the draw here. Personally I became a fan of her art on the Saga series, & was happy to get an opportunity to see some earlier work. She brings the same clean lines that I expected after reading Saga. While Saga’s aesthetic allows her to be wildly inventive, the Earth-based setting of Mystery Society forces her to experiment in a different fashion. Here she goes more for a retro-futurist approach (think The Avengers, The Prisoner, etc). While her work here isn’t as stunning as her current work, it’s very effective for this type of story.
Overall, Mystery Story was a fun read. It’s not a game changer, or something I feel compelled to give to friends, but is a solid read.
While self-contained, the story alludes to numerous past adventures (some of which seem to have led to a certain amount of notoriety. Unfortunately I had the sense that the earlier adventures were significantly more compelling that the story that we are actually told. It’s not that the plot is bad… it’s just not that compelling. The light tone of the dialogue cuts against the tension that Niles needs for the plot to actually feel dangerous. If the light tone is intended, then perhaps a clever story would have been a better option.
The artwork by Fiona Staples is the draw here. Personally I became a fan of her art on the Saga series, & was happy to get an opportunity to see some earlier work. She brings the same clean lines that I expected after reading Saga. While Saga’s aesthetic allows her to be wildly inventive, the Earth-based setting of Mystery Society forces her to experiment in a different fashion. Here she goes more for a retro-futurist approach (think The Avengers, The Prisoner, etc). While her work here isn’t as stunning as her current work, it’s very effective for this type of story.
Overall, Mystery Story was a fun read. It’s not a game changer, or something I feel compelled to give to friends, but is a solid read.
sanaastoria's review
3.0
[3.5 Stars] This one was quite enjoyable, but it wasn't quite as whimsical or action-packed as I was expecting. The climax to the story juat didn't hit as hard as I wanted it to! The artwork is really beautiful though! I adore Verne!
trike's review
4.0
I've had this book lying around for years and had forgotten I had it. I discovered it while searching my office the other day and was surprised by its existence. Steve Niles! Of [b:30 Days of Night, Vol. 1|831829|30 Days of Night, Vol. 1|Steve Niles|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1178747918s/831829.jpg|280664] and [b:Criminal Macabre|756562|Criminal Macabre (Criminal Macabre A Cal McDonald Mystery #1)|Steve Niles|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1349006440s/756562.jpg|742675]! Fiona Staples! Of [b:Saga, Vol. 1|15704307|Saga, Vol. 1 (Saga, #1)|Brian K. Vaughan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1486028947s/15704307.jpg|19113524]! Why has this been languishing?! (Because I have too many books, is why.)
So I devoured it before work today, and it definitely improved my mood after the downer that was [b:The Fifth Season|19161852|The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, #1)|N.K. Jemisin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386803701s/19161852.jpg|26115977]. Which is good, but oh so depressing.
This is just a fun romp that combines all sorts of secret world stuff like Area 51, androids, psychic powers, killer robots, human experimentation, the works. This is lighthearted adventure that cleanses the pallet, like a refreshing summer sorbet.
Our main characters are a couple who are into arcane mysteries and cryptozoology and wacky conspiracy theories, but none of it dark, just fun. They are inexplicably suddenly wealthy, so they go whole hog into exploring all of these things, rescuing a couple of girls who were experimented on back in the late 1940s and then put into suspended animation, and recruiting various other oddities, such as the previously-created character Secret Skull, who is an undead woman, as well as Verne, the brain of the writer preserved in a robot body. Like I said, goofy.
Unfortunately it seems these 5 issues are all that were ever made. So while we do get a complete story here, we don't get all the answers of how these characters came to be, and not how our heroes secured their new-found wealth. It's not important to the story, but I'm sure Niles had a fun explanation for it.
So I devoured it before work today, and it definitely improved my mood after the downer that was [b:The Fifth Season|19161852|The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, #1)|N.K. Jemisin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386803701s/19161852.jpg|26115977]. Which is good, but oh so depressing.
This is just a fun romp that combines all sorts of secret world stuff like Area 51, androids, psychic powers, killer robots, human experimentation, the works. This is lighthearted adventure that cleanses the pallet, like a refreshing summer sorbet.
Our main characters are a couple who are into arcane mysteries and cryptozoology and wacky conspiracy theories, but none of it dark, just fun. They are inexplicably suddenly wealthy, so they go whole hog into exploring all of these things, rescuing a couple of girls who were experimented on back in the late 1940s and then put into suspended animation, and recruiting various other oddities, such as the previously-created character Secret Skull, who is an undead woman, as well as Verne, the brain of the writer preserved in a robot body. Like I said, goofy.
Unfortunately it seems these 5 issues are all that were ever made. So while we do get a complete story here, we don't get all the answers of how these characters came to be, and not how our heroes secured their new-found wealth. It's not important to the story, but I'm sure Niles had a fun explanation for it.
showlola's review
Fiona Staples has found a fan in me. The story itself was a little broad for my taste, but the art knocked me on my ass. I want a replica of Jules Verne for my desk.