A review by ninjamuse
The Hunt by Joana LaFuente, Jim Campbell, Colin Lorimer
2.0
In brief: When Orla was a kid, she witnessed her father’s soul being stolen by the Sluagh. Now in her late teens, she’s on one last desperate quest to rescue him.
Thoughts: I’m not really sure how I feel about this one. On the one hand, it’s got those creepy fairies and urban fantasy grit that I love, and it deals with the real-world consequences of believing in fairies and working magic in the modern world, and the art is fantastic. The dialogue’s good and the interaction between characters feels very realistic, and perfectly Irish.
On the other hand, the characters felt like they existed to serve the story Lorimer wanted to tell, rather than the other way round, and there were points in the story that left me a little confused, a little lost, like there were scenes that had been taken out so the story would fit comic format better. And I felt the ending came a bit out of nowhere and it left me feeling unresolved and a bit disappointed. (Lorimer spends time building up a few supporting characters and then … doesn’t do a whole lot with them.)
I might have liked the story better if it had been a novel rather than a comic, which would have given Lorimer time to really flesh everything out and build the atmosphere more. It’s Gaimanesque as it stands but it could have been a lot more so. I don’t regret reading it, but I wasn’t very impressed with it overall either.
Warnings: Child abduction, accusations of mental illness, forced use of psychological medication, gore.
6/10
Thoughts: I’m not really sure how I feel about this one. On the one hand, it’s got those creepy fairies and urban fantasy grit that I love, and it deals with the real-world consequences of believing in fairies and working magic in the modern world, and the art is fantastic. The dialogue’s good and the interaction between characters feels very realistic, and perfectly Irish.
On the other hand, the characters felt like they existed to serve the story Lorimer wanted to tell, rather than the other way round, and there were points in the story that left me a little confused, a little lost, like there were scenes that had been taken out so the story would fit comic format better. And I felt the ending came a bit out of nowhere and it left me feeling unresolved and a bit disappointed. (Lorimer spends time building up a few supporting characters and then … doesn’t do a whole lot with them.)
I might have liked the story better if it had been a novel rather than a comic, which would have given Lorimer time to really flesh everything out and build the atmosphere more. It’s Gaimanesque as it stands but it could have been a lot more so. I don’t regret reading it, but I wasn’t very impressed with it overall either.
Warnings: Child abduction, accusations of mental illness, forced use of psychological medication, gore.
6/10