Reviews

Little Bird: The Fight for Elder's Hope by Darcy Van Poelgeest

sbernad08's review

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adventurous dark inspiring tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

rocketwave's review

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4.0

Hmm, this is a difficult one to rate.
I love the artwork and the worldbuilding, very Moebius'esque.

The story however lacks a bit. The end seems a bit rushed and confusing.

If you like euro-style comics with a Moebius vibe you'll probably like this one. A 3.5 star read for me.

octoberrust1108's review

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3.0

A mostly decent story wrapped in a bundle of tired cliches. A ragtag group of rebels start a war against a Christian Nationalist oppressor (quite timely, I must say). It falls very plainly into the “religion bad” argument and while that’s true, it doesn’t offer much depth or new insight to the conversation. Everyone who’s a part of this Inquisition-like kingdom is either downright evil or spineless and unquestioning to the powers that be which makes that aspect of the story fall flat. I think it could be a more interesting concept if both sides of this war were more nuanced, more gray. What if there were people who believed in God, but didn’t agree with this whole religious tyranny thing, ya know, like in real life?

I absolutely loved the artwork. All these different pastel colors were so pleasant to look at, and they accented the very dark tone of the story well. That’s another thing I did like. This book is VICIOUSLY dark. There were a couple pages that had my jaw hanging open just because I couldn’t believe what I was looking at, story wise. There’s a lot of very strong imagery, as well as a great flow throughout the book. It’s always moving and is aware of what the reader wants to see more of, so I’m thankful for that. There are a ton of wicked cool fight scenes that are so much fun to look at and I bet even more fun to draw.

Overall, I enjoyed Little Bird. This book was more of a win than not, I just think the base story was a little weak.

sizrobe's review

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4.0

I loved the art in this book. It very much reminded me of Warhammer 40k, with its hyperreligious empire and gleefully gory ultraviolence. I have to dock it a start as it got a bit hard to follow at times, but still definitely worth a read.

panelparty's review

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3.0

While I adored the art, I found this a bit tedious and extremely difficult to follow.

crookedtreehouse's review

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3.0

A story about a hero vs a tyrranical religious movement should be right up my alley. But somewhere around the second issue, my interest in the story started to wane. The dialogue and narration suggested an epicness in scope that the story didn't really deliver on. The grotesque violence was rendered beautifully by Ian Bertram but it was too over the top for me.

I found no plot point unexpected, no resolution made me happy or angry. I just wasn't invested in the characters. The villains too cartoonishly evil. The protagonists too martryish and magically invincible.

Fans of art that ranges from Frank Quitely to Moebius will probably love this book. It also has some Grant Morrisonly appeal. So it's not a bad book. It just isn't for me.

themattacaster's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

geoccali's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

bisexualwentworth's review

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Did the plot make sense? Meh. Was the art gorgeous? Yes very much so. Was the world fascinating? Also yes. Did I vibe with the themes of the story? Also also yes.

chamblyman's review

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4.0

Little Bird is a treat for fans of dark fantasy and weird dystopian worlds. There are shades of a His Dark Materials style totalitarian theocracy in Darcy Van Poelgeest's story, mixed with brutal, Mad Maxian violence and an almost Dune-like combo of science fiction and mysticism. Ian Bertram's visuals are wild, gorgeous, grotesque, and eye-poppingly otherworldly in a Princess Mononoke meets Moebius kind of way. Book one comes to a somewhat satisfying stopping point, yet definitely whets the appetite for a book 2, 3 or more.