drh's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
viandemoisie's review
3.0
It's like Thorgal meets Heavy Rain meets Narnia. It's original and yet somehow it also isn't.
skywalkersyd's review against another edition
3.0
Wasn't sure how i felt about this t the beginning but it won me over and i can't wait to pick up the next one.
jonathonjones's review against another edition
3.0
Reasonably enjoyable - it's exactly what you'd expect it to be. Everything moves too fast for there to be any depth to it; places that could hold real drama only last a few panels before skipping away to something new. Interesting concept, though.
derrickmitchell's review against another edition
4.0
A pretty good opening to a fantasy comic book series that plays with the Narnia, Oz, Wonderland tropes.
daftfader's review against another edition
5.0
What if your son went missing and returned a year later as a Lord of the Rings hero? And not everything is what it seems. Very gripping, good ending
iffer's review against another edition
3.0
Don't be fooled by the cover of this book, which makes it look like a stereotypical fantasy story; I admit that I was, and the only reason that I discovered differently was because I decided to give the title a shot since I obtained it as a free eARC via NetGalley. Williamson put a twist, or five, on the young-boy-becomes-fantasy-hero storyline. The story starts with, and is emotionally anchored in, the disappearance/loss of a family's younger son, Mikey. Williamson weaves the exploration of how losing a child can break apart a family into two alternating action-packed storylines, one about Mikey's experiences, adventures and challenges acclimating to the fantasy world that he initially stumbled into, and the second about an adult Mikey (since time passes more quickly in the fantasy world) on a quest that is allegedly to eliminate five mages and save this world. If that weren't enough of a twist, instead of becoming a hero as was supposedly his destiny, Mikey, somewhere along the way, decided to throw his lot in with the Big Bad Tyrant in order to be reunited with his family and knocked up a winged girl who is has followed him to Earth.
The issues in this trade allude to exploring several "broader" themes: why families break apart, grief at a lost child, PTSD, alcoholism and predestination, just to name a few, while having fantastic action, pacing and art (especially the landscapes, almost certainly better in full resolution digital or on paper), though the written dialog is somewhat clunky in a pulp-ish way at times. In short, Birthright shows a lot of promise (with some flaws), but there's a lot going on, and it remains to be seen whether or not Josh Williamson can live up to the possibilities that he's created in this first trade. I, for one, hope so, and would read the next story arc.
The issues in this trade allude to exploring several "broader" themes: why families break apart, grief at a lost child, PTSD, alcoholism and predestination, just to name a few, while having fantastic action, pacing and art (especially the landscapes, almost certainly better in full resolution digital or on paper), though the written dialog is somewhat clunky in a pulp-ish way at times. In short, Birthright shows a lot of promise (with some flaws), but there's a lot going on, and it remains to be seen whether or not Josh Williamson can live up to the possibilities that he's created in this first trade. I, for one, hope so, and would read the next story arc.