Distillatoria

Over The Garden Wall Original #1

by Jonathan Case, Jim Campbell (Illustrator), Pat McHale (Creator)

When they mysteriously wake up back home from being lost in the Unknown, brothers Greg and Wirt have to help their friend Beatrice--a talking blue jay--return safely before anyone realizes she can talk. 

When Greg and Wirt make it back home from the Unknown, their victory is bittersweet when they realize Beatrice came as well. Now, it’s up to them to help Beatrice return safely to the Unknown before anyone realizes she can talk. As the brothers juggle keeping Beatrice’s secret safe as Sara expresses a newfound interest in Greg, only Beatrice notices something sinister lurking in the shadows…

The Eisner Award-winning series goes further into the Unknown with this all-new original story by Eisner Award-winning writer Jonathan Case (Green River Killer: a True Detective Story) and Eisner Award-winning Over the Garden Wall artist Jim Campbell. 

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fantasy, Middle Grade, Fiction, Autumn, Young Adult

144 pages, Paperback

First published November 21, 2018

Reviews

[chloe]

You need to watch the show in order to understand this but UGH loved it. It was filled with the same weirdness, darkness & humour from the show <3

[Iben Frederiksen]

★ 5.0 Stars ★

This one is JUST like an episode right out of the tv show! So far this is the closest any of the comics have come to the actual series. The art is just like in the show and the characters are exactly like they usually are - so much that I could almost hear Elijah Wood's voice as I was reading it. A really cool adventure!

[Stay]

"Good morning, sweetheart! You forgot to put on your human flesh. No feathers at the kitchen table!"

Greg and Wirt along with Beatrice and Flytrap *rorop* are back for another adventure that’s sure to be a disturbing delight.

This story was amazing. It reads just like the show and it contained those dark elements of the unknown. The story was unique and a whole lot of fun. Really makes me miss the show. *sigh* if only they brought the show back….

"Bad dreams make Greg a thirsty boy."

[Literary Strawberry]

Actual rating: 3.5

I feel kind of bad for all the kids who are going to randomly pick this up at my library, since I'm pretty sure this makes almost no sense out of context, but for someone like me who has watched the mini-series over half a dozen times, I enjoyed it.

Is it necessary? No, not really. Does it have some suggestive jokes that I personally feel should not really be in a kid's comic? (I would have put it in with the YA graphic novels myself instead of the kid's room, but I just shelve the books, I'm not in charge of where they go.) Yeah, a few. Does it seem like it was written by a hardcore Wirt x Beatrice shipper? Oh, absolutely.

But did it have adorable illustrations, amusing jokes, and fun dialogue that really captured the characters voices so that I could hear exactly how the voice actors would have said those lines? Yeah. It did.

Did it need to exist? No. Am I still happy to have read it? Yeah.

[Fiebre Lectora]

Qué fantasía, de verdad. Si bien en otras ocasiones, cuando en los cómics han intentado ampliar la serie (o al revés), me he encontrado con historias bastante planas y que poco tenían que ver con el original, sino que eran más como estirar el chicle, en esta ocasión admito que me ha dejado completamente alucinada: en un primer momento pensé que se trataba de una especie de final alternativo, en el que podríamos conocer mejor a los personajes del "mundo" de Wirt y Greg, pero nada que ver, es otra de sus locas y turbias aventuras.
Reseña completa: http://fiebrelectora.blogspot.com/202...

[Katherine]

Gotta start of the reading challenge with an easy one: graphic novel👏🏻Gets me ahead and makes me feel confident.
Okay but for real, I was really disappointed in this OTGW comic. It was just messy, odd, and overall pointless. I understand that a lot of these comics are just to add more content for fans, but this could have been better choices made in writing this comic.
Also, there was an odd amount of adult jokes?? Nothing super inappropriate, but it made OTGW lose it’s wonderful, detached-from-modern-culture wholesomeness.
Of course the illustrations were wonderful, but it definitely didn’t make up for the rest of the mess. If you’re an Over the Garden Wall fan, I’d just skip this graphic novel and buy one of the other ones.

[Melki]

It looks like Greg and Wirt have finally found their home . . . or have they? As this one is very similar in tone to the series, it's anyone's guess.

[Aitor]

No es gran cosa, la verdad. Funciona como episodio extra de la serie original (que, poca broma, es realmente buena), pero no termina llegando a ninguna parte. Hacia el final, uno de los personajes ofrece un comentario metanarrativo medianamente divertido acerca de la propia intención de la obra que deja bastante claro que el libro no tiene mucho que aportar. Es un viaje entretenido y algunas escenas concretas apuntan hacia esa madurez de Wirt y su relación con Beatrice y Greg; el resto está ahí. El dibujo es funcional y lo suficientemente reminiscente de la serie como para no desentonar con la obra original, y sus personajes están igualmente bien caracterizados. Como episodio extra, es básicamente relleno, pero al menos se nota que conoce el tono y maneja bien el ritmo. Lo mejor que tiene es que, sin ser nada del otro mundo, su guion recupera inteligentemente recursos previos tanto de la serie como del propio cómic para acabar de redondear el argumento.

[Hannah-Renea Niederberger]

I saw someone on the subreddit mention that Distillatoria is "an experiment," a way to explore the world of OTGW and its characters while not necessarily falling into the canon. For me, I don't really think it lands. The humor tries to align with the show but veers into weird directions (a bunch of really awkward sex jokes?), the horror leans much more on body-horror and grossness than some of the mild existential/psychological horror of the show, just tonally it felt very off. I'm glad I was able to access it on Libby since I've been curious about it but yeah, this wasn't for me.

Oh also, there was a weird number of typos and misspellings?? Needed another pass at line-editing.

[Lucía Cafeína]

Eh... menuda fantasía más turbia, en serio.

Me ha encantado. Gracias.

[Dimitar Iliev]

Oh cielos.......

Ha sido la mejor experiencia lectora desde que aprendí a leer. Obviamente mi opinión está totalmente sesgada y es 100% subjetiva en cuanto que Over the garden wall es mi serie favorita con suma diferencia.

En esta novela gráfica nos muestran un final alternativo al que da la serie, es sencillamente WOW. Aún siendo breve, tiene tantos pequeños guiños que me han sacado una sonrisa que parecía un bobalicón leyendo. Al final del todo hay una cosita que me parece super tierna y morí de amor, pero no diré lo que es para no estropear la sorpresa.

Si te gustó Over the garden wall y eres un fanboy como yo, muy probablemente te encante esta novela gráfica.

Nota: 10/10

[Yvonne Olson]

Over the Garden Wall is a show that I watched with friends for the first time overtwo years ago. Ever since I finished the show, I've wanted to dive back into the world, reading various comics that have come out, enjoying the artwork, and connecting with others who love the show.
This graphic novel does not disappoint when it comes to feeling like another episode. It's well written, well plotted, and well illustrated.
I want more.
Okay thanks.

[Hannah]

Probably the most accurately-written tie-in that wasn't actually by Pat McHale. Jonathan Case clearly ships Wirt and Beatrice hard (me too, bro, me too).

[isabella]

there's a furry in this

[A Fan of Comics]

Not what I was expecting!

This book was creepy, cute and cool. If you know the series you’ll be excited to see who the boys run into. The art was great. This book had some really funny moments too. I would recommend that you know the tv show but you don’t have to know any of the other books in order to understand this one.

[Grey Liliy]

If you enjoy Beatrice and Wirt's relationship, you'll probably enjoy this book.

The story itself is a fun, surreal adventure that takes us back to Wirt and Greg's home for a bit (with an out of place visitor) and has a twist that makes sense considering when this book happens in the timeline of the series.

I loved it as much as the other comics in this series. :D

[Sem]

Beatrice was robbed in the show, prove me wrong

[Paris Chadwick]

Amazing, fantastic, astounding

[Danielle]

I like how this challenges what's "real" and not, and keeps the reader on their toes.

[Joanna]

Delightful

[Iwo Cmentarek]

i dont remember anything anymore besides the awkward conversations. god

[fio ✧]

i think this is my favourite over the garden wall comic. that’s all i had to say.

[Ken Yuen]

Pretty faithful to the cartoon. Enjoyed it!

[soph ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪]

dios mío el real right person wrong time

[Alli Kingsman]

4⭐
Craving that Over The Garden Wall autumnal vibe and this was so perfect! I will forever love these characters and this whole world.

[Mar Rose]

Loved the art. The story wasn’t bad. Greg was, of course, as adorable and amazing as always.

[Summer Lafargue]

has a Shining reference so instant 5 stars from me

[Smiley Kylie Lynch]

I love this series so tremendously, and this is a fabulous addition to it!

[Doug Levandowski]

So much fun! If this is the direction they're going in for future comics in the series, I'd be very happy.

[m.bookshelves]

- ★★★★★