Sea of Thieves

Sea of Thieves #0 - 4

by Jeremy Whitley, Rhoald Marcellius

"A gripping, uproarious, and humorous epic pirate adventure!
Follow a crew of adventuring pirates as they sail the Sea of Thieves! Voyaging to far islands in search of legendary buried treasure, our heroes (or villains, depending on how you look at things) will face rival thieves, the wrath of undead hordes guarding their riches, and the worst that the vast sea has to offer! Can they work together to survive long enough to cash in their reward? Or will they end up as ghosts on the Ferry of the Damned...?
"

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fiction, Adventure, Pirates, Fantasy, Young Adult

112 pages, Paperback

First published September 18, 2018

About the author

Jeremy Whitley is the son of two teachers and the husband of a third.

Born in La Mesa, CA, Jeremy went to high school in Lenoir, NC and college at The University of North Carolina. He graduated with a Bachelors in English, and a minor in Creative Writing.

Jeremy lives in Durham, North Carolina with his wife Alicia and his two daughters Zuri and Amara.

Jeremy is the writer/creator of the comic series Princeless, Raven the Pirate Princess, School for Extraterrestrial Girls, and The Dog Knight. He is also the writer of the acclaimed Marvel series "The Unstoppable Wasp". His other works include extensive work for Marvel, the "Sea of Thieves" comics, and over sixty issues of My Little Pony comics.

Awards and Nominations:
3 time Glyph Winner
5 time Glyph Nominee
2 time Eisner Nominee
2 time Cyblis Nominee
2 time Bloomer Nominee
1 time Most Likely to Succeed Winner

Reviews

[destiny ♡ howling libraries · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're a Sea of Thieves player who's ever wanted more back story on the Pirate Legend and his children, you'll definitely want to pick up this super fun graphic novel! It tells the story of how DeMarco and Lesedi came to the Sea of Thieves, following their infamous father's footsteps in search of not only his treasure, but his legacy, too. DeMarco and Lesedi are both lovable characters for sure, as are most of their crewmates, and the whole story plays out in typical Sea of Thieves fashion with a lot of laughs, a bit of violence, and a few knives in unsuspecting backs.

I can't finish this review without also mentioning that this graphic novel featured some lovely canon queer rep for characters players will be familiar with from the game, and that warmed my heart. I've been in the gaming community a long time, and it still makes me so proud to see popular games embrace the reality of a diverse world. Give me all the chaotic bisexual pirate icons, please. ♥

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[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I requested this from the library without reading the description because I'll read most anything by Jeremy Whitley. I was a little taken aback when I opened the front cover and realized this was based on an Xbox game I've never played or even heard of, but I soldiered on and was happy to see that Whitley managed to yet again devise a satisfying pirate yarn with rambunctious action and charismatic characters. (Be sure to check out his "Raven, the Pirate Princess" books.)

Fraternal twins DeMarco and Lesedi Singh are bequeathed a treasure map to the buried hoard of their long-missing father, the Pirate Lord. Intense sibling rivalry has them sabotaging each other constantly to prevent the other from reaching the treasure, causing more problems than all the other menaces standing in their way.

Each sibling has their own crew of colorful figures -- a raconteur, a grizzled veteran, a sharpshooter, a pickpocket, a doctor, a naive youth -- to provide comic relief and b-stories.

Since my local library doesn't have any more Sea of Thieves books, I thought this would be the end of the road for me with this storyline, but I discovered that Amazon has a whole bunch of Sea of Thieves comics (spin-offs and prequels?) by Whitley that are priced at $0.00 (free!) so I downloaded them to my Kindle app and will work my way through them in the coming weeks. I'm not sure the same characters are featured, but I'm sure Whitley will make it worth my while.


FOR REFERENCE:

Contains material originally published in single magazine form as Sea of Thieves #1-4.

Contents: Issues #1-4 / Jeremy Whitley, writer; Rhoald Marcellius, illustrator -- Covers Gallery / Rhoald Marcellius, José Carlos Silva, Iolanda Zanfardino, illustrators -- [Character Profiles] -- Creator Bios

[Andi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty entertaining. Hope there will be more. Picked it up b/c its Jeremy Whitley, and I've loved (L-O-V-E-D, loved!) his Princeless and Raven the Pirate Princess series. This one may not be quite as good as those, but still totally entertaining.

Siblings (sis/bro) compete to finds their fathers' legendary treasure, but they're not the only ones looking. Cool crews and side characters.

[Lora · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up because I liked the cover and am always on the lookout for a good but clean graphic novel for my still-at-home teen to read. I never buy these for myself...nooooooo. No sir. Never.
This is a fun book, with interesting art. By the way, there are some SPOILERS in this review...
The fantasy element was downplayed but still well used. I liked that the skeleton bad guys weren't gruesome. Just dead pirates out for treasure. Skip the depiction of gristle and keep the story strong, thank you very much.
Two characters showed romantic feelings to each other which might prove a difficulty for some readers. In other words, among the many characters who kept trying to kll each other, two women were expressing love in vague ways that became more clearly homosexual as the story went on. It wasn't in my face, but it was playing on my interest in the story so as to normalize an alternative lifestyle. Among pirates, real pirates, I have no interest in their personal lives. The thought makes me shudder. In a graphic novel where far too many pirates were women with just as much strength and meanness as hardened men, the alternative bit felt weird beyond just the alternative nature of it. It was almost as if the gay couple served to bring real love to the pirate business. Well, a sea captain (of all people) got tears in his eyes at one point, too. Both those points didn't seem to fit in with the traitorous nature of every single chatacter who was, for the whole of the book, simply in it for themselves. Oh, except for when they have to be nice to advance their agendas or soften the plot, I dunno which.
An ok read for a discount price. I still have it, but I'll be passing it on to someone else at some point.

[JJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Sea of Thieves comic is a great example of how to make a media tie-in for something without much in the way of story. At launch anyway, there wasn't really a main plot in the Sea of Thieves game. By nature, even now it's a very free-form adventure where you and your crew decide what types of things you want to do and then go about doing them. But even without memorable characters or deep lore from which to draw, the Sea of Thieves comic managed to weave a reasonably exciting pirate tale with some solid nods toward the game.

The plot is pretty basic -- a pirate brother and sister (who I believe are involved in the player-vs-player arena mode in the game, although I haven't played that mode) and their crews compete against each other to find some treasure -- but the characters are memorable and the plot moves at a good pace. None of the characters are particularly deep, but it all has sort of a Saturday morning cartoon feel that fits well with the art style and humor of the game.

There are some moments that directly reference gameplay moments (patching hulls, eating bananas with the peel on, a certain type of quest involving basic riddles) Sea of Thieves players will recognize. They may be a bit too blatant for some people, but I found most of them just slightly on the side of being well-integrated into the comic. The ending, however, incorporates one of the mechanics from the game that might be a bit confusing if you haven't played it already.

Overall, Sea of Thieves was a better comic than I expected from a game with so much focus on gameplay instead of story. It's nothing mind-blowing that will re-contextualize and enhance your playing experience, but it's a short, fun romp in the same world for people who are interested in that sort of thing.

[Lorena · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun comic about pirates.
I like the art style and dialogue actually made me laugh a couple of times. The plot was just okay and the ending wasn't super satisfying, I ended up just feeling pretty 'meh' about the ending. Though I really like that what drove the story along was sibling rivalry and the characters were engaging so I still have fun reading it.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy read, wonderfully colored, and a great diverse cast of characters. Not much substance, but I wasn’t expecting any, so I rounded up from 3.5 stars to a 4 because this was exactly what I thought it would be: a fun, swashbuckling romp on the high seas.

[Kori Watson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Never played the game but it’s hard to not pick up fashionable disaster birates, if I’m being honest it lost me at some points. It was just interesting enough to stop me dropping it mid trade but I had to take a lot of breaks.

[Nicole Westen · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a 3.5. It's Pirates of the Caribbean, but with 100% more diversity.

[Calvin Daniels · Rating 4 out of 5]

Swashbuckling, fun adventure. Enjoyed it a lot!

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good, fun, clean read. Loved it. Can't wait for more.

[TheBookDragon'sReview · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun little story adapted from the game. Quick easy read.

[Zenobia]

I liked this book and I like that its action pact.its also full of adventure. there is a little bit of romance ,but that's at the end.

[Sarospice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know nothing about the game but this was a fun read. I liked most of the characters especially the brother sister pirate duo.

[Maciek · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read for Sea of Thieves fans. But besides that, it's (sadly) nothing special. The references to the game make all the difference.

[Amy Gibbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5
I loved this! Such a fun time and great story!

[Andrew Halim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Small tale of the Pirate Lord's kids and his treasure!

[Shawn]

Didn't finish reading, like the game I couldn't understand what was happening fom one minute to the next or why.