A Graphic MashUp

Hello, everyone! I'm over 50 reviews behind (yikes!) and the best way to pile through this mountain is to lump up books that are similar. Here are four mangas and a graphic novel!

Manga Classics: Les Miserables by Victor Hugo and SunNeko Lee
4 stars

This is a very tragic story. I was one of those rare people who knew absolutely nothing about Les Mis. Les Mis was one of those classics I hadn’t been spoiled to, which surprising because it became a big blockbuster hit my freshman year of high school. (I still haven’t seen that movie! I really need to get on that.) I’m not going to hash out the plot of Les Mis. Mainly because most people already know or it’s better to find out on your own like I did. This obviously isn’t the actual story, but a condensed version. How condensed? Well Les Mis is over 1000 pages while this edition is only 337 pages. This manga classic does what it needs to do. It made me want to dive into the massive tome that is Les Miserables and read that book. I will eventually read it because this is a beautiful story. This is a beautifully adapted piece of art. The writing is translated into the pictures with ease and I was always entertained. This story is beautiful, heartfelt, and oh so tragic! I love it! I really look forward to giving the actual novel a chance one day because I think I’ll enjoy it.


Whimsical Writing Scale: 4 (because it’s not the original story I have no clue how well it translates, but I did enjoy it)

There are so many characters in this novel; instead of dividing them I’m just rounding them all up. I loved them all, even the horrid ones because it made this story beautiful.


Character Scale: 5

Plotastic Scale: 5

Here’s some of the art work:
   

 























   

Art Scale: 3.25

Cover Thoughts: I love this cover. I can feel the pain and it represents this story quite well.

Thank you, Netgalley and Udon Entertainment for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Give to the Heart Volume 1 by Wann

4 stars

Lord Ganok rules as god of the waters. Sooyi is bent on assassinating the Water King after he held her captive. It should be easy to slay him, but he has power and charming ways. I did a horrible way of describing the story line for this manga. The storyline is pretty awesome, I actually happen to love it. Volume 1 is a lot of fun and I flew threw it. The storyline, writing, plot, and characters are all fascinating. The artwork is beautiful. It’s definitely worth checking out if you are a manga fan.


Whimsical Writing Scale: 4

I can’t remember much about Sooyi besides the fact that I liked her.

Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 3

Ganok is an entertaining character and he pretty much made me love this story. I know some people will hate him, but I love him. He’s very true to the manga god stereotype, but I kind of love that stereotype. OOPS.


Swoon Worthy Scale: 5

There are some characters in here that I really like and then there are some that I’m not crazy about.

Character Scale: 4

Plotastic Scale: 4.25

Here’s a picture of the art:
 
Art Scale: 5

Cover Thoughts: I love this cover. I love the way the blues bleed in the background into darker and lighter blues. It’s not amazing, but it’s a pretty good cover for a manga.

Thank you, Netgalley and NETCOMICS for provided me a copy in exchange for an honest review. 


Give to the Heart Volume 2 by Wann

3.5 stars

So, volume 2 was frustrating for me. I enjoyed it I did, but there’s a lack of Water King in this second volume. (Who I refer to in my notes as Water Demon, I hope that this is the right character, because if not I’m leading you astray. I’m sorry.) Sooyi ran away with this douchecanoe who is obviously evil and he got on my nerves all the time. I wanted to bludgeon him that’s how annoying he was. A whole volume with him and not my swoon worthy Ganok is not a win-win. My biggest problem though is the overabundant amount of almost rape scenes. Why? C’mon manga, you can do better. Don’t use rape as a plot device that isn’t okay. This one lacked in spirit a lot more than the first one, but I still want to read on.


Whimsical Writing Scale: 4

Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 2.75

Swoon Worthy Scale: Where are you my Water God?

The Villain Scale: 2

Character Scale: 3

Plotastic Scale: 4

Art Scale: 5

Cover Thoughts: I love this cover so MUCH MORE than the first. I don’t know why, but it gives me so many feels. It is also misleading because there is hardly any Water King around.

Thank you, Netgalley and NETCOMICS for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review.




Sweet Blood Volume 1 by Seyoung Kim

3.75 stars

Suho is a very feminine young boy who lives alone. One day he wakes up to find a monster feeding on him. He wants to make Suho his. The problem is the king doesn’t realize that Suho is a boy and with the help of the vampire king’s servant Suho is disguised as a girl, but not for long. I know this probably sounds like a horrible manga, but it’s not. It’s also been forever since I read any yaoi manga, so this was really good.


Whimsical Writing Scale: 3.5

Suho is a bit of an idiot. There’s a vampire in his room and he’s okay with this monster kiss him. What are you doing Suho? Eventually comes to his senses. I really like him because he’s just such an endearing character.


Swoon Worthy Scale: 3

I suddenly didn’t write down the king’s name my notes, so I’ll just refer to him as King. I find it really hilarious that King doesn’t realize that Suho is a boy. I mean he does look like a girl, but him not realizing it really built up the suspense.


Swoon Worthy Scale: 3.25

King’s servant cracked me up.

Character Scale: 4

The plot is kind of whacky, but it’s so much fun. It’s hard not to enjoy it.

Plotastic Scale: 4

Art Scale: 4.5

Cover Thoughts: Meh. I don’t hate, but I don’t love. It made me interested though!

Thank you, Netgalley and Netcomics for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 
October Faction Volume 1 by Steve Niles & Damien Worm

4 stars

Frederick Allan used to be a hunter. He hunted everything from werewolves to sorcerers. Name a monster and he’s probably slayed it. His wife is no different, but now that Fred is a university professor he hardly sees his wife. She longs to hunt and she wants him to notice her again. Their two kids want to join the family business, but it wasn’t as easy as it first seemed. This is an incredibly dark story. I honestly wasn’t expecting it to be a horror comic when I requested this, but I’m glad I did.


“It seems to me, I would wind up killing him at some point, so why not just get it out of the way before things got too messy?” (page 64)

I never quote comics or graphic novels, but for once a character knew that sometimes you have to kill the bad guys quickly and not let them act on their master plan. Props to Fred for being a badass who knows when to take charge.


Hero Worthy Scale: 4.25

This family is awesome. They are all different, but each has their own quirks. Geoff is a young warlock who is picked on for his sexuality. Vivian is an outcast like her brother and can see what people will look like in the future (those high girls don’t look too hot). Deloris is as much of a badass as her husband, but I wanted to see more of her in action. There’s also a new edition to the family, but I won’t mention who he is because SPOILERS, but I really like him.


Character Scale: 4.5
There are so many villains in this story. Just when you get rid of one villain, two more villains pop up.


Villain Scale: 4

This story is dark and entertaining. Think Supernatural meets dark horror. While these characters are no Sam and Dean, they are still pretty awesome. I’ll definitely be looking further into the series because it's a lot of fun.


Plotastic Scale: 3.75

The art is dark and creepy. It has this weird messy shadow vibe, but after a while (especially on a computer) it can be a bit headache inducing.



Art Scale: 3.75

The story is engrossing so chances are you won’t get a headache because you’ll be flying through the pages.


Cover Thoughts: It’s like the Addams family. That’s what I thought immediately when I saw the cover. I love it.

Thank you, Netgalley and IDW Publishing for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review.


 I know this is such a long post, but have you read any of these or plan to? Let me know down below in the comments!