Ashes

by Mario Candelaria

Matt always had an easygoing life. Girls liked him, his friends were more like family, and being a firefighter came naturally. Then the accident happened. Now, after the loss of his leg, Matt struggles to cope with his new handicap as he attempts to rebuild his shattered family and once budding career. A riveting tale about perseverance, hard work, and overcoming the odds, Ashes is not to be missed.

Part of Z2's NYC Month Ties into NYC firefighters Percentage of all profits go to firefighter charities.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

122 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2015

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't really enjoy this comic. The story felt very unstructured and I wasn't a big fan of the graphics either. In my opinion, I thought the drawings looked careless and they were so dark I couldn't really see what was happening. I personally prefer comics that are in colour anyway but these were too dark.

The story sounded promising but it ended up being really clichéd. I didn't really like any of the characters. I can't really think of anything positive about this comic unfortunately. I think I know what the author was trying to do but I'm afraid he did not succeed, in my opinion. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.

* I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Killian · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't say that I enjoyed this comic too much. Although I appreciated things other than the comic itself: Kickstarter funded, a percentage of all profits go to firefighter charities, and the idea itself.

The execution of the story, however, was bland at best. It hit all the beats it was supposed to, when it was supposed to, and was so predicable it became boring quickly.



Also the art style is not one I enjoy reading, but that is a personal quirk.



So yeah, this is probably just not for me as a reader, but I can see how others might like it.

Copy courtesy of Diamond Book Distributors/Z2 Comics, via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

[Kurt Rocourt · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't have any good thoughts on this book. The story has no direction. The main character is an overgrown child. And the art is hard to look at. The story of a firefighter that has a life changing experience doesn't work unless the firefighter accepts that his life has changed. This story tries to show what this person goes through after his life changes. The problem is he spends his time acting like his life's over. That is until a woman steps in and helps him out. Three different women help him move forward with his life. Each one just gives him a wink and a smile and its onto the next stage of his recovery. By the time it gets to the girlfriend savior I still don't care about the character or anything he went through. The main character just seems like a selfish jerk who acts like he wants to earn what he gets in life until he gets something he doesn't want.

I read this book through NetGalley. I thank them for this book. #NetGalley

[Sara J. (kefuwa) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thought provoking and heroic tale. Beautiful & emotive black & white line art, would love to see a colored-in version. This is originally a kickstarter-backed publication.

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 2 out of 5]

'Ashes' by Mario Candelaria with art by Karl Slominski got me interested with a cool cover and a story about firefighters, but the mediocre story and confusing art were a bit of a letdown.

Matt Terwillegar is a firefighter and the son of a firefighter. He's a bit larger than life and pretty fearless on the job, until he has a pretty serious accident on the job. When his family and old firehouse support him, he makes a fast recovery, but has trouble getting his old job back. He slips into depression and bitterness, but maybe has a chance to turn things around.

The story is okay, but kind of predictable. The art is black and white and kind of muddled. The characters have a sort of garish look to them, and I kept getting some of the men confused because they looked the same. I like that this is a Kickstarter project and that it benefits firefighter charities. It's for a good cause, but it's too bad it's not a good story.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors, Z2 Comics, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

[Ilona Fenton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley I saw this on Netgalley and was intrigued by both the cover and the blurb. Although the cover is in colour the actual comic is colourless except for the odd bit of blue/grey. I would have preferred a different art style but that is just my personal bias and the story was enough to keep me going and after a few pages it wasn't too bad looking at the pictures. If you like stories about facing a lifechanging event and coping with a handicap then this story is for you. Unfortunately you will have to wait until Sept. 22nd 2015 before you can get it for yourselves.

[Julian · Rating 2 out of 5]

A brave, heroic firefighter from a long family line of NYC firefighters gets into an accident and a very basic chain of cliches follows. The evolution of the story is rushed, even for a comic, and it is so predictable that you almost feel like a twist, even a minor one, is coming. It has to!

The art is black and white and very messy. The artist might be trying to establish a style or signature, but it is not working. Facial features are difficult to recognize and the characters start to look somehow similar, especially the women.

On top of that, there are some typos or grammatical errors. The Spanish word is "carajo", for instance, not "cadajo".

Nice cover, though.

Not good at all, but it's not so horrible to deserve one star only. It gets two for me.

[Amy Crick · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. Terrible. I just couldn't finish this book.

[Atnea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this copy in exchange of an honest review, for so, none of my feelings were affected or biased by the author or publisher.

Update: 01/09/2015

If you'd like to read this review on my blog.

Rating: 2.5/5 stars.

Ashes is the story of Matt, that while living a wonderful successful life, falls in hard times, and the story that follows, while trying to get his life back. Ashes gives a voice to those unnamed heroes that fight for our lives daily, and that not always win. This is what happens after one of those such days.

I loved that this novel centered around fire fighters. I think that they're underestimated most of the time. We don't give them enough credit, really. They put themselves at risk to save our lives. And sincerely, we don't do our best to help.

This is where Matt's story falls in. He suffered a horrific faith that doesn't fall anywhere near just, but there all the same. It was wonderful to see him overcome his anger and sadness over loosing it all, and manage to see beyond it and see all the people that loved him.

I think it's an important book for both the firefighters, because it brings awareness towards them, and people, because it shows that motivation, dedication, hard work and time can do wonders.

The only thing is that it wasn't the most interesting things to read. It read pretty bland and it lacked the suspense and drama. It needed a little more narrative.

And I wasn't a fan of the art design. All that black was sometimes hard to outline. And it didn't help with the overall presentation of the book. Like, if you're going to do it in b&w, at least let me see it.

Great book, you should read it, even if for the sake of knowing about the firefighters cause.

Initial Reaction

This novel was ok, but the way it was told felt kind of chopped. And like a lot of books, it missed some important parts of a character's personalities. But it was good and interesting. Also, I didn't like the art style.

Proper review to come.

[Siina · Rating 2 out of 5]

The cover of Ashes is wonderful and I was very much interested in a comic about firefighters, since I don't know about them that much. I couldn't do myself the work and I raise my hat to those who can! Ashes tells the story of Matt Terwillegar, who's a firefighter. He ends up losing his leg and suddenly needs to learn to live with a prosthetic one while obviously not being able to continue his line of work. Matt wallows in self-pity until he ends up on a boat and saves people there and thus finds new job opportunities thanks to the incident. I liked the idea, but sadly so the characters are boring and have no persona. We don't know anything about any of them. Everything feels distant and its hard to feel anything for Matt, who's a whiny annoyance still bickering with his dad.

The art is so and so. Basically the faces of the characters look hideous. They are so out of proportion that it's not even funny. The panels are stuffed and no halftones are used. The comic is purely black-and-white with heavy inking that smudges the pages and the art is suffocating due to it. Sometimes its hard to even recognize what is happening in the panels. Panels over panels is a great effect, but when used too much it just looks like a mess. The comic would need more space and air between panels and a lot more whiteness. Fires aren't usually all that clear, but in the comic you cannot even recognize them as fires. Basically the art drags the stars down. A good topic, but not so good end product.

[Leila · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 STARS

“I received this eARC from netGalley in exchange for an honest review. This is in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.”

May I just take a minute and express my love for the cover by just admiring it? Yes that way THANK YOU!

This comic/graphic novel was really realistic and heart touching because it dealt with real life issues and that was amazing. I deeply enjoyed it for what’s it represented. Great thanks to this wonderful author and illustrator for their efforts.
I liked the family and friend’s support plus the good and bad relationships all made the comic stand out.
however the main character was kind of an A** hole, I did not appreciate his character that much, he should know one thing if you choose a job like that you do not do it for FAME, you do because you want to help people and not be famous because that’s just wrong. minus one star for that

Overall, It’s Very realistic and relatable.

[야일 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't really like the black and white art here. Black and white art can be really beautiful if done well but here, nuh-uh.

I didn't really like the story-line either. Thought it was too much. I didn't really connect-- I felt no empathy which is terrible of me but seriously if JK Rowling made us feel feel things for Severus Snape -- Christopher Nolan made us feel for Bane then I should have felt something for the protagonist of this comic book. Snape and Ban were villains if you are wondering... Also the misunderstood dad card-- nuh-uh..

Thanks to Netgalley and Diamond Book Distributors for this review copy.

Originally posted Gaga Over Books.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This had a really good premise and I was excited to read it, but it just fell short. It tells the tale of a NYC firefighter who is injured on the job, then wallows in self-pity for a while before figuring out how to make his way in the world with his new disability. However, the whole thing needed to be longer and more flushed out. His emotions just didn't quite come across so I couldn't buy into them - especially his attitude towards his father, I just never understood why they didn't get along! Plus I just felt like I never really got to know any of the characters really well. Lastly, I wasn't a fan of the art style either - the cover is amazing, but the artwork inside is black-and-white and blocky, and sometimes too dark to see the details of the action.

[Paul Allard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Black-and-white comic collection about firefighters

This collection features firefighters, presumably in New York City, and the problems that they face. One gets injured and the story tells us what he goes through and how he comes out of it at the other end.

It is in black-and-white and, in the digital edition, some of the writing is quite small, making it difficult to read, especially when it’s white print on a black background.

Enjoyable enough and relatively entertaining, it’s more suitable for an American audience.

[Tabby Shiflett · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Stars
Great idea and I love that it benefits a firefighter charity, but the story and illustrations didn't really do it for me. Or maybe they just didn't work well together. I think it's wonderful that an amputee is the MC and although I prefer color in most of the graphic novels I read, the black and white worked for this story. Again, I like the big picture concept, but the details lost me. The cover art is awesome.

Net Galley Feedback

[Theediscerning · Rating 2 out of 5]

A characterful and dramatic illustrative manner isn't helped much by the storytelling and plot, which mishandles too much and turns this into an amateurish look at 'issues' before settling down into being a story. The tale, of a firefighter struggling with the legacy his over-bearing father has on his life until an injury gets in the way, is not too bad, but the preachy narrative style really does make you choke.

[GONZA · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice story but the illustrations were a little too dark for my taste. Still a good reading.

La storia non é male, ma i disegni erano troppo cupi per i miei gusti. Resta comunque una piacevole lettura.

THANKS TO NETGALLEY AND DIAMOND BOOK DISTRIBUTORS FOR THE PREVIEW!

[Sam]

Dnf at 30%

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid book. and the highly being the artwork

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story and thought the dialogue was great. The artist needs to work on his facial anatomy but otherwise was pretty good.