Transplants

by Dave Collard, Domenico Carbone (Artist), Davide Sorio (Color Artist)

When Jess finally receives the long-awaited organ transplant that she desperately needs to live, she believes all her troubles are behind her.

That is until she starts developing some interesting side effects from the transplant—a newfound set of fantastical abilities and superpowers.

When she discovers that everyone else who received organs from this donor is also experiencing the same thing, they must all figure out who this donor was, and decide what to do with the powers—use them for good, evil, or simply ignore them altogether.

The comics debut from writer Dave Collard ( Out of Time , Annapolis , Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness ), teaming up with artist Domenico Carbone on this high-stakes and thrilling superpowered adventure.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fiction, Comic Book

88 pages, Paperback

Published September 24, 2024

Reviews

[Zedsdead · Rating 3 out of 5]

Six organ recipients--who all had the same donor--discover that they have Superman powers and grapple with what to do with their new abilities...and how to stay safe from a criminal organization that wants them.

I loved the story, but ye gods is it poorly told. The panel transitions are terrible; it's like watching a badly edited clip show.

Some of the plotting choices are appealing but others are just absurd (so Superman--sorry, "Apex"-- decided he couldn't use his abilities to inspire people, but killing himself and donating his organs would create superheroes that would be inspiring?? that's his plan??? there are so many ways that doesn't make sense.)

I reeaally wanted to like this but I'm being generous by giving it three stars.

[Trike · Rating 3 out of 5]

A superpowers twist on the “gifted abilities from an organ transplant” story. I don’t even know how many movies I’ve seen using this schtick, but it must be a dozen. I assume that Collard has seen them as well, because I recognize bits and pieces from various flicks here and there. (“Killing the abusive husband in a flashback” was used in the 2007 movie Awake, for instance.) For some reason there have been a ton of sexploitation/horror flicks featuring men who have received an organ transplant leading to them becoming murderous rapists, even one with Mark Hamill getting an eye transplant making him do that.

There was another movie around the same time that had the same basic plot, with a bunch of people receiving limbs from a murderer with the recipients all experiencing flashbacks of the murders. One gets awesome fighting abilities from his arm. Then someone starts killing the organ recipients in order to get the murderer’s skills. It’s pretty wacky, and this story follows that same plotline except superpowers happen. But the bar fight scene is very similar.

I don’t think Collard was intentionally ripping off all those movies, and since there are so many of them it’s hard to recall specifics without doing more research. I’m guessing he just saw them at some point and they’re swimming around his subconscious. That said, this is a solid version of that story which moves right along and has some cool bits.

There were a few scenes where I wasn’t sure what exactly was going on due to the art being unclear, but otherwise it’s fine. One story bit was a little cliche, we caused me to roll my eyes. The black guy dies first. That happens a lot in SFF stories. So much so that Robert Townsend once had a funny bit in his standup act back in the 80s: “Spaceman Johnson!” “Yassuh?” “Investigate that dark corridor with the green slime coming out of it!” “Yassuh! I’ll be right baa-aah!”

Edit: the “killer’s limbs” movie was called Body Parts (1991): https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_... and the Mark Hamill one was part of a TV anthology called Body Bags (1993): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106449/...

[TheElder36 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not just another book about superpowers...

I've always been a fan of comics. I find myself reading mostly indie stuff now, but I will always have a love for classic superhero stories (Batman being one of my favorites). There is almost a check list that you come to expect from origin stories. "Transplants" was a refreshing twist on the genre.

It was a hard book to put down. I felt invested in Jess' story. Her character was by far the most developed, but you knew enough about the others to have an idea of who they were.

There was a good balance between story & action. I imagine it'll be further unpacked if they choose to add to it.

I enjoyed it & would recommend it

[Kyle Banks · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the description states, six random people get superpowers from a mysterious John Doe. I appreciated that all of them didn't immediately become buddy-buddy or form close bonds. Each one has their own identity and hang ups they need to process. The art is also a joy to look at. It left on a cliffhanger I want to see resolved.

If you like the super hero genre I recommend picking this one up.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some transplant recipients get more than they expected when the donor turned out to be a superhero. Now they are being chased by the local head of the mob. It's not bad. It's not great either. It's also not complete as this ends midstream.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

This title has one creative idea which leads to all the traditional superpowers.
I felt the some of the powers and actions weren't clearly defined.
Maybe more to come. I'd skip if for now.

Oh, the Black guy dies first. Ugh.

[Rianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Based on e-arc from Edelweiss

What happens when you get finally get an organ transplant when your donor is a superhero.

I quite liked this and I hope we will be able to get another volume sometime

[Lukasz · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's fun and contains laugh-out-loud moments. I hope the series will continue.