Monday, March 6, 2017

Graphic Novel Review: Arclight by Brandon Graham and Marian Churchland




Arclight by 
Brandon Graham and Marian Churchland    

Release Day: March 28th 2017
Publisher: Image Comics
Pages: 128
Source: Issues 1-4 available on Edelweiss + for free.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary                                                       

From Goodreads:

A lady of the blood house has had her mind trapped in a strange alien body. Hiding on the outskirts of her kingdom until she learns that an alien monster pretending to be her taken her place. Brandon Graham and Marian Churchland bring you sharp genderqueer knights, blood magic, death gods, astral projection, and a goose. 

Review                                                                                      

I got my hands on this beauty, as I said, from Edelweiss+. I was just scrolling down through the selection of review copies and I saw this graphic novel. I'm not too sure of what caught my eye; If we're being honest, the cover is not that appealing. I guess it was the "fantasy" tag, cause I hadn't even read the premise, that lured me into downloading it. Oh, and the fact that I didn't have to request a copy to check it out also helped (thanks for that, btw). I'm so glad I did. 

This was my first experience with graphic novels. For real. I've always wanted to check them out but never did for some reason. WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU, MARTINA? I read it sooo quickly, and loved it so much. I can't even begin to describe how thrilled I am to continue reading 'em. I owe it all to Arclight.

Let's dive into it

Story: I found it confusing at times. Had I read the summary from goodreads before jumping into it, maybe I would have understood it a bit more. But where's the fun in that? My ONLY issue with it, was that Lady's story was a bit disorienting... *Spoilers* the back and forth between Lady's mind in the alien's body and the Alien's mind in Lady's body confused me a lot at the beginning and made me think it was a memory of the past. *end of Spoilers* The idea or concept of the story was really good, I really enjoyed it. So, well done Brandon (I can call you Brandon, right?).



Characters: I understand, that you can't do much in 120 pages, but I felt that the characters lacked, well, character. I didn't really feel like any of them had personality, except for maybe Nowak (who was obnoxious but in a good way). In fact, I think the character with the best personality was Goose. Love that little guy, he definitely had a lot to say. 

Artwork: HOLY MOTHER OF JESUS. The art is UN-FREAKING-BELIEVABLE. Dear, Marian Churchland, I'm your number 1 fan now. Keep the good stuff coming. Thank you.

I'll insert some so you see what I'm screaming about:





The color palette, the "drawn" feel with the thin strokes, just the world design is amazing. 10/10.



Some good stuff:

  • Genderqueer. I was pleasantly surprised by this. I think it's great to have characters who don't identify with either gender. This allows them to not be so stereotyped.
  • Have I mentioned the artwork yet? Oh I have? Well, it's amazing.
  • I laughed so hard with this:






 Final Thoughts                                                                         

I really really enjoyed it and has opened me the world of graphic novels. I definitely recommend it, specially since it's available free of charge (you need to have an Edelweiss+ account). Hope you check it out!

Rating                                                                                       




4 out of 5 stars


Have you checked it out yet? What are you waiting for? Tell me your thoughts in the comments!

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