Excellent graphic sci fi novel.
923922
I like comics and sci fi, so expected this to be a double win, and so it was. My only previous experience with manga was&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/MANGA-MESSIAH-Spanish-Spanish-Edition/dp/B00TI2G49C/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">MANGA MESSIAH Spanish (Spanish Edition)</a>, which was fine for learning Spanish, but not my favorite artwork. This volume, on the other hand, has beautiful artwork throughout, particularly in the drawing of Esmeralda (emerald in Spanish) herself.

The storyline is also excellent, building up two main characters along with several others, all of which are well-described, with the villains suitably in need of killing, and the sympathetic characters lovable despite any flaws in their appearance or behavior. We learn a lot about Esmeralda and young Hiroshi Umino, who reminds Esmeralda of both her younger self and a mysterious man she seeks across the galaxy. Like Robin Hood, Esmeralda inspires terror everywhere, but actually has a heart of gold for the unfairly oppressed, helping them find the freedom both she and Hiroshi Umino seek so diligently for themselves.

As a newbie, I did make one initial mistake - reading the book from front to back like any other book written in English. Read that way, I spent most of the book confused. Eventually I figured out that having the cover illustration on the back cover and page numbers that increased from back to front meant that I should read it from back to front, which I then promptly did. Much easier to follow that way. Also, within a page, the dialog proceeds right panel to left panel, and then from top of page to bottom of page.

This is labeled Volume 1, with a Volume 2 expected eventually. Although this volume is complete within itself, with most storylines completed, enough mystery remains to easily fill another volume, and I will be eagerly looking forward to reading that one too.

Highly recommended.
4735059
I am not a big an of space, sci fi, aliens type of stories. Something about Brian Vaughan's story is something I made an exception for. This story has been phenomenal, Fiona Staples artwork is something to awe at, all around this graphic novel tops itself in this genre.
1503669
After viewing the movie 300 I wanted to see the graphic novel that started it all.  The novel is amazing!  The novel creates a visual representation of historical events for readers.  The quality of the graphics is wonderful.  This is well worth purchasing both because of the graphics and its historical value.
755703
I purchased this book for a friend and ended up stealing it for myself. I will admit this is the FIRST graphic novel I have ever read. What an incredible experience. I could not put this book down and finished it within two days. I cannot wait to read volume II. I look forward to reading more form this author. My friend who has been reading graphic novels and comics for years was also in love with this novel. It provides fun and interesting stories of characters we love. Great read for readers new and old to the comic world. Highly recommend!
2858850
Peter David is obviously a fine writer who doesn't phone it in just because it's a six issue comic book story arc and not a larger undertaking . I really love these 80's Star Trek comics and this is an excellent example why . The art is terrific too . Old school and much to my liking . Strongly recommended graphic novel reading for fans of everyone involved , comics and all Trek folk . The book ties in a lot of stuff from various films and or coarse , the television show as well . A good read indeed......Benstarbuck
439641
The artwork in the graphic novel was fantastic and was a great read. I also enjoyed the features on my Kindle fire allowing me to zoom in and out on certain panels.
2547547
Solanin is a great graphic novel.  The story centers around a group of 20 something friends in modern Japan.  The art is unique but it is very clean and crisp.  The story moves along very well.  As a reader, one is bound to become attached to these youths.  They are pretty interesting, they like to have a good time, but they seem afloat and lost, abandoned by the stringent demands of modern Japanese society.  The characters are all musicians (at least in their college years) but are all trying to make ends meet with part time jobs.

The story will draw you in.  There are some funny moments, but also some darker twists and turns.  It's not all fluffy and happy.  It's real.  The writer wanted to portray his own insecurity about the future, and I think he did one hell of a job.  This is among the better manga series that I have read.  Exceeded my expectations.
2585895
I don't read a lot of graphic novels, but this one might change that. Gorgeously illustrated and conceptually deep, this is one of the best books of any kind that I've read in a long time. Eagerly awaiting Vol. 2 this fall.
4165265
This graphic novel was unique and one I could read over and over. It only took about 2 hours to read.
2807655
Just read this graphic novel before the showing of Star Trek into Darkness and I must say it was excellent. touched on some sruff hinted in the movie.

A must read!!!!
3082531
This graphic novel is normal if I compare it with the video game. The only thing I did not liked was the structure of telling the story in flashbacks, but despite that, the illustrations are magnificent.
2395632
I picked this book up at San Diego Comic-Con 2012. I had the good fortune of getting to speak with creator Drew Gaska about it. It was all kind of a whim, but he seemed like a smart guy with cool sci-fi ideas, and it wasn't until I got back to my hotel and actually read the book that I realized how good it was.

The tl;dr version is: This is a great graphic novel and you should get it. The art's lovely, the ideas are sound, it's well-written, and you'll be entertained past what you pay for it.

The long version: This book is set in the far future. North America's long since been bombed off the map, and is now mostly a submerged, irradiated, ozone-depleted water wasteland. India is the current world power with a few other still-intact Asian nations nipping at their heels, and white people are an oppressed minority. (If it sounds kind of hokey, perhaps the most surprising part is that it isn't, somehow. No small feat.)

A young Mr. Coney has just inherited a few trillion dollars, making him incredibly wealthy while also being incredibly headstrong. He's approached by a group of scientists who point out that, given how used-up the planet is at this stage in human development, Humanity as a whole has maybe 200 years to go before they simply run out everything and the entire race is screwed; maybe, with this young man's virtually-limitless capital, they could develop a Faster-Than-Light drive worth a damn, to the point where the species could be moved off-world via one method or another and humanity can continue to exist?

That's the overarching goal. The reality swirls around fun ideas like what happens when you entrust a 17 year old both with an incredible fortune and with ensuring the survival of the human species. Without getting into spoilers, interesting things happen and it's a fun ride seeing where the story goes from the initial setup.

There's a lot of fun sci-fi ideas at play in this book, and they're all given a lot of room to breathe. Some jokes hit harder than others, but they all fit and it all flows together very well. It's more of a human drama with a hard sci-fi topping than a book that focuses in on the science, but the concepts presented are at least as sound as your average fan-vetted page of a Star Trek wiki. It won't hold up to HARD hard science but there's at least an attempt made at realism which is appreciable. FTL travel is achieved through gravitational slingshotting via artificial black holes as opposed to "press magic button, go fast", for example.

All in all, this is top shelf stuff, I loved it, and I can't wait for more.

Unfortunately, we're probably waiting until 2015 until more exists. I bought this in 2012, it's 2014 now, and there's only vague hints that the planned future volumes may materialize somewhere down the line. This shouldn't discourage you from picking up this volume -- if anything, it should ENcourage you on the off chance that means this series gets completed faster/at all -- but just be aware that if you're like me and make it to the end of this book craving more, you're going to be waiting a bit.
4807875
The Invisibles is one of the best graphic novels I have read. It weaves bits of Joseph Campbell, conspiracy theories, and great action into a complex web that is really fun to read. I like Grant Morrison's non linear approach to story telling, his characters are great and he has certainly done his research into both popular and ancient mythology.
4503063
The visual aspect of the Watchmen graphic novel enhanced my personal experience with the text.  The brief dialogues between characters as well as excerpts from Tales of the Black Freighter have moments of literary depth, but the true storyline is revealed through the illustrations and the readers ability to interpret these illustrations. The use of vibrant and subtle colors aided in establishing both the setting and mood of each individual scene. For example, the depiction of Dr. Manhattans time spent on Mars displays the pale pink terrain of the terrestrial planet against the endless night sky speckled with distant stars. This imagery allows the reader to understand the omniscient vigilantes physical isolation from Earth as well as his emotional disconnect to its inhabitants. Linear text on a page is incapable of conveying this same feeling.  Additionally, a major component contributing to the literary adventure that is the Watchmen graphic novel is Alan Moores and Dave Gibbons use of closure. Closure is a technique used to manifest a viewers creativity with illustrated clues in order to lead the reader to an inference regarding events that have occurred in the novel but have not been visually presented.  When done tastefully this method allows the reader to play the role of investigator, further engaging the individual with whats happening on each page.
 The only challenge I faced while reading Watchmen was a fault of my own. I often glanced at the graphics without internalizing the entirety of the content. As soon as I made the conscious decision to put more effort into understanding the plot, the novel took on a life of its own.
2077245
When I saw this, of course I had to read it. I enjoy each of the graphic novels that Patricia Briggs and the artists have put together for their ability to delight visually while providing a slightly different nuance to the story. Some of the graphic novels are based on existing novels while others like this one offer up an engaging new story that fits neatly between the novels and short stories of the Mercy Thompson world. In the case of this one, it chronologically falls after Night Broken and around the time of Dead Heat.

The story stars Mercy and Adam which was fantastic as I always want more of them, but in addition, Jesse, Adams daughter got her own story thread. The story isn't very long or very challenging compared to others, but I still had a good time reading it.

On one of their full moon werewolf pack runs, Adam and Mercy come across buried skeletal remains and the bones are from children. They call in the police and join in helping the local law investigate what is looking to be an older atrocity as more and more bodies turn up on abandoned property once owned by a fae.

Meanwhile, Jesse attends the local high school and silently endures mild persecution for being the daughter of a werewolf. She has a few friends and encounters a new one right as her chief torturer steps up to trouble because Kaylas aunt was one of the bodies identified out at the old Cross farm and she blames Jesses dad and by association Jesse. When Kayla disappears, all eyes are on Jesse even that of the police.

Like with many graphic novels, it took me a bit to get my bearings as I distinguished between Mercys narrative thought bubbles and the conversation bubbles. I enjoyed following the story that was depicted well with a good choice of color palette and excellent facial expression and action depiction.

As I said, the mystery side of the plot wasn't that hard. The part I enjoyed was the interaction of Adam and Mercy as a team and married couple as well as their time with Jesse as a family. I found the insight into Jesses life at school a nice addition as well as the special scenes with her and Mercy. It was just a nice relaxing interlude story between all the bigger and hard hitting ones though this one wasn't devoid of danger with a fae on the loose.

All in all, I think Mercy Thompson fans will enjoy this edition to the series particularly those who enjoy graphic novels.

My thanks to Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
805282
I've read a couple of "Queen & Country" graphic novels, and I thought the art let them down. That problem's not an issue here. Rucka writes vivid action scenes and peppers the book with subtle, well-done characterization. He knows how to make pages of conversation interesting and does a great job of disguising infodumps so the reader doesn't have to suffer through encyclopedic exposition. He manages to condense the first "Queen & Country" graphic novel into just a few pages. And there are some great plot twists. In all, an excellent read.

I should mention that Rucka's written some excellent comics over the years (particularly White Out). I'll be reevaluating the "Queen & Country" series as well as checking out some of his other work soon.
4066591
I downloaded this to see what graphic novels would look.  Based on this one - looks good!
about the story - LOVED IT!
It's not horror but nice sci-fi.  I loved that they are all intelligent creatures of different species.
It's worth the try!  I think you will like it!