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Carbon Grey #0-3
Carbon Grey Omnibus Collection
"LEGEND OF THE GREYS" The Sisters Grey are warriors, sworn to protect their Kaiser. But as a great war rages, the Kaiser is found dead, and one sister―Giselle Grey― is accused of his murder. Pursued by enemies, Giselle must unravel the prophecy of the Carbon Grey―before history itself unravels. This collection includes all three volumes of the epic saga, stories from CARBON ORIGINS, and a new ten-page prologue.
304 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2016
45 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
June 26, 2022
Reasonably nice graphics. Interesting story. A bit difficult to follow. Nice work, overall.
May 4, 2019
This graphic novel starts out well enough, but it quickly becomes impossible to follow because of an unbelievably convoluted plot. The writing is not particularly clear and I lost interest about half way through this collection,. I found getting to the end to be a slog and a bore.
I will summarise some of the strengths and weaknesses of this collection:
- Initially the steampunk world of MittleEuropa seems promising, but the writer doesn't develop it very well. Apart from some airships and trains, this steam punk world is not fleshed out at all. He dwells on the politics of the world, but that quickly becomes impossible to follow. I could not figure out who was doing what to whom, or why they were doing it. I also didn't care after a while
- The art is traditional pencil and inks with digital painting on top. I did not like the digital painting. It tended to make the characters faces appear to be made of plastic. I would have liked to have seen the line art coloured using a different technique. I have the Art of Carbon Grey book and the B&W line art is superior to the finished product that uses the digital painting technique. The artists are very good, but the digital painting technique buries their fine line work under digital mush.
- The colour palette of the book is muted and desaturated. Think of Zack Synder's movies as a comparable reference. There is a big emphasis on browns, dark tans, greys and blues. The book looks drab and depressing throughout. I would have liked for them to have used a wider colour palette that provided some contrast. This approach is one dimensional and dreary.
- This is a book that has some issues with the lettering. Large parts of the book are lettered well, but there are sections when they have dark caption boxes with dark text against a dark background. This is impossible to read. I strained my eyes trying to read some of the caption boxes. This made reading parts of this book a tiring chore. I do not understand how such an elementary lettering mistake could have been made.
- The ending is incomprehensible, but it appears because, MAGIC, two of the Grey sisters remake a new world to start everything over again. However, I am not sure about that. I would appreciate it if someone could explain the ending to me because the author did a very poor job of explaining it.
Overall, I went into this with a positive attitude, but between the convoluted and opaque plotting, dull art and hard to read lettering, it wore my patience out quickly. I cannot recommend this book to anyone.
I will summarise some of the strengths and weaknesses of this collection:
- Initially the steampunk world of MittleEuropa seems promising, but the writer doesn't develop it very well. Apart from some airships and trains, this steam punk world is not fleshed out at all. He dwells on the politics of the world, but that quickly becomes impossible to follow. I could not figure out who was doing what to whom, or why they were doing it. I also didn't care after a while
- The art is traditional pencil and inks with digital painting on top. I did not like the digital painting. It tended to make the characters faces appear to be made of plastic. I would have liked to have seen the line art coloured using a different technique. I have the Art of Carbon Grey book and the B&W line art is superior to the finished product that uses the digital painting technique. The artists are very good, but the digital painting technique buries their fine line work under digital mush.
- The colour palette of the book is muted and desaturated. Think of Zack Synder's movies as a comparable reference. There is a big emphasis on browns, dark tans, greys and blues. The book looks drab and depressing throughout. I would have liked for them to have used a wider colour palette that provided some contrast. This approach is one dimensional and dreary.
- This is a book that has some issues with the lettering. Large parts of the book are lettered well, but there are sections when they have dark caption boxes with dark text against a dark background. This is impossible to read. I strained my eyes trying to read some of the caption boxes. This made reading parts of this book a tiring chore. I do not understand how such an elementary lettering mistake could have been made.
- The ending is incomprehensible, but it appears because, MAGIC, two of the Grey sisters remake a new world to start everything over again. However, I am not sure about that. I would appreciate it if someone could explain the ending to me because the author did a very poor job of explaining it.
Overall, I went into this with a positive attitude, but between the convoluted and opaque plotting, dull art and hard to read lettering, it wore my patience out quickly. I cannot recommend this book to anyone.
May 18, 2023
Although it took me a bit to understand what was going on, once I caught up it was truly hard to put this down. The art is absolutely beautiful. With a unique and intense plot, Carbon Grey is a fantastic read that I would recommend to anyone interested in graphic novels with substance.
June 5, 2022
This was a case of intention that was not matched by ability. Now that doesn't apply to the art, which is stunning – really strong, and in a style I like. It's just that, with this hokum, there are limited things for it to present. As for the author, so much effort has been put into making a steampunk not-quite-Europe, that once we've lost track of exactly who is whom and where and what their equivalents are, we've also lost a firm grasp of the plot – and that was essential where this series was concerned. It's all about some diplomatic machinations surrounding a certain country's Kaiser, and whatever it was he wanted to do and whatever other people didn't want him to do, or the other way round. That's the cover pitch, the truth is it's about four gorgeous warrior women, all rampant boobs, perfect but perfect hair, and resting bitch face tight-lipped determination.
I took myself more or less through the entire first volume, "Sisters at War", but no further. Originally in three 80-ish page books, with some spin-offs devoted to give prequel and world-building matter before the middle one became an early Kickstarter hit, it all got lumped in one large volume first in 2016. I guess I was privy to a 2022 edition because the creators have gone back to Kickstarter, to plug an RPG set in the same muddled, befuddling world. And there was word of this being remastered and tweaked, but to me too much needed tweaking, and a long time ago. Forget the claims of misogyny or proto-Nazi militarism porn, just remember clarity next time.
I took myself more or less through the entire first volume, "Sisters at War", but no further. Originally in three 80-ish page books, with some spin-offs devoted to give prequel and world-building matter before the middle one became an early Kickstarter hit, it all got lumped in one large volume first in 2016. I guess I was privy to a 2022 edition because the creators have gone back to Kickstarter, to plug an RPG set in the same muddled, befuddling world. And there was word of this being remastered and tweaked, but to me too much needed tweaking, and a long time ago. Forget the claims of misogyny or proto-Nazi militarism porn, just remember clarity next time.
September 21, 2018
The art is amazing, through the entire book. The story is good, but a little disjointed. It can be hard to follow at times, but is ultimately (and surprisingly) touching at the end.
March 20, 2019
Too confusing
It was really hard to follow who was who and past vs present. I wanted to like it more, but a good story doesn't lose you, even with character/POV and time transitions
It was really hard to follow who was who and past vs present. I wanted to like it more, but a good story doesn't lose you, even with character/POV and time transitions
July 10, 2025
A very convoluted tale with outstanding drawings, lots of violence, some sexist takes, but it shines with lots of great fantasy scenes. A great read if you have the patience to follow the story.
January 14, 2018
This was very disjointed. It's saving grace was the superb illustrations. That alone bumped it up an extra star.
March 16, 2017
Particular. Gritty. Interesting characters and a story that goes beyond expected. Reminded me of the Casshern movie (2004), I don't know why.
March 3, 2020
[REVIEW FOR THE SERIES...]
Carbon Grey (Vol. 1-3)
Carbon Grey was a very interesting series. The artwork was fantastic and stunning. The art was really the highlight of the series, it was what initially drew me in, however the story was very fascinating by its own right. There was just something...missing. Or perhaps they tried to cram too much story into so few volumes...Too big of a concept and too little time to execute it. Maybe with more time it could have felt complete, but as it was it felt overly rushed.
"To a noble family twins are born; Mathilde and Giselle, the Sisters Grey. For centuries the Greys have protected the Kaiser, ruler of Mitteleuropa - but this is a different time. At the dawn of the Industrial Age a great war rages. When the Kaiser is found dead Giselle is accused of his murder. Pursued by her sisters and hunted by the enemy, Giselle must unravel the prophecy of the Carbon Grey before history itself is rewritten." -Book Blurb
I would really love to see this one expanded upon. It really had a ton of potential if given the opportunity to develop into a longer series. As it stands, it was a creative, imaginative glimpse into a very interesting realm and brilliant artwork, but story-wise incomplete somehow. I would still recommend it to graphic novel readers for the art alone, just don’t expect a story that really makes a lot of sense.
[OFFICIAL RATING: 3.5 STARS]
June 17, 2016
In this story we have an alternate past where WWI continued for a long time as the armies of the German empire are supplemented with the Grey sisters with their powerful warrior abilities. They are the descendants of a man hit with a meteor and given great strength and speed. They don't have his power but they have much more than the average person.
But, what if one of the sisters decides it's time for the years of war to end? What if the meteor pieces are out there somewhere with its powers intact? What if the timeline has been damaged because of what has happened? This one is written for a mature audience with some language, bloody violence, steampunk looking tech, and battles. Pity it wasn't in hardcover.
But, what if one of the sisters decides it's time for the years of war to end? What if the meteor pieces are out there somewhere with its powers intact? What if the timeline has been damaged because of what has happened? This one is written for a mature audience with some language, bloody violence, steampunk looking tech, and battles. Pity it wasn't in hardcover.
June 12, 2016
Fantasy tale about a group of warrior sisters
With plenty of blood, violence and some sex, this story tells of the Grey sisters, children of Mitteleuropa's greatest hero, Gottfaust, warriors who fight without mercy for their ruler and then for what they consider to be right. There's a lot of flashbacks and jumping from one scene to another – which leads to some confusion.
Lyrically written and beautifully illustrated, this is a fascinating collection even if the story is hard to follow. A lot of white lettering on as black background is hard to read in the digital edition.
With plenty of blood, violence and some sex, this story tells of the Grey sisters, children of Mitteleuropa's greatest hero, Gottfaust, warriors who fight without mercy for their ruler and then for what they consider to be right. There's a lot of flashbacks and jumping from one scene to another – which leads to some confusion.
Lyrically written and beautifully illustrated, this is a fascinating collection even if the story is hard to follow. A lot of white lettering on as black background is hard to read in the digital edition.
November 18, 2016
Illustration was solid but the story was awfully disjointed. Flashback sections made the story flow even poorer, although they did enhance some understanding. A couple of the flashbacks were more suited to a prelude.
The story was intriguing but deciphering it was the challenging task. Took me almost half the novel to get comfortable with the story. Once I grasped what was transpiring the story was decent. Should have been longer with more depth.
The story was intriguing but deciphering it was the challenging task. Took me almost half the novel to get comfortable with the story. Once I grasped what was transpiring the story was decent. Should have been longer with more depth.
October 1, 2016
Interesting plot and alternate history of World War 1. Very impressive art work and this was the highlight for me. The first three volumes included in this collection are just enough to wet my appetite for more.
April 8, 2017
Had been on my to-read list a long time. Wonderful collection and story. The art is amazing. Highly recommend this!
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews