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Wild's End #1-6
Wild's End Vol. 1: First Light
What's to Love: We love smart takes on classic science-fiction mythos, and who better to take advantage of the iconography of H.G. Wells and War of the Worlds than Dan Abnett, one of comics' most renowned sci-fi writers and one of the creators responsible for the groundbreaking run on Guardians of the Galaxy that inspired the Marvel movie. Paired with I.N.J. Culbard who has made a name for himself with the critically acclaimed adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness, it's a team perfectly built for the visually impactful adventure stories readers love. What It Is: Lower Crowchurch is a small English community enjoying the peace of the 1930s, but when the town becomes the victim of an alien invasion, the residents' lives are upended by the harsh realities of life-and-death violence. Led by the town's outsider and retired war veteran, they will have to rally together to uncover the secret of their invaders and hope to fight back. Collects the complete six-issue miniseries.
164 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 8, 2015
12 people are currently reading
441 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews
August 28, 2016
I understand that this is the introduction to the world of Wild's End and first books are mainly concerned with presenting the characters and the setting, but it was so predictable and disappointing. Perhaps my expectations were just too high. Abnett's writing is not everyone's cup of tea. I personally loved Triumff: Her Majesty's Hero. I thought it was a quirky historical fiction/fantasy romp but other readers hated it. Maybe he's a hit-or-miss kind of author.
A reader's website that I was browsing (not the one we're on) described this graphic novel (heavily paraphrasing here) as a war of the worlds in an anthropomorphized world of British animals. How could that not be exciting, I thought.
The illustrations were charming but not highly detailed or particularly striking. They weren't enough to carry the book as the dialogue fell flat and the story dragged from the first issue onwards. The worst part, in my mind, was when
Readers may enjoy this book if they really like homages to classic science fiction with the pacing of the first or second Doctor Who. I enjoy and highly recommend more intense graphic novels like The Walking Dead, Book One by Robert Kirkmanor well written ones like The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman or Nimona by Noelle Stevenson. The opinions contained in this review are entirely my own- thanks for reading!
A reader's website that I was browsing (not the one we're on) described this graphic novel (heavily paraphrasing here) as a war of the worlds in an anthropomorphized world of British animals. How could that not be exciting, I thought.
The illustrations were charming but not highly detailed or particularly striking. They weren't enough to carry the book as the dialogue fell flat and the story dragged from the first issue onwards. The worst part, in my mind, was when
Readers may enjoy this book if they really like homages to classic science fiction with the pacing of the first or second Doctor Who. I enjoy and highly recommend more intense graphic novels like The Walking Dead, Book One by Robert Kirkmanor well written ones like The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman or Nimona by Noelle Stevenson. The opinions contained in this review are entirely my own- thanks for reading!
December 19, 2019
Elevator pitch: H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds meets Kenneth Graeme’s The Wind in the Willows. And that’s pretty much all you need to know about this story. If you’re at all familiar with those two classics, then you know what’s going to happen here.
Anthropomorphic citizens of a bucolic post-WWI British village encounter alien invaders. It’s told straight, without any cutesy bits. The fact the characters are talking dogs, cats, pigs, foxes, minks, rabbits, etc., seems entirely beside the point, which feels like a bit of a missed opportunity.
Anthropomorphic citizens of a bucolic post-WWI British village encounter alien invaders. It’s told straight, without any cutesy bits. The fact the characters are talking dogs, cats, pigs, foxes, minks, rabbits, etc., seems entirely beside the point, which feels like a bit of a missed opportunity.
September 25, 2020
Sin ninguna duda, la edición, el estilo de las ilustraciones y los colores, son lo mejorcito.
Una reinterpretación antropomórfica de la guerra de los mundos que engancha, y con unos personajes que tienen tirón, aunque es verdad que esperaba algo más.
Una reinterpretación antropomórfica de la guerra de los mundos que engancha, y con unos personajes que tienen tirón, aunque es verdad que esperaba algo más.
January 15, 2018
My guy called the book “The War of the Wind in the Willows” (seems to be a common reaction) and he’s not wrong. But the characters make this series a must read - esp. now that I'm seeing a possible third and concluding volume for summer 2018!
In a small British town populated by anthropomorphic animals, the town drunks see a falling star and head through the woods to investigate. Retired military officer Clive Slipaway, a newcomer, attends a town meeting the next day. It’s interrupted by one of those drunks, who claims the town is being invaded. Clive decides to investigate, and what he and other townsfolk find is terrifying.
Clive is a quiet tactician whose past causes him deep pain. Susan is a reclusive writer with a sharp tongue. Gilbert is the town solicitor and a jolly busybody. Fawkes is a formerly drunk layabout called to action. You start to care about them, even knowing that Bad Things Will Happen. I’ve rarely felt such a building sense of dread while reading as in the first volume, especially in the nighttime scenes.
Abnett and Culbard are more ambitious with storytelling format in the second volume. Some sections are written materials authored by the characters, such as journal entries and even fiction, which is where Abnett’s wife probably helped out (she’s credited in the second volume). Culbard’s art, as always, is perfect, maybe even better than in the first volume. There’s nothing like seeing an anthropomorphized dog tilt his head exactly right while listening to a sound in the distance.
The second volume isn’t quite as successful as the first book, though, because of the one-dimensionality of the government character who’s the mouthpiece for the reactionary “national security” philosophy. But there are amazing moments. The inscription on Clive’s watch. Helena’s letter to her father, which just about broke my heart into pieces. Susan’s elegy for those lost to the invasion. Fawkes’s continued evolution. And it’s amazing how tense everything still is, from the beginning to the end. Almost moreso than in the first book, which had more immediate physical danger.
And that ending? CHILLS.
In a small British town populated by anthropomorphic animals, the town drunks see a falling star and head through the woods to investigate. Retired military officer Clive Slipaway, a newcomer, attends a town meeting the next day. It’s interrupted by one of those drunks, who claims the town is being invaded. Clive decides to investigate, and what he and other townsfolk find is terrifying.
Clive is a quiet tactician whose past causes him deep pain. Susan is a reclusive writer with a sharp tongue. Gilbert is the town solicitor and a jolly busybody. Fawkes is a formerly drunk layabout called to action. You start to care about them, even knowing that Bad Things Will Happen. I’ve rarely felt such a building sense of dread while reading as in the first volume, especially in the nighttime scenes.
Abnett and Culbard are more ambitious with storytelling format in the second volume. Some sections are written materials authored by the characters, such as journal entries and even fiction, which is where Abnett’s wife probably helped out (she’s credited in the second volume). Culbard’s art, as always, is perfect, maybe even better than in the first volume. There’s nothing like seeing an anthropomorphized dog tilt his head exactly right while listening to a sound in the distance.
The second volume isn’t quite as successful as the first book, though, because of the one-dimensionality of the government character who’s the mouthpiece for the reactionary “national security” philosophy. But there are amazing moments. The inscription on Clive’s watch. Helena’s letter to her father, which just about broke my heart into pieces. Susan’s elegy for those lost to the invasion. Fawkes’s continued evolution. And it’s amazing how tense everything still is, from the beginning to the end. Almost moreso than in the first book, which had more immediate physical danger.
And that ending? CHILLS.
Read
April 12, 2015Essentially HG Wells' Martians invading Kenneth Grahame's Riverbank; I loved the utter Englishness of the countryside, the keenly observed village life, the panic and pluck once the invasion began. But as ever, the anthropomorphic animals were something of a barrier. I'm fine with them in a story obviously intended as a dreamy fable, but as soon as you start introducing realist elements to their world - difficult memories of war or love, murderous invaders - it just brings home to me that their world makes no sense. How does an English farming village work if pigs are part of the community? Why would anyone but a psychopath recognise the smell of crackling? This even extends to the art, where the faces are brilliant (at once expressive yet recognisably animal), but the heads and necks slightly too large for the humanoid bodies on which they sit.
October 7, 2023
This was so good! A graphic novel about anthropomorphized woodland animals meeting an alien invasion. The epistolary elements took this over the top for me. Can't wait to see what happens!
November 19, 2015
This has everything I love in a story; a bunch of people forced together to deal with a force way bigger than then among the despairs of reality, were dead people stay dead.
At first this has a fable-ish vibe due to the anthropomorphic nature behind it, but it definitely works in it's favor; With a simpler art-style and a oh so very English village in the 1930's setting, it's hard not to feel like everything about it is adorable, until the deaths and killings begin, of course.
I got to this series by reading the first issue of the sequel and loved it. Then, when I found out there was a whole volume before that, I felt compelled to read through it and did so in a single sitting.
Dan Abnett shines in delivering this thriller with a whole lot of characters that don't feel too obnoxious to the point of getting in the way of the story, and Culbard's art, despite lacking a certain action during action scenes, does makes up for it with the gorgeous rendering of pretty much everything.
I definitely recommend this book and it's sequel for any fans of the sci-fi genre, English villages and accents and anthropomorphic animals in a realistic setting.
At first this has a fable-ish vibe due to the anthropomorphic nature behind it, but it definitely works in it's favor; With a simpler art-style and a oh so very English village in the 1930's setting, it's hard not to feel like everything about it is adorable, until the deaths and killings begin, of course.
I got to this series by reading the first issue of the sequel and loved it. Then, when I found out there was a whole volume before that, I felt compelled to read through it and did so in a single sitting.
Dan Abnett shines in delivering this thriller with a whole lot of characters that don't feel too obnoxious to the point of getting in the way of the story, and Culbard's art, despite lacking a certain action during action scenes, does makes up for it with the gorgeous rendering of pretty much everything.
I definitely recommend this book and it's sequel for any fans of the sci-fi genre, English villages and accents and anthropomorphic animals in a realistic setting.
July 20, 2019
This was a birthday present almost two years ago, and I'm embarrassed it's taken me this long to read. Think The Wind in the Willows meets The War of the Worlds, with a great cast of animal characters battling mysterious aliens in a rural idyll. Read this if you like Bryan Talbot's Grandville series.
June 9, 2021
A falling star causes a stir in the quiet British-sounding town of Lower Crowchurch. One of the thownspeople turns up dead and a newly-arrived local with an army background decides to investigate. Each issue opens up with a small map where the road traveled in the previous issue is highlighted. An issue has a few pages from the typed diary of an angry writer suffering from writer's block. She is angry at another writer whose novels she must edit and rewrite until she releases a novel of her own. It's beautiful to see her seething anger at everything around her. Other issues have newspaper pages with local news, extracts from a book detailing the surroundings, science fiction stories, hand-written letters. Both are written in what seems to me to be an early 20th century writing style, maybe even earlier. The attention to detail is beautiful.
The falling star is witnessed by the town drunks, but their warnings don't alert anyone to any danger. A spider-like device kills one of the inhabitants named Swagger, and burns down her house making it look like an accident. Former navy officer Clive Slipaway decides to investigate and believes that Mrs. Swagger didn't die of a fire.
The falling star is witnessed by the town drunks, but their warnings don't alert anyone to any danger. A spider-like device kills one of the inhabitants named Swagger, and burns down her house making it look like an accident. Former navy officer Clive Slipaway decides to investigate and believes that Mrs. Swagger didn't die of a fire.
September 6, 2020
Cuando la tranquilidad de un pequeño pueblo inglés es interrumpida por la aparición de unas extrañas criaturas, todos los vecinos deben trabajar unidos si quieren sobrevivir a este nuevo peligro.
La verdad es que la historia me ha encantado. La trama es muy similar a la Guerra de los mundos de H. G. Wells. En este caso la historia se ambienta en Iglesia del cuervo un pequeño y tranquilo pueblo inglés, en el que sus habitantes, todos ellos animales, viven tranquilamente. Pero esta paz se ve interrumpida cuando en una de las reuniones vecinales uno de los vecinos, Fawkes, aparece asustado y dice que han caído unos seres extraños del cielo y que estos han matado a uno de sus amigos. Pero los vecinos no le creen excepto el señor Slipaway, un nuevo vecino y ex marine. Llevado por su preocupación él y algunos vecinos más deciden investigar el caso. Lo mejor de todo el libro es la edición. Desde la portada que es una pasada, a las ilustraciones y todos los detalles que incluye como numerosos mapas que te ayudan a seguir el camino que van recorriendo los personjes a otros detalles como páginas de periódico, de un diario o de una guía de caminos que se menciona en la historia. La verdad es que son detalles que enriquecen muchísimo la lectura. Otro punto positivo es el uso del color en las ilustraciones así como la variedad de personjes que encontramos en la historia. Ya que tenemos desde un veterano de guerra, una escritora sin inspiración e incluso el borracho del pueblo. Aunque la pandilla principal la forman un perro, una gata, un visón, un zorro y un cerdito. También me ha parecido muy original la forma de los invasores, una especie de farolas andantes con tentáculos que disparan una especie de rayos láseres que desintegran todo lo que ven. La verdad es que es una historia que está llena de acción y se lee súper rápido. Yo me muero por leer la continuación y descubrir cómo los habitantes de Iglesia del cuervo hacen frente a esta invasión alienígena.
La verdad es que la historia me ha encantado. La trama es muy similar a la Guerra de los mundos de H. G. Wells. En este caso la historia se ambienta en Iglesia del cuervo un pequeño y tranquilo pueblo inglés, en el que sus habitantes, todos ellos animales, viven tranquilamente. Pero esta paz se ve interrumpida cuando en una de las reuniones vecinales uno de los vecinos, Fawkes, aparece asustado y dice que han caído unos seres extraños del cielo y que estos han matado a uno de sus amigos. Pero los vecinos no le creen excepto el señor Slipaway, un nuevo vecino y ex marine. Llevado por su preocupación él y algunos vecinos más deciden investigar el caso. Lo mejor de todo el libro es la edición. Desde la portada que es una pasada, a las ilustraciones y todos los detalles que incluye como numerosos mapas que te ayudan a seguir el camino que van recorriendo los personjes a otros detalles como páginas de periódico, de un diario o de una guía de caminos que se menciona en la historia. La verdad es que son detalles que enriquecen muchísimo la lectura. Otro punto positivo es el uso del color en las ilustraciones así como la variedad de personjes que encontramos en la historia. Ya que tenemos desde un veterano de guerra, una escritora sin inspiración e incluso el borracho del pueblo. Aunque la pandilla principal la forman un perro, una gata, un visón, un zorro y un cerdito. También me ha parecido muy original la forma de los invasores, una especie de farolas andantes con tentáculos que disparan una especie de rayos láseres que desintegran todo lo que ven. La verdad es que es una historia que está llena de acción y se lee súper rápido. Yo me muero por leer la continuación y descubrir cómo los habitantes de Iglesia del cuervo hacen frente a esta invasión alienígena.
October 18, 2016
The Chicago Public Library recently entered a partnership with online content provider Hoopla, which among other things means I suddenly have access to thousands of old comic books I've never read before, including most of the back catalog of Top Shelf, Dark Horse and Boom! Studios. This is the second graphic novel I read through Hoopla, because I was attracted to its intriguing combination of talking animals, the 1930s British countryside, and its steampunk-influenced take on War of the Worlds; but like I suspect will be the case with a lot of the books I read through Hoopla, although this was a perfectly fine experience when checking it out for free and reading through it over a couple of nights before bed, I'm not sure it would be worth spending $20 on and owning permanently. It's good, don't get me wrong; but by its very nature, it's the exact definition of "derivative," and it was hard after I finished it to not feel like it was a story I had already read a hundred times. It comes with a limited recommendation today in that spirit.
May 31, 2020
Effectively a War of the Worlds-Wind In The Willows mashup. That premise works for me and the quaint charm of the English countryside setting is a pleasant place to hang out despite the rising dread. The end leaves an opening for the two volumes that follow, but also concludes the immediate story arc satisfyingly. I love the diverse in-universe ephemera that fills out the last few pages of each issue.
This is mostly kid-friendly (with neutered English slang like “flippin’ ‘eck” replacing a more likely “fookin’ ‘ell”) though it has a surprising number of abrupt character deaths and other fittingly severe consequences. The art is clean and simple, but attractive.
This is mostly kid-friendly (with neutered English slang like “flippin’ ‘eck” replacing a more likely “fookin’ ‘ell”) though it has a surprising number of abrupt character deaths and other fittingly severe consequences. The art is clean and simple, but attractive.
May 2, 2016
As basically all the other reviewers are saying, this is War of the Worlds crossed with Wind in the Willows! Powerful and destructive aliens invade a small British town inhabited by anthropomorphic animals. The story of the towns people trying to figure out what was going on and escape was compelling, but we've already seen this story before so it doesn't rank any higher than good. I will, however, seek out the second volume if one gets published as I am intrigued to see where the author goes with this set up.
February 18, 2015
The first issue was captivating in a way I couldn't quite explain, and then this series just rocked my world as one of the more unique and entertaining sci-fi comics around. I'm so happy they've decided to continue the series!
February 23, 2015
"War of the Worlds" meets the "Wind in the Willows"!
If that doesn't convince you to read this, I don't know what else I can say.
Great art, great story. My only grumble is it's a bit open ended.
If there's going to be a sequel: great.
If not, I wanted more.
If that doesn't convince you to read this, I don't know what else I can say.
Great art, great story. My only grumble is it's a bit open ended.
If there's going to be a sequel: great.
If not, I wanted more.
June 20, 2016
Reviewed for Comix Connection (see full review with images here)
I make absolutely no pretense about being anything other than a voracious fan of science fiction – but I sometimes have a hard time reading the “classics” of the genre because so many have a tendency to be mired in the outdated attitudes of the period they were written in despite their efforts at reaching toward the future in technology or plot or locale. Not that I can’t appreciate the good parts of these stories despite their occasional bursts of bigotry, but there are limits to how much I can grit my teeth and overlook before the story itself suffers too much to make the exercise worth it. That said I do still have a great deal of appreciation for the classics – the good parts of them, anyway, the sci-fi parts rather than the old-fashioned social ones – and so when I read a story that puts me in mind of all the good elements of classic sci-fi without being mired in the problematic attitudes of the past, I get very excited.
There are plenty of reasons to be excited about Wild’s End though, and the “old school vibe” is only one of them – but it captures that classic spirit really well. This story definitely feels “old school” and it also fits into the time period in which it’s set with thorough appropriateness, but is told through a lens that is respectful of both the past and the present. It’s a comfortable read…
Well. Perhaps comfortable isn’t the right word, because it really isn’t. Not for the unfortunate characters caught-up in this tale, nor for the wide-eyed reader cringing and gasping and chewing their nails while they turn the pages with delighted horror and a growing sense of doom. The plot – to stop rambling about fiction in general and my particulars thereof and actually start telling you about this book – is a doozy and a delight. We open in a quiet, quaint, very civil and stereotypical “classic English village” of the 1930s where the most exciting things that happen are the regular rantings of the town drunk and the nosy residents’ attempts to interrogate their new war-veteran neighbor about his past – until said town drunk comes in with a story beyond even his wildest of previous ramblings, and everything goes pear-shaped.
Oh, and did I mention that the cast are delightfully-realized in charming anthropomorphic form as various animals, a-la Maus-style storytelling?
Basically this is what would happen if the War of the Worlds came to the Wind in the Willows. More specifically, this story is a glorious sci-fi adventure that I think deserves to be counted among the classics from which it draws its inspiration. It pokes at that inspiration too, never mean-spiritedly, but in a very meta-sense (particularly in the second volume). One of the characters is even a writer of science fiction yarns, although she is bitter about the fact that the fame for her fiction goes to someone else. This meta-aspect doesn’t stop just with her though, because in the back of every issue they give us a map, or a travel guide, or a diary entry, an except from a sci-fi story, newspaper clippings, or scraps of notes as if we were peeking through the characters’ pockets for an extra-real glimpse into their fictional world. None of these extras are necessary to the story – you can follow-along without referring to the maps, understand the characters and their development and disaster without reading their diaries, and you get a perfect sense for this idyllic little village without perusing the page torn from the walking-guide – but they add a wonderful extra layer of not just realism but detail. Yes, the story is built off of archetypes and stereotypes and classic tropes and fiction that has come before – but it takes all those elements and twists and turns them into something more. And it does it respectfully too, which may be even more impressive in this era of satire and cheap-shots. This is a modern story set in the past that neither idealizes nor scorns its setting, and that’s almost as refreshing as the clear, fast-paced, and captivating storytelling itself. It may sound strange to compliment a story about anthropomorphic animal-people and alien invasions on its grounded realism, but Wild’s End deserves those compliments and more.
Writer Dan Abnett will be familiar to most fans of cosmic-comic books thanks to such works as his time on The Guardians of the Galaxy and he pulls no punches with this story either. This first volume, First Light, deals with the initial incursion of the terrifying alien monstrosities. The second – and we’re getting in to spoiler territory here, so you may want to skip the rest of this paragraph if you prefer to be surprised – but the second takes things in a sharp change of direction: our heroes (the surviving members, anyway) manage to get the word out…only to have that “out” be curtailed by the military who want to lock this story down and spend more of their time interrogating our plucky, exhausted heroes as enemies themselves than they do actually looking for the aliens. At first. The second volume is a shock, or at least it came as a shock to me; it was not at all what I was expecting after the way the first story ended, but it fits as the next stage of the plot perfectly. I just didn’t anticipate Abnett taking such a sharp turn from the formula that had worked so well for the initial story – but of course he isn’t one to rest on his laurels or play it safe. I can’t wait to see what the third volume does, what direction it takes our story and our (surviving) heroes in, especially given the chilling ending of the second series.
Artist I.N.J. Culbard comes to us from illustrating some of H.P. Lovecraft’s tales, and he’s a perfect fit for this story. His clean, clear lines and straightforward storytelling style seems at first to be perfectly suited to the quaint, cheerful, simple little village that Lower Crowchurch is in the opening scenes…but in almost no time at all, he proves to be even more appropriate for inspiring a growing sense of confusion, dread, and outright horror as our cast discover just what it is that had landed in their once-idyllic countryside, and just how ruthless these creatures are in carrying out their plans.
What those plans are will be obvious to anyone who’s even remotely familiar with the genre of science fiction and alien invasion stories, but between Abnett’s prose and Culbard’s art, the familiar only serves to make the story of Wild’s End even more suspenseful, engaging, and addictive as it goes along rather than less. This story is as horrifying as its setting is charming, as captivating as its set-up is classic. I recommend it to fans of science fiction both old and new, and to anyone who likes adventure and good storytelling with realistic characters and exciting plots. And especially to anyone who likes to be shocked by what they read when they turn to that last page!
I, for one, can’t wait to see what shocks await us in Volume Three!
I make absolutely no pretense about being anything other than a voracious fan of science fiction – but I sometimes have a hard time reading the “classics” of the genre because so many have a tendency to be mired in the outdated attitudes of the period they were written in despite their efforts at reaching toward the future in technology or plot or locale. Not that I can’t appreciate the good parts of these stories despite their occasional bursts of bigotry, but there are limits to how much I can grit my teeth and overlook before the story itself suffers too much to make the exercise worth it. That said I do still have a great deal of appreciation for the classics – the good parts of them, anyway, the sci-fi parts rather than the old-fashioned social ones – and so when I read a story that puts me in mind of all the good elements of classic sci-fi without being mired in the problematic attitudes of the past, I get very excited.
There are plenty of reasons to be excited about Wild’s End though, and the “old school vibe” is only one of them – but it captures that classic spirit really well. This story definitely feels “old school” and it also fits into the time period in which it’s set with thorough appropriateness, but is told through a lens that is respectful of both the past and the present. It’s a comfortable read…
Well. Perhaps comfortable isn’t the right word, because it really isn’t. Not for the unfortunate characters caught-up in this tale, nor for the wide-eyed reader cringing and gasping and chewing their nails while they turn the pages with delighted horror and a growing sense of doom. The plot – to stop rambling about fiction in general and my particulars thereof and actually start telling you about this book – is a doozy and a delight. We open in a quiet, quaint, very civil and stereotypical “classic English village” of the 1930s where the most exciting things that happen are the regular rantings of the town drunk and the nosy residents’ attempts to interrogate their new war-veteran neighbor about his past – until said town drunk comes in with a story beyond even his wildest of previous ramblings, and everything goes pear-shaped.
Oh, and did I mention that the cast are delightfully-realized in charming anthropomorphic form as various animals, a-la Maus-style storytelling?
Basically this is what would happen if the War of the Worlds came to the Wind in the Willows. More specifically, this story is a glorious sci-fi adventure that I think deserves to be counted among the classics from which it draws its inspiration. It pokes at that inspiration too, never mean-spiritedly, but in a very meta-sense (particularly in the second volume). One of the characters is even a writer of science fiction yarns, although she is bitter about the fact that the fame for her fiction goes to someone else. This meta-aspect doesn’t stop just with her though, because in the back of every issue they give us a map, or a travel guide, or a diary entry, an except from a sci-fi story, newspaper clippings, or scraps of notes as if we were peeking through the characters’ pockets for an extra-real glimpse into their fictional world. None of these extras are necessary to the story – you can follow-along without referring to the maps, understand the characters and their development and disaster without reading their diaries, and you get a perfect sense for this idyllic little village without perusing the page torn from the walking-guide – but they add a wonderful extra layer of not just realism but detail. Yes, the story is built off of archetypes and stereotypes and classic tropes and fiction that has come before – but it takes all those elements and twists and turns them into something more. And it does it respectfully too, which may be even more impressive in this era of satire and cheap-shots. This is a modern story set in the past that neither idealizes nor scorns its setting, and that’s almost as refreshing as the clear, fast-paced, and captivating storytelling itself. It may sound strange to compliment a story about anthropomorphic animal-people and alien invasions on its grounded realism, but Wild’s End deserves those compliments and more.
Writer Dan Abnett will be familiar to most fans of cosmic-comic books thanks to such works as his time on The Guardians of the Galaxy and he pulls no punches with this story either. This first volume, First Light, deals with the initial incursion of the terrifying alien monstrosities. The second – and we’re getting in to spoiler territory here, so you may want to skip the rest of this paragraph if you prefer to be surprised – but the second takes things in a sharp change of direction: our heroes (the surviving members, anyway) manage to get the word out…only to have that “out” be curtailed by the military who want to lock this story down and spend more of their time interrogating our plucky, exhausted heroes as enemies themselves than they do actually looking for the aliens. At first. The second volume is a shock, or at least it came as a shock to me; it was not at all what I was expecting after the way the first story ended, but it fits as the next stage of the plot perfectly. I just didn’t anticipate Abnett taking such a sharp turn from the formula that had worked so well for the initial story – but of course he isn’t one to rest on his laurels or play it safe. I can’t wait to see what the third volume does, what direction it takes our story and our (surviving) heroes in, especially given the chilling ending of the second series.
Artist I.N.J. Culbard comes to us from illustrating some of H.P. Lovecraft’s tales, and he’s a perfect fit for this story. His clean, clear lines and straightforward storytelling style seems at first to be perfectly suited to the quaint, cheerful, simple little village that Lower Crowchurch is in the opening scenes…but in almost no time at all, he proves to be even more appropriate for inspiring a growing sense of confusion, dread, and outright horror as our cast discover just what it is that had landed in their once-idyllic countryside, and just how ruthless these creatures are in carrying out their plans.
What those plans are will be obvious to anyone who’s even remotely familiar with the genre of science fiction and alien invasion stories, but between Abnett’s prose and Culbard’s art, the familiar only serves to make the story of Wild’s End even more suspenseful, engaging, and addictive as it goes along rather than less. This story is as horrifying as its setting is charming, as captivating as its set-up is classic. I recommend it to fans of science fiction both old and new, and to anyone who likes adventure and good storytelling with realistic characters and exciting plots. And especially to anyone who likes to be shocked by what they read when they turn to that last page!
I, for one, can’t wait to see what shocks await us in Volume Three!
June 5, 2020
Wild’s End es una historia que podríamos catalogar como de ciencia-ficción, creada por Dan Abrett.
No sé si os sonará el escritor, pero es conocido por sus trabajos para Marvel, DC y sus novelas gráficas ambientadas en el universo de Warhammer.
Dicho lo anterior, seguro que miraréis este libro de forma totalmente diferente.
De momento tenemos solo el primer volumen de la saga, seis capítulos que confieso que me han sabido a poco y me han dejado con ganas de seguir con esta historia. A través de estos seis primeros capítulos veremos como se producen los primeros contactos con la población. Y entre uno y otro capítulo, encontraremos diferentes documentos relacionados con lo explicado hasta el momento. Por ejemplo, un periódico, un diario... es una forma de ver las repercusiones de la invasión en los diferentes personajes o para conocer cual es la vida en ese momento.
Y hablando de los personajes, estos son animales y su forma de ser está relacionado con el animal al que representan. Así vemos que el perro es un ex militar que encabeza la investigación de lo que sucede y el gato tiene un carácter algo arisco y peculiar... lo mismo ocurre con el resto.
La acción transcurre en la campiña inglesa en 1930, en un pueblo llamado Iglesia del Cuervo de Abajo, un lugar tranquilo, de esos en los que se conoce todo el mundo y nunca pasa nada. La paz se verá alterado por varios hechos, por un lado la llegada de un militar retirado, por otro por los gritos de alarma que da el borracho del pueblo. Este habla sobre cosas que caen del cielo y que matan a personas, aunque sensatamente, nadie le cree.
Poco a poco los diferentes personajes se unirán, formando un grupo de lo más heterogéneo. Estos deberan convertirse en los héroes de la historia a pesar de no reunir las condiciones que el cargo requiere.
El cómic no solo funciona por su parte narrativa, también ayuda su dibujante I.N.J. Culbard. Las ilustraciones están cargadas de colores y de vida y aunque no son demasiado complejas casan perfectamente con la idea de la novela gráfica.
Una historia que se lee más rápido de lo que querríamos, en la que nos quedamos enganchados con esos seres que vienen del universo y de los que queremos saber más. Pronto los animales dejan de parecernoslo, simplemente son los protagonistas de una invasión alienígena, con una personalidad y un carácter que hacen que se tomen las cosas de diferente manera.
De momento me ha parecido muy interesante y tengo ganas de saber como sigue, esta es la parte negativa pues de momento tendremos que esperar. Si buscáis una novela gráfica de ciencia-ficción, creo que deberíais tenerla en cuenta.
Podéis leer mi reseña completa en el blog: https://www.resibooks.com/2020/05/dan...
August 11, 2021
Just brilliant - a really nicely written riff on War of the Worlds if it happened in Nutwood, beautifully written and with Culbard’s usual gorgeous art. It’s tense, filled with real affection for the characters and frequently very funny. Can’t wait to find the other volumes
May 23, 2021
why do i allow men to recommend things to me. why do i follow through on those recommendations!!! it’s on me
September 11, 2020
I found this due to a passing comment in someone's review of The Autumnlands, Vol. 1: Tooth and Claw, comparing the two. They commented that Autumnlands is better. Having read the three books which make up this series, I disagree.
I will say that the art is just OK. It is a little on the flat side, but generally pretty decent. I was not keen on the animals faces. I feel that they lacked expression, especially in comparison. One criticism I had was that it really just felt that we got essentially the same animal face for each character in each scene. To be sure they had a certain kind of expression to them, but then that expression carries over from one panel to the next, to the next... and indeed that is it for the whole book. To contrast this, I liked the use of simple contrasting colours and silhouettes throughout this book and the next, and the consistency of art was very good.
The second issue I had was also related to the animal faced characters... Simply... Why? I never had any kind of sense that these characters were really animals. It did not feel like a Wind in the Willows type tale where the characters are moles and badgers. Nor did it feel like the previously mentioned Autumnlands where the characters are some kind of tribes of evolved animals with tribes, etc... It was a little more like Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History, where the Jews are mice and the Germans are cats. However, while there, I think the changing of humans into animals had a very specific purpose, here I was not really sure about it. Also, the use of different animals and establishing things like a pig family later on made me wonder about romantic relationships, cross breeding, taboos, cultural stereotypes, etc... However, through the series this is pretty much almost never addressed, except perhaps for a minor point in the third book.
These things aside, it was a very enjoyable read. I very much enjoyed the portrayal of the sleepy British countryside at some point between the two wars - though it is never explicitly said where the story takes place, so it could easily not even be our world. It is clearly based on that setting though, and done well. The small town, the countryside, the language, the pace of things. We had some different stereotypical roles in this not especially original story of a mysterious alien visitation. What was special was that they were done very well, and even though I felt that I seen this sort of thing before, I still enjoyed this particular version. The cutesy animals contrast with some more serious events, so that can catch you off guard, which was nice.
Was quite happy with volume 1 and went on to 2 directly... which unbeknownst to me was going to be a step up. As a whole, I think the series deserves four stars and definitely gets stronger. So, this works very well as a slower beginning, but as a book by itself it gets 3.
I will say that the art is just OK. It is a little on the flat side, but generally pretty decent. I was not keen on the animals faces. I feel that they lacked expression, especially in comparison. One criticism I had was that it really just felt that we got essentially the same animal face for each character in each scene. To be sure they had a certain kind of expression to them, but then that expression carries over from one panel to the next, to the next... and indeed that is it for the whole book. To contrast this, I liked the use of simple contrasting colours and silhouettes throughout this book and the next, and the consistency of art was very good.
The second issue I had was also related to the animal faced characters... Simply... Why? I never had any kind of sense that these characters were really animals. It did not feel like a Wind in the Willows type tale where the characters are moles and badgers. Nor did it feel like the previously mentioned Autumnlands where the characters are some kind of tribes of evolved animals with tribes, etc... It was a little more like Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History, where the Jews are mice and the Germans are cats. However, while there, I think the changing of humans into animals had a very specific purpose, here I was not really sure about it. Also, the use of different animals and establishing things like a pig family later on made me wonder about romantic relationships, cross breeding, taboos, cultural stereotypes, etc... However, through the series this is pretty much almost never addressed, except perhaps for a minor point in the third book.
These things aside, it was a very enjoyable read. I very much enjoyed the portrayal of the sleepy British countryside at some point between the two wars - though it is never explicitly said where the story takes place, so it could easily not even be our world. It is clearly based on that setting though, and done well. The small town, the countryside, the language, the pace of things. We had some different stereotypical roles in this not especially original story of a mysterious alien visitation. What was special was that they were done very well, and even though I felt that I seen this sort of thing before, I still enjoyed this particular version. The cutesy animals contrast with some more serious events, so that can catch you off guard, which was nice.
Was quite happy with volume 1 and went on to 2 directly... which unbeknownst to me was going to be a step up. As a whole, I think the series deserves four stars and definitely gets stronger. So, this works very well as a slower beginning, but as a book by itself it gets 3.
December 28, 2023
As if the Great Illustrated Classics editions of “The Wind in the Willows” and “War of the Worlds” had a child.
3.5/5
3.5/5
January 27, 2023
Mechanical aliens descend on our quaint English town with animals-as-people.
I accidentally read the second volume before this one but still ended up really enjoying both volumes. Fawkesie the drunkard/poacher (who is a fox) sees the falling star that begins the 'war of the worlds' premise. This one gave backstory to characters such as Alph, the little pig boy who sees his beloved Auntie get burned to death by the invaders. This story, regardless of the anthropomorphic animals, is not meant for children.
1/2023: I've been thinking about this story so I decided to reread them. They're even better the second time around!
I accidentally read the second volume before this one but still ended up really enjoying both volumes. Fawkesie the drunkard/poacher (who is a fox) sees the falling star that begins the 'war of the worlds' premise. This one gave backstory to characters such as Alph, the little pig boy who sees his beloved Auntie get burned to death by the invaders. This story, regardless of the anthropomorphic animals, is not meant for children.
1/2023: I've been thinking about this story so I decided to reread them. They're even better the second time around!
February 15, 2015
WAR OF THE WORLDS meet FANTASTIC MR. FOX! I love the concept. Dan Abnett set up a fun storyline, full of quality interactions. Culbard's art is perfect for the anthropomorphic characters.
February 28, 2016
I wanted to like this more. I flipped through it in the comic shop and thought it looked interesting enough but it was just ok to me.
June 21, 2016
Meh. It wasn't absolutely awful, but I wouldn't recommend it at all! I wasn't a fan of the story, but the art was really pretty. I don't think I'll pick up anything else by this author.
February 16, 2025
I came across this graphic novel while searching Hoopla for the sequel to "Night's Edge" - called "First Light" - which yes is available as an audiobook but I'm not sure I'll listen. This comic seemed interesting, tho? Not sure why. It's 7:35 a.m. on 2/16 right now. I was awake around 4 and started reading it on Kindle Fire and then fell back to sleep. I've read 40 pages (of 162) and am enjoying it so far! It's kind of all the elements of escapism I enjoy - British countryside, a mystery to solve, and aliens. Plus the characters are all animals which makes it even more delightful to look at. Hope I keep enjoying it!
UPDATE - finished! A fast and fun story. Nothing especially original or stand-out but also nothing objectionable. I skipped over some of the typed pages (e.g., the sci-fi thriller from the writer's ex-husband). I liked the writer, tho. I liked reading from her journal and her account of their adventure. I'm also curious about the background of Mr. Slipaway. Why is he called Slipaway? What secrets lurk in his mysterious (enigmatic, as the writer character called him) past? Am I curious enough to keep reading books in this series? We'll have to wait to see!
UPDATE - finished! A fast and fun story. Nothing especially original or stand-out but also nothing objectionable. I skipped over some of the typed pages (e.g., the sci-fi thriller from the writer's ex-husband). I liked the writer, tho. I liked reading from her journal and her account of their adventure. I'm also curious about the background of Mr. Slipaway. Why is he called Slipaway? What secrets lurk in his mysterious (enigmatic, as the writer character called him) past? Am I curious enough to keep reading books in this series? We'll have to wait to see!
January 22, 2024
I was hesitant on starting yet a new franchise of entertainment, as I’m already knees deep in franchise movies, games, novels, comics, you name it. But my friend recommended me it and let me borrow it so I figured I’d give it a go, since it clearly was right up my alley.
The homage to War of the Worlds is clear as day in this quirky, chilling adventure that pits anamorphic animals against an invasion of mysterious creatures that resemble lamps. The characters are really engaging too, especially the drunken fox Fawkes, and the ex navy hound dog(?) Clive. The story is slower than I’m used to with comics, but it wasn’t an issue at all. I dug the very British dialogue, I also enjoyed a lot of the art style. I will say it’s pretty short but with 2 other volumes to go, it was probably for the best. Decent conclusion that teases a much bigger invasions is in store for the folks of Lower Crowchurch, and I cannot wait to see what happens! Recommended for comic fans of sci-fi/slice of life
The homage to War of the Worlds is clear as day in this quirky, chilling adventure that pits anamorphic animals against an invasion of mysterious creatures that resemble lamps. The characters are really engaging too, especially the drunken fox Fawkes, and the ex navy hound dog(?) Clive. The story is slower than I’m used to with comics, but it wasn’t an issue at all. I dug the very British dialogue, I also enjoyed a lot of the art style. I will say it’s pretty short but with 2 other volumes to go, it was probably for the best. Decent conclusion that teases a much bigger invasions is in store for the folks of Lower Crowchurch, and I cannot wait to see what happens! Recommended for comic fans of sci-fi/slice of life
June 3, 2020
En esta historia se nos cuenta cómo en Iglesia del Cuervo de Abajo, una comunidad inglesa ambientada en los años 30, un día hay una invasión extraterrestre. A partir de ahí los protagonistas tendrán que unirse y luchar contra el invasor.
La trama bebe totalmente de la conocida historia "La guerra de los mundos" de H.G.Wells y está bastante bien, no me encantó pero te lleva a pasar un buen rato. Tiene algo de humor, cosa que era de esperar ya que el escritor es Dan Abnett conocido también por "Guardianes de la Galaxia". Al final de cada capítulo se deja el formato de las viñetas para contarnos cosas sobre la historia a modo narrativo y, quizás esas partes, son las que más pesadas se me hicieron.
El dibujo es excelente. Los personajes no llegué a conectar demasiado, no tienen una base sólida, simplemente los conoces de golpe y nada más. .
Lo recomiendo si os gustan las novelas gráficas y las historias sobre invasiones, seguro que pasareis un rato entretenido.
La trama bebe totalmente de la conocida historia "La guerra de los mundos" de H.G.Wells y está bastante bien, no me encantó pero te lleva a pasar un buen rato. Tiene algo de humor, cosa que era de esperar ya que el escritor es Dan Abnett conocido también por "Guardianes de la Galaxia". Al final de cada capítulo se deja el formato de las viñetas para contarnos cosas sobre la historia a modo narrativo y, quizás esas partes, son las que más pesadas se me hicieron.
El dibujo es excelente. Los personajes no llegué a conectar demasiado, no tienen una base sólida, simplemente los conoces de golpe y nada más. .
Lo recomiendo si os gustan las novelas gráficas y las historias sobre invasiones, seguro que pasareis un rato entretenido.
September 29, 2019
The most impressive part of this novel was the unique and distinct voices the characters had. They were really well written in that regard; I could hear their accents clearly.
The story was intetesting enough. The art admirable (especially the chapter title pages). I also may have been attracted to a certain cat when she was introduced, so well done there.
The interludes between chapters were sometimes long and boring and I question their relevance (which is why I skipped a couple of them). The first chapter was a little slow/tiresome in the dialog, but the pace picked up quickly and overall I enjoyed reading this.
The story was intetesting enough. The art admirable (especially the chapter title pages). I also may have been attracted to a certain cat when she was introduced, so well done there.
The interludes between chapters were sometimes long and boring and I question their relevance (which is why I skipped a couple of them). The first chapter was a little slow/tiresome in the dialog, but the pace picked up quickly and overall I enjoyed reading this.
April 8, 2025
3/5
War of the Worlds crossed with anthropomorphism. Not exactly a novel concept, but conceptually it worked for me. There is a charm to the art style and characters here that I found to be engaging.
There is a lot of action as well, without much or any buildup. I do wish there was more time to settle with the characters and better understand them. That being said, this is the first of the series, so it could be an attempt to hook the reader.
Not particularly notable, but a fun read nonetheless.
War of the Worlds crossed with anthropomorphism. Not exactly a novel concept, but conceptually it worked for me. There is a charm to the art style and characters here that I found to be engaging.
There is a lot of action as well, without much or any buildup. I do wish there was more time to settle with the characters and better understand them. That being said, this is the first of the series, so it could be an attempt to hook the reader.
Not particularly notable, but a fun read nonetheless.
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