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Birthright #5
Héritage
Ce qui avait débuté comme un jeu innocent dans un parc, s'est transformé en cauchemar pour les parents. Les Rhodes ont vu disparaître leur fils Mickey et ce traumatisme a détruit la famille. Mais tout cela n'est rien en comparaison de ce à quoi ils font face depuis la réapparition de leur fils, sous la forme d'un guerrier bodybuildé revenu d'un monde magique peuplé de magiciens et de dragons...
128 pages, Hardcover
First published July 12, 2017
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188 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
November 30, 2020
Belly of the Beast picks up where Vol. 4 left off - with Mikey as a prisoner of Mastema, & Rya about to pop out their kid.
Last time around we found out about Mikey's grandfather and this time around we're finding out more about Rya.
How she came to end up being raised by Rook, and also how she and Mikey got to know each other as children. There's a lot of history to unpack between these two before we find out exactly what led each of them to where they are now.
Also, everyone in the family is getting a little tired of Mikey's I'm a good guy! Just kidding - I'm evil! Ooop! No, seriously. I'm good. game that he's been playing for about 25 issues.
Looks like they might be ready to use some tough love on him.
Oh, and Kallista comes back and does some more crazy shit.
For me, this is an easy comic to binge on and I'm looking forward to more of its insane soap opera storyline!
Recommended!
Last time around we found out about Mikey's grandfather and this time around we're finding out more about Rya.
How she came to end up being raised by Rook, and also how she and Mikey got to know each other as children. There's a lot of history to unpack between these two before we find out exactly what led each of them to where they are now.
Also, everyone in the family is getting a little tired of Mikey's I'm a good guy! Just kidding - I'm evil! Ooop! No, seriously. I'm good. game that he's been playing for about 25 issues.
Looks like they might be ready to use some tough love on him.
Oh, and Kallista comes back and does some more crazy shit.
For me, this is an easy comic to binge on and I'm looking forward to more of its insane soap opera storyline!
Recommended!
June 4, 2018
Still going strong. Some more backstory of how some got to the present. Some cool twists and the ending left me wanting more. The art is what does it for me.
June 14, 2021
This volume pretty much deals with Rya and her flashbacks and memories of Mikey and their time there and then we have Kylen revealing the truth about Mastema, loves reunite, former allies fight but then Mikey gets set on his mission and as family reunion and an addition to it taking place everyone sees Mikey for what he is and then surprises and another twists and the face off happens and some hard choices are made.
Its interesting to see Mikey when he finally reunites with his family and comes to know of his child has to fight two mages and split between Lore and what others are telling him is right. This sort of struggle is not usually seen in stories so I appreciate williamson bringing it here and then the reunion is not that happy of an event and thats fun to see!
I am liking the new twists with *spoiler* Kallista and how she factors in here and her actions make the story more epic and bring in real tension and also highlights Brennan an important part.
Its interesting to see Mikey when he finally reunites with his family and comes to know of his child has to fight two mages and split between Lore and what others are telling him is right. This sort of struggle is not usually seen in stories so I appreciate williamson bringing it here and then the reunion is not that happy of an event and thats fun to see!
I am liking the new twists with *spoiler* Kallista and how she factors in here and her actions make the story more epic and bring in real tension and also highlights Brennan an important part.
October 22, 2017
Solid 4-star up until that last issue...
This ended brilliantly. And it concludes the first major arc according to Williamson. I can't imagine anyone that makes it to volume 5 not enjoying this book.
This ended brilliantly. And it concludes the first major arc according to Williamson. I can't imagine anyone that makes it to volume 5 not enjoying this book.
August 5, 2017
The plot kind of stalls in this fifth volume as all of the disparate teams of characters reconverge for one big throwdown fight, made up of a few smaller ones, as Kylen, Mastema, and Mikey all fight it out with one another.
Around the peripheries of this are Rya and Wendy, who have to deal with the fact that Rya is pretty much going to have a baby on a battlefield; Aaron, Brennan, and Sameal, who are trying to re-activate Brennan's new magical powers, and a new character that's introduced for the first time in this volume and then reappears very quickly after that (which isn't quite as effective as you'd think).
The artwork is superb, as Andrei Bressan gets to really let loose with some magically infused fights and torture scenes, as well as some very emotional arguing, but we're rehashing the same arguments over and over at this point, so it'd be nice for the characters to reach the next level of their relationships with each other after the revelations they've all experienced. This volume does seem to lay the groundwork for that, however, so I expect we'll be back on track next time.
Around the peripheries of this are Rya and Wendy, who have to deal with the fact that Rya is pretty much going to have a baby on a battlefield; Aaron, Brennan, and Sameal, who are trying to re-activate Brennan's new magical powers, and a new character that's introduced for the first time in this volume and then reappears very quickly after that (which isn't quite as effective as you'd think).
The artwork is superb, as Andrei Bressan gets to really let loose with some magically infused fights and torture scenes, as well as some very emotional arguing, but we're rehashing the same arguments over and over at this point, so it'd be nice for the characters to reach the next level of their relationships with each other after the revelations they've all experienced. This volume does seem to lay the groundwork for that, however, so I expect we'll be back on track next time.
March 4, 2018
This series continues to be one of my favourite comics to follow in trades. Along with Monstress, Birthright is making some of the best fantasy-based comics in a way that feels continuously exciting. This volume continues on with the story of Mikey Rhodes, his fledgling magician brother, his grandfather the mage, and a whole host of other characters that I've come to know and look forward to seeing.
This is the most action-packed and visually appealing volume since the first trade. There's all sorts of fantastical weirdness, and I love to see all the cool fantasy characters that pay tribute to orcs, elves, and their ilk without feeling derivative. If you don't think the Sharkmaidens in this volume are cool then there's likely no hope for you enjoying the rest of the series.
Since I slacked off with my regular-scheduled following of Birthright, I'll be back with a review of the sixth volume sooner rather than later. Great cliffhanger at the end of this one and I'm looking forward to what Williamson has in store for volume six.
This is the most action-packed and visually appealing volume since the first trade. There's all sorts of fantastical weirdness, and I love to see all the cool fantasy characters that pay tribute to orcs, elves, and their ilk without feeling derivative. If you don't think the Sharkmaidens in this volume are cool then there's likely no hope for you enjoying the rest of the series.
Since I slacked off with my regular-scheduled following of Birthright, I'll be back with a review of the sixth volume sooner rather than later. Great cliffhanger at the end of this one and I'm looking forward to what Williamson has in store for volume six.
September 17, 2018
Birthright continues to be one of my favorite series being published by Image. Williamson is a great storyteller and Bressan's artwork is really good. The twist in turns in this contemporary fantasy give the story a great unpredictable quality. Mikey and his family are really well fleshed out characters. The stakes grow even higher in this volume as the deaths of the mages are securing Lore's invasion into our world. In this volume we get more focus on Rya & Mikey's relationship and the pending birth of their child. Williamson also drives home the issue of whether Mikey is really the hero or is he the villian. I really enjoy all the action in this volume. I am looking forward to the next volume and hope the Rhodes family are ready for the coming storm.
November 1, 2017
I absolutely loved this volume as well. I hate that it ended on a cliffhanger but I kind of guessed it would. Hopefully I'll be able to get ahold of the next volume at some point in time. I cannot wait to see what happens next. Volume 4 and 5 are probably my favorites.
October 18, 2021
Onto the next volume! Things are getting interesting now!
December 26, 2017
Wow.... I jumped from the first trade to this one. there was a ton of stuff revealed since that first book. I was able to keep track of the main storyline. so much seems to have happened within the last three volumes, and yet where we are at, in volume 5 makes sense, based on what I read in volume 1.
this book has some really excellent world building. It makes me want to read every other trade.
this book has some really excellent world building. It makes me want to read every other trade.
June 14, 2019
Still enjoying this, but I do want everyone to take five minutes and let Mikey explain himself. That can't be too much to ask, can it? Great art, as usual, but the story beats are starting to repeat themselves a bit.
September 20, 2017
Time to get some resolution. Will he or won't he, come on writer!! Pick
May 31, 2021
This is a review for Birthright Vol. 1-7, which I read in one long blast. This is a modern fantasy story where a boy named Mikey gets mysteriously whisked away to a dark fantasy realm where he is tasked with fulfilling a prophecy to be the Chosen zone to defeat the God-King Lore. Meanwhile, Mikey’s family falls apart in the aftermath of the missing person case, so when Mikey magically reappears all grown up and transformed into a jacked Conan the Barbarian, talking about how he has to hunt down magical war criminals in this world, that’s when the story really begins.
The good here is that the art is often very pleasant to look at me does a good job of carrying the visual aspects of the story. And there are moments when the story flirts with breaking out of genre conventions, and make one think we’re about to get into seriously interesting territory.
The bad is the story never quite pulls that promise off, and the entire things feels really hidebound within a lot of fairly tired fantasy tropes. Add to that a family dynamic subplot that never feels that genuine, and bad guys who are fairly one-dimensional, and the end result is a story that after seven volumes feels like only two, because the story never really advances that much or make us care that much about the proceedings. An ongoing sub-story of flashbacks only reinforces the parts of the story that don’t exactly work, so the end result is something that had a lot of talent and promise within it, but it never quite gets over the edge into something that throws aside its various crutches.
At this point, it’s impossible to tell when the series intends to conclude, but honestly? After the first seven volumes, it doesn’t really matter. All we’ve been lead to expect going forward is more fighting/not fighting among Mikey and his brother, more awkward and forced family strife drama, and more talk about a fantasy world forever at war. It just feels like none of it really matters.
The good here is that the art is often very pleasant to look at me does a good job of carrying the visual aspects of the story. And there are moments when the story flirts with breaking out of genre conventions, and make one think we’re about to get into seriously interesting territory.
The bad is the story never quite pulls that promise off, and the entire things feels really hidebound within a lot of fairly tired fantasy tropes. Add to that a family dynamic subplot that never feels that genuine, and bad guys who are fairly one-dimensional, and the end result is a story that after seven volumes feels like only two, because the story never really advances that much or make us care that much about the proceedings. An ongoing sub-story of flashbacks only reinforces the parts of the story that don’t exactly work, so the end result is something that had a lot of talent and promise within it, but it never quite gets over the edge into something that throws aside its various crutches.
At this point, it’s impossible to tell when the series intends to conclude, but honestly? After the first seven volumes, it doesn’t really matter. All we’ve been lead to expect going forward is more fighting/not fighting among Mikey and his brother, more awkward and forced family strife drama, and more talk about a fantasy world forever at war. It just feels like none of it really matters.
November 2, 2024
Joshua Williamson and Andrei Bressan's brutal and magical family book continues here and its a force. Mikey's return to Earth has been full of issues and they all come to a head here. All the different story elements all converge here as we get some more background on young Mikey's time in Terranos and how he came back. We're given magical battles that are epic with some shocking results. Williamson's work here is top-notch. I really enjoy this cast of characters and the antagonists are wild. Bressan's art is great. Amazing fight scenes. Editorially, ever trade should have a "Previously In" page and there should always be page breaks with the covers. Much preferred. Overall, a very good fantasy read in a series that is stellar.
July 24, 2017
3.5 Stars. Battle, tragedy, love, battle, love... repeat.
This Volume of Birthright serves primarily to reunite Mikey with Rya, as well as the birth of their child. The secret of Mikey being connected to a Nevermind gets revealed to his family and friends. A huge battle with the mages leaves Mastema on top, when it is revealed that she is Lore's daughter! Brennan begins to manifest his magic, and is taken captive.
What will happen next? Hopefully a faster release of the next graphic novel.
Either way, recommend. Though... you might want to marathon from the beginning.
This Volume of Birthright serves primarily to reunite Mikey with Rya, as well as the birth of their child. The secret of Mikey being connected to a Nevermind gets revealed to his family and friends. A huge battle with the mages leaves Mastema on top, when it is revealed that she is Lore's daughter! Brennan begins to manifest his magic, and is taken captive.
What will happen next? Hopefully a faster release of the next graphic novel.
Either way, recommend. Though... you might want to marathon from the beginning.
August 30, 2017
Events are coming to a head – lots of action
In this volume (which is meaningless if you haven't read the previous volumes), we are heading for final confrontations and this volume is virtually one long fight between the various protagonists (Kylen, Mikey, Kallista, Mastema) resulting in death and destruction.
Still well-illustrated and interesting enough, this volume is worth a look, leading (hopefully) to a last volume. Recommended to those who have read the previous volumes and who want to know how the story progresses.
In this volume (which is meaningless if you haven't read the previous volumes), we are heading for final confrontations and this volume is virtually one long fight between the various protagonists (Kylen, Mikey, Kallista, Mastema) resulting in death and destruction.
Still well-illustrated and interesting enough, this volume is worth a look, leading (hopefully) to a last volume. Recommended to those who have read the previous volumes and who want to know how the story progresses.
December 16, 2025
I'm kind of back to a 'good but not great' mentality with this series and it mostly boils down to the secret-keeping around Mikey starting to feel more than a little contrived. It feels like the creative team is dragging that reveal out past its time, and I keep wondering 'when will they hurry up and just tell us already'. It's starting to feel unnatural and forced that we don't know Mikey's true motivations.
There are enough good and cool moments in this that it's not going down to 3 star yet, but if we don't find out something substantive next volume, I might start to get a little fed up.
There are enough good and cool moments in this that it's not going down to 3 star yet, but if we don't find out something substantive next volume, I might start to get a little fed up.
May 28, 2024
Birthright still has its bumps, but payoff such as that found here makes them worthwhile. Birthright vol 5 brings us to the end of another story arc. I felt very satisfied in what has come out of this latest story arc. We also get an epic showcase for how the mages specialize in different types of magic. Including plenty of character development, memorable moments, and enough to take away from this volume.
August 5, 2024
Birthright, Vol. 5: Belly of the Beast, Joshua Williamson, Andrei Bressan, Adriano Lucas
This is pretty nuts yet it has a strange 1980’s-fantasy appeal to it. ***
#21- "My mother did not give birth to me on the battlefield.. but I was reborn there."
#22- "SHARKMAIDEN" [impersonating as a mermaid]
#23- "My sword was made from the feathers of metal griffins so that it would be easy to carry while I'm in the air."
#24- "I did what was RIGHT."
#25- "Remember, destiny is a FANTASY."
This is pretty nuts yet it has a strange 1980’s-fantasy appeal to it. ***
#21- "My mother did not give birth to me on the battlefield.. but I was reborn there."
#22- "SHARKMAIDEN" [impersonating as a mermaid]
#23- "My sword was made from the feathers of metal griffins so that it would be easy to carry while I'm in the air."
#24- "I did what was RIGHT."
#25- "Remember, destiny is a FANTASY."
Read
August 20, 2020At first I enjoyed this as a clever subversion of portal fantasy, but reading this volume soon after the penultimate Curse Words, its deviations seem like very small and timid things. It probably doesn't help that, albeit with flashbacks, the whole volume only takes us through a fairly short span of time, pretty much one extended fight scene.
October 29, 2017
Damn, I enjoyed this one a ton. Lots of stories finally converging and yet still not resolved. This is dark fantasy at its height. Great story, very engaging art. Love that Brennan is becoming a much larger part of the story.
March 7, 2018
Great story but
I really liked the storyline, the illustrations are amazing. I bought kindle edition and I can zoom in easily to see the details. The characters are finally using common sense about the reality of who is good and who is evil
I really liked the storyline, the illustrations are amazing. I bought kindle edition and I can zoom in easily to see the details. The characters are finally using common sense about the reality of who is good and who is evil
November 19, 2018
This is a series that gets better and better but this particular volume wasn't as good as the last two. Mainly because beyond a few obvious plot points I feel like the story hasn't really progressed or given us anything new. Looking forward to 6 and seeing how everyone copes with the new addition!
September 14, 2020
Once again, the "rules" of the two parallel universes seems to mutate based on the plot needs of the story (and what happened to the "crossing the streams would be bad" element in Rya's story?!)... but at least the plot is moving forward.
I think I'll end up finishing this... but it's just ok.
I think I'll end up finishing this... but it's just ok.
May 29, 2021
This story never slows down, it's like the entire world is in the balance and at any moment it could tip, the whole time. I mean there was some nice flashback scenes of Mikey as a kid, but other than that, it's a whole lot of tension, cool magic and ass kicking. Totally dig the art too.
September 27, 2021
Really cool to learn more about Lore as we are starting to learn more about him and see him more and more. We also finally get to see Mikey confronted by both Maestrma and Rya as we are finally get to learn more about his confrontation with Lore which is really nice.
November 17, 2023
I'm not even really sure what happened in this volume or how it pushed the story forward. I mean, I know that Brennan was taken and Miney's child was born, but I don't think the story progressed much.
November 12, 2025
Still very happy that I found this series, Great Art, Story, and a real page turner, Highly recommend it, but I still think you would miss a lot if you didn't read it in order. I already have Vol 6 and will be through that soon I am sure. This is a Good Read.
July 12, 2017
One of my favorite current ongoing series. Although I think it's about time we got some damn answers!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews