Exchanges

by Kory Bing

A comic about monster people.

Genres: Comics, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Graphic Novels

159 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2012

Reviews

[Adriane · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second volume of Skin Deep, this is a great arc and I hope we get to visit London again in the telling of this tale. The rules of the world are more firmly established as were invited into the London Avalon, the avalons act as islands in society where other kin can mingle and be their true selves undisturbed. This story has several layers following Jim, who we met in Orientations, and a second ( and really more prominent story) of Anthony and Blanche. Blanche is a mythical white stag (Blanche is white in French) and he's introducing his best friend to his world for the first time, unintended adventure ensues.

Although I love Orientations, Exchanges is my favorite arc, the art is established and superb, but we get to see the evolution of Korys writing this time, the story is completely coherent from start to finish, introduces a hell of a lot of new characters and elements to the world. I love love love this story, it's just really well done, I hope that she publishes her short stories in a volume as well because I massively appreciate the Halloween adventure.

[George Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Skin Deep collection from Kory Bing, this one shows remarkable improvement in art and narrative. The panels are rich and precisely executed, while the story is a constantly shifting dance of characters from foreground to background, focusing primarily on Jimothy, a cursed Gryphon, and his pal Lorne, a Nemean Lion, as well as Blanche, a White Stag, and his human pal John, all during a single day in the Liverpool Avalon, a sort of market/community center for the non-humans of the area. As in Orientations, the characters are the real strong point of this work.

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say, I love this song series!

[Alex Neilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found Exchanges to be a more difficult read than Orientations (volume 1 of Skin Deep), mostly because of the sheer number of characters and the lack of a particularly solid central story (obviously there's Anthony's story, but quite a bit of the book is tangential to it at best).

All that said, it displays Kory's attention to detail in her world creation, the richness of her creation, and tha fact that, as far as I can tell, there's not a single character without a name and background on any page.