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Hinges #3
Hinges: Book 3: Mechanical Men
Adrift without Bauble, Orio returns to the only comfort she has left in the city of Cobble. But dark days have visited the city in her absence. And the mechanizations of single-minded men will threaten them further unless Orio can find it within herself to stop it.
HINGES BOOK 3: MECHANICAL MEN will conclude this fantasy webcomic series.
HINGES BOOK 3: MECHANICAL MEN will conclude this fantasy webcomic series.
152 pages, Paperback
First published February 14, 2017
1 person is currently reading
94 people want to read
About the author
Meredith McClaren
61 books98 followersMeredith McClaren is an illustrator and cartoonist who has no business doing either.
She sometimes entertains the idea of drawing the fourth book in Jen Van Meter’s Hopeless Savages series. And her journal comic Scraps indulges her closeted narcissism.
Supposedly she has a postal code in Arizona, but really, she could be anywhere.
Oh.
And don’t touch her stuff.
Seriously.
She sometimes entertains the idea of drawing the fourth book in Jen Van Meter’s Hopeless Savages series. And her journal comic Scraps indulges her closeted narcissism.
Supposedly she has a postal code in Arizona, but really, she could be anywhere.
Oh.
And don’t touch her stuff.
Seriously.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
October 7, 2025
... I'm disappointed but not surprised. Given how volume 2 had evolved, I was expecting a shaky conclusion. Nothing was really developed in the first volumes that laid the groundwork for a reasonable conclusion.
So Orio returns to the city where a whole series of events took place that nothing could have led us to expect—and that we never really connect to past events. Frustrating doesn’t even being to describe it.
And let's not forget the story stretched out over dozens of silent pages because... it's cool?
Meredith McClaren had an idea. It had to start at point A and end at point B. Unfortunately, she lost her way in her narration. I see self-indulgence in stretching out long scenes that are very well illustrated but of no real interest to the story, and we arrive at point B with the unpleasant feeling of having wasted time getting there because the satnav made us avoid the motorway for no reason and not remembering why we were going there in the first place.
So Orio returns to the city where a whole series of events took place that nothing could have led us to expect—and that we never really connect to past events. Frustrating doesn’t even being to describe it.
And let's not forget the story stretched out over dozens of silent pages because... it's cool?
Meredith McClaren had an idea. It had to start at point A and end at point B. Unfortunately, she lost her way in her narration. I see self-indulgence in stretching out long scenes that are very well illustrated but of no real interest to the story, and we arrive at point B with the unpleasant feeling of having wasted time getting there because the satnav made us avoid the motorway for no reason and not remembering why we were going there in the first place.
July 11, 2018
Well here we are, the final volume of Hinges and I'd be lying if I didn't say that I really really want more of this world. Meredith has crafted a truly intriguing world, populated by mysterious paper tigers that roam the ruins of other cities, marionettes that patrol the streets, and dolls who all are as real and lively as us. It is a fantasy unbound from Tolkien or C. S. Lewis and instead rooted more in the trappings and ideas of The Wizard of Oz. The art, once again, is spectacular, highlighting the subtle (and not so subtle) emotions of the characters. Meredith has a talent for posing characters and drawing faces that can convey such complicated emotions, something many artists are unable to do. One fine example of this is the four panel sequence where Orio realizes the purpose of the watch. In the two panels she is in, (the watch is in the other two), she is still partially hunched from feeling defeated, but then a memory flies across her eyes, and even though her face only shifts a tiny amount, it's enough to tell us that she's thought of something and it's a good thing. A big thing.
The paneling in this issue, though, is a bit more rocky. Splash pages are used to convey big moments but it's used so often that it loses its impact. There is one point, where bauble is with one of the tigers, where within 7 pages there are 3 splash pages and 2 pages with just one or two medium sized panels on them. The effect, slowing our eyes down and giving a claustrophobia to the action, works well, but the events don't support the paneling choices. The action is fairly minimal and the stakes aren't that high.
Speaking of the action, this is another area where the art really lets the story down. As great as Meredith is at drawing emotion, her action isn't as coherent. It's hard to tell what is happening at any given time when large amount of action is happening. The best equivalent I can give is that the panels feel like they were shot in shaky cam. Positioning of characters in relation to events is difficult to visualize and how the action moves is hard to discern through the blurs. But when the book slows down, the art once again shines with a clarity that reminds me why I love seeing Meredith's art. Although the coloring issue refunds. The colors are beautiful and nicely varied but they, and the lack of hard, defining edges and more heavy shading, make separating details and what is part of the background difficult. But, again it is the quiet moments, the silent ones, that she crafts best and I wish that she had given this project more time.
What I mean by this is that I wish she had done two things, given the story a longer run so as to flesh out the world and the many, many questions left unanswered (what is a bauble, why was this bauble special, who is Orio, where do the people come from, what were the other cities, what's up with the clock and what is this place, is it a fantasy world or something different), and given herself more time to write and plot the story before beginning it. The plotting, now that we have reached the end, is wildly inconsistent in terms of pacing and what is seems to want to be. In fact, the entire plot of this volume feels out of place, like it should have been happening much later, after we got to know more about the town, the villain and the world. The first volume is very much concerned with setting up the world and how Orio fits (or, doesn't fit) into it. The second volume is more adventuring, teasing out clues as to the lore of the world and its inhabitants. But then, out of nowhere (well not totally out of nowhere, it was being set up before), we get a McCarthy/soviet style shutdown of the city and a villainous plot whose reasons are never explained. The entire book is also rushed through, with events that should be expanded upon and dramatized more being truncated, and entire plots seemingly magic-ed into existence with no prior set up or explanation of importance afterwards.
And it's not the dialogue that is the issue. The dialogue, while prominent, is written well and feels natural to the characters. It's just that the actual events don't give the story enough time to breathe. The whole villain plot throws our characters motivations into whack and sidelines the questions of vol. 1&2 in favor of a, look at the evil guy doing evil things let's stop him, motivation. It's selling her characters and the story short. Although these questions may be unimportant to actually answer, more examples and world building around why things such as being stringless is shocking and how being stringless works would have greatly helped me to understand the stakes of the decisions people were making. As it stands, this work was too short for its own good. It rushed to a conclusion that should have been split across twice as many chapters and justify the first two volumes' great but slow pace. There were no reveals that clarified anything here, which is a shame because while the reveals were bad at clarifying, I did always have the sense that they had a larger purpose and history that I wish could have been explained.
The pace I just mentioned is the reason I seem harsh on the events of this volume, which were this to have been the closing volume of any other work, would have been great. But because the first two volumes were so slow in their reveal of information, this one feels way too rushed. Motivations weren't fully established and changes to the status quo weren't given enough time to set in and develop. I was truly expecting, based on the pace, at least 2 more volumes. (Although I'm always appreciative of any series that sets itself an end date).
All that being said though, I'm very glad I read this series. It is a world unlike that of any others and I hope that in the future, we can see more of it. Maybe this project is one that can be revisited down the line with a tighter script, a bit more clarity to the details and a longer time to spend immersed in such a unique and great story. Here's to whatever project is next for Meredith!
The paneling in this issue, though, is a bit more rocky. Splash pages are used to convey big moments but it's used so often that it loses its impact. There is one point, where bauble is with one of the tigers, where within 7 pages there are 3 splash pages and 2 pages with just one or two medium sized panels on them. The effect, slowing our eyes down and giving a claustrophobia to the action, works well, but the events don't support the paneling choices. The action is fairly minimal and the stakes aren't that high.
Speaking of the action, this is another area where the art really lets the story down. As great as Meredith is at drawing emotion, her action isn't as coherent. It's hard to tell what is happening at any given time when large amount of action is happening. The best equivalent I can give is that the panels feel like they were shot in shaky cam. Positioning of characters in relation to events is difficult to visualize and how the action moves is hard to discern through the blurs. But when the book slows down, the art once again shines with a clarity that reminds me why I love seeing Meredith's art. Although the coloring issue refunds. The colors are beautiful and nicely varied but they, and the lack of hard, defining edges and more heavy shading, make separating details and what is part of the background difficult. But, again it is the quiet moments, the silent ones, that she crafts best and I wish that she had given this project more time.
What I mean by this is that I wish she had done two things, given the story a longer run so as to flesh out the world and the many, many questions left unanswered (what is a bauble, why was this bauble special, who is Orio, where do the people come from, what were the other cities, what's up with the clock and what is this place, is it a fantasy world or something different), and given herself more time to write and plot the story before beginning it. The plotting, now that we have reached the end, is wildly inconsistent in terms of pacing and what is seems to want to be. In fact, the entire plot of this volume feels out of place, like it should have been happening much later, after we got to know more about the town, the villain and the world. The first volume is very much concerned with setting up the world and how Orio fits (or, doesn't fit) into it. The second volume is more adventuring, teasing out clues as to the lore of the world and its inhabitants. But then, out of nowhere (well not totally out of nowhere, it was being set up before), we get a McCarthy/soviet style shutdown of the city and a villainous plot whose reasons are never explained. The entire book is also rushed through, with events that should be expanded upon and dramatized more being truncated, and entire plots seemingly magic-ed into existence with no prior set up or explanation of importance afterwards.
And it's not the dialogue that is the issue. The dialogue, while prominent, is written well and feels natural to the characters. It's just that the actual events don't give the story enough time to breathe. The whole villain plot throws our characters motivations into whack and sidelines the questions of vol. 1&2 in favor of a, look at the evil guy doing evil things let's stop him, motivation. It's selling her characters and the story short. Although these questions may be unimportant to actually answer, more examples and world building around why things such as being stringless is shocking and how being stringless works would have greatly helped me to understand the stakes of the decisions people were making. As it stands, this work was too short for its own good. It rushed to a conclusion that should have been split across twice as many chapters and justify the first two volumes' great but slow pace. There were no reveals that clarified anything here, which is a shame because while the reveals were bad at clarifying, I did always have the sense that they had a larger purpose and history that I wish could have been explained.
The pace I just mentioned is the reason I seem harsh on the events of this volume, which were this to have been the closing volume of any other work, would have been great. But because the first two volumes were so slow in their reveal of information, this one feels way too rushed. Motivations weren't fully established and changes to the status quo weren't given enough time to set in and develop. I was truly expecting, based on the pace, at least 2 more volumes. (Although I'm always appreciative of any series that sets itself an end date).
All that being said though, I'm very glad I read this series. It is a world unlike that of any others and I hope that in the future, we can see more of it. Maybe this project is one that can be revisited down the line with a tighter script, a bit more clarity to the details and a longer time to spend immersed in such a unique and great story. Here's to whatever project is next for Meredith!
October 30, 2017
Strong finish.
Review: https://derailmentsofthought.com/2017...
Review: https://derailmentsofthought.com/2017...
February 3, 2017
Lovely
September 17, 2017
As gorgeous as the artwork is, it was really hard to follow at times and could have been a little more fluid. I feel like this entire series needs to be read one right after the other because I read the first volume when it first came out and I couldn't remember anything and was lost on a couple of details throughout v2 and v3, but it didn't distract too much from the story. More character development, easier to follow speech bubbles and clearer story boarding would have been nice, but I still enjoyed it.
April 20, 2024
YOOOO DISABLED CHARACTER⁉️ LITERALLY ME‼️
(They really gave Bauble and Orio the Toothless and Hiccup treatment with the matching prosthetics, and I love them for it?)
Okay the direction of this plot was really really hard to follow and would’ve benefit from foreshadowing and generally better written action and fleshing out character backstories more.
That being said, this is just a stunning universe, and I want to see more of it
(They really gave Bauble and Orio the Toothless and Hiccup treatment with the matching prosthetics, and I love them for it?)
Okay the direction of this plot was really really hard to follow and would’ve benefit from foreshadowing and generally better written action and fleshing out character backstories more.
That being said, this is just a stunning universe, and I want to see more of it
April 7, 2025
Un buen final, puedes ver en tiempo real como el arte evoluciona, me quedo con ganas de ver más el mundo pero como un todo un final digno a una historia digna y disfrutable... Y poder ver cómo evolucionó y llegará la artista a hacer cosas que más me agradan como el arte de Black Cloak, en general si pudo dar para más pero lo que es, vale la pena
May 10, 2017
Satisfying finish to that storyline. I hope she doesn't end it here though, because I love the universe! And Bauble! Some panels were a bit difficult to decipher in terms of what was happening to the chargers characters, but I liked the addition of more colors!
February 18, 2019
I really enjoyed the art in these books.
The story was hard to follow at times.
If there was more I would totally read look them over. I feel like taking another journey through these pages next week will reveal more.
The story was hard to follow at times.
If there was more I would totally read look them over. I feel like taking another journey through these pages next week will reveal more.
July 11, 2017
The artwork looks gorgeous, the story is fine.. Sometimes it's hard to follow.
I got hooked when reading the first volume.
Score 3.8
I got hooked when reading the first volume.
Score 3.8
April 3, 2018
A satisfying conclusion to this story. Continued excellent art with amazing use of colors. A world built just enough to entrance and tease.
November 11, 2018
Admittedly, this last volume felt a little rushed, but it was still excellent and wrapped things up very well.
February 9, 2020
Like the previous volume, I found this very chaotic and hard to follow. :/
December 27, 2020
Amazing and moving story. I want to read the rest of the series! Beautiful artwork, like Viber throughout all pages
April 8, 2024
Ładne, ale dla mnie zbyt chaotyczne. Nie czuję, jakby ta historia została opowiedziana wystarczająco dobrze.
April 15, 2017
This third part of Hinges concludes the series and I must say that this was a slight letdown. Not necessarily plot-wise as such, but more like how McClaren constructed the story and the pace was all over the place. It was extremely hard to follow the comic and what was happening, since the panels and everything are so out of place. The final fight didn't make any sense either and what even happened to Hannity? Mechanical Men continues the mystery behind the mechanical men, keys to activate them and the need to know how the master clock works. Hannity wants to know about the clock in order to save the world, but by doing so condemns it either way and Orio and Bauble need to save the day. I liked the whole clockwork thing, but the role of the master clock wasn't all that clear and Hannity's role was reduced to a bad guy, which was a shame. The mystery in itself never got the resolution it would've needed, since it was the point, really. This whole running from a place to another made this quite boring.
The art is OK, but not up to par with the other parts. Mechanical Men felt a little rushed and the panels were mostly mess or not well constructed art-wise. The color theme worked and I liked the blue hues a lot. The colors were slightly darker than in the former parts, which suffocated the comic and made it hard to follow too. Hinges is an interesting series, but I wish McClaren had polished this more to make it a well-balanced series. Still, I'm glad that this works for younger readers too, which is always great and well, needed.
The art is OK, but not up to par with the other parts. Mechanical Men felt a little rushed and the panels were mostly mess or not well constructed art-wise. The color theme worked and I liked the blue hues a lot. The colors were slightly darker than in the former parts, which suffocated the comic and made it hard to follow too. Hinges is an interesting series, but I wish McClaren had polished this more to make it a well-balanced series. Still, I'm glad that this works for younger readers too, which is always great and well, needed.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews