Reviews and Comments

I've never read such a colourful noire detective story before. Luscious retrofuturistic architecture with bold colour contrasts that never feels out of place and time. The brilliance and variety of the endless stream of costumes & masquerades transcend in audacity even the Fifth Element's wardrobe. The clean, flat drawings capture both the details of characters and settings while bringing alive the dynamism of the story's many energetic sequences.

The story is highly topical, a what-if scenario on the near-future state of on-line privacy. Lots of interesting extrapolations on how things could become, new social norms & balances, new behaviours, new realities that never feel far off from our own. Lots of funny chuckles both from the story's twists and from references to our own era.

Fun little story with a nice heroine, vibrant drawings and an interesting layout approach.

If it weren't for the interesting drawings I'd probably give it a 2-star rating. The story is quite bleak and not relatable for me. I feel there might be a "you weren't there, man, you don't know how it was like" vibe and while I've been through puberty the story still didn't click.

Update: Had a second thought and settled to two stars. Having read other comics I've realized there's quite more than interesting drawings. Call it an inflation adjustment if you will.

A gentle yet deep introduction to the art of Comics, using comics. Starting from a simple definition, it quickly does away with plain technical matters and confidently veers into the history (from ancient Egypt and pre-Colombian South America until today), philosophy and semiology of the medium. It does so while adhering to a solid and well-rounded narrative that binds everything together effortlessly. It never feels like a dry academic work.

What different approaches do Comics employ to communicate their story, their meaning? What means are there to draw in the reader and thus to complete the communication between the artist and the viewer? Lots of examples are shown to explain differences and concepts of the art.

If you're interested in discovering the world of comics or expanding your perception of them, I cannot suggest Understanding Comics enough.

Better progression, deeper story, more complex and substantial characters than the movie.