Warriors: SkyClan and the Stranger: 3 Full-Color Warriors Books in 1: A Full-Color Graphic Novel Collection of Adventures in the Warriors Universe

Warriors Manga: SkyClan & the Stranger #1-3

by Erin Hunter, James L. Barry (Illustrator)

Don't miss these Warriors manga adventures!

A full-color collection of three graphic novel adventures from the world of Erin Hunter’s Warriors series—never before available in color!

This epic volume contains all three books in the SkyClan and the Stranger The Rescue, Beyond the Code, and After the Flood.

Newleaf is coming, and Leafstar is proud to see SkyClan thriving under her leadership. But when the arrival of a mysterious stranger throws SkyClan into turmoil, Leafstar must figure out what is best for her Clan—once and for all.

With newly colorized art, this stand-alone adventure is perfect for the collections of longtime Warriors readers or any graphic novel fan.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Manga, Middle Grade, Fantasy, Comics, Childrens, Fiction

272 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Erin Hunter is the pseudonym of five people: Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, Tui T. Sutherland, Gillian Philip, and Inbali Iserles, as well as editor Victoria Holmes. Together, they write the Warriors series as well as the Seekers and Survivors series. Erin Hunter is working on a new series now called Bravelands.

Erin Hunter is inspired by a love of cats and a fascination with the ferocity of the natural world. As well as having a great respect for nature in all its forms, Erin enjoys creating rich mythical explanations for animal behavior, shaped by her interest in astronomy and standing stones.

Reviews

[Jasmine from How Useful It Is · Rating 5 out of 5]

This graphic novel was an interesting read! A female boss who's also a mom was great for readers of all ages to read because it lets readers know that they can multitask and be responsible for more than one important tasks at a time, especially with the help of teamwork. I enjoyed the second story where readers learned that Sol took a short cut to hunting. The story with his mom was heartbreaking but a hard life with mom is better than a good life always missing her.


This book followed Leafstar, a skyclan's leader who is expecting to have her babies any day now. She's worried that she might not have a lot of time for both her children and her clansmates, but vowed to do her best in both responsibilities. The young apprentices have been out and about in secrecy until Leafstar found out that they have been visiting the human for her foods. One day when Leafstar confronted the apprentices, the human caught sight of her and went to the cats' hideout to take her and her kits back to her home. Later, there was a rescue taken place. Then there's the second story with the newcomer and the third story with the aftermath of the flood to this series.


Warriors: Skyclan and the Stranger, a 3 in one color graphic novel, was well written and illustrated. There's always something happening so the read had no dull moments. The third story was a good lesson about how being selfish was unacceptable. I enjoyed the humor, especially with the kitties. The warriors training was interesting to read and I loved the parts where cats can jump high, like to open the door. It's my first time reading The Warriors and I got to read the color version of the illustrations. Cats argued like humans when they are unhappy and kits are naughty like any children. It's a great read and I recommend everyone to read this book!

xoxo, Jasmine at www.howusefulitis.wordpress.com for more details

I won this book from a Goodreads giveaway hosted by the publisher. Many thanks to HarperCollins for the opportunity to read and review. Please be assured that my opinions are honest.

[Roselyn Blonger · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a decent book with an unexpected plot, but I also felt it was… irrelevant? There's not much to tell; the drawings were cute specially the kittens. Aside that, the whole story about Sol's past was real heartbreaking and I even thought his destiny was to be a medicin cat, but oh well…

[Bill Riggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining manga about a colony of cats and their struggle for survival.

[Kriska · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like caring for your elders by changing bedding and checking for ticks should not be a punishment. Caring for others should never be a punishment. Why didn’t Firestar tell Leafstar anything about the warrior code of queen leaders not supposed to have kits like medicine cats and how they shouldn’t have daylight warriors? Did he do this on purpose knowing there should be some changes in the warrior code? Looks like Plumwillow and Skyheart have pushing others into the water in common and Leopardstar and Nettlesplash shared that same fear. I wish these manga’s had a list of the cats in the beginning with their pictures because sometimes I am not sure who is who. Sol says he is overlooked because he was a kittypet. Did he forget they have daylight warriors? He does mention them in his argument but pokes at them for going home. Still not a good argument because they can hunt and fight. They do go home at night.

[K Brainard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Book was great! It was shown as a problem or threat that came to skyclan. This problem with skyclan actually connects to the main arc! You might enjoy this manga, so i suggest you give it a try!

[Booksacademy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nadal nie umiem zrozumieć sposób myślenia Sola

[Rebecca Lindau · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always love a good skyclan story and seeing sol be such a loser is great. I need more sol stories though. Lemme see him meeting midnight. Let me see him after he is chased from the clans.

[Stephen Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whether you are a fan of the Warriors or just getting started, this is an enjoyable graphic novel.
This book contains three previously released black and white comics, but now in color for this collection.
-The Rescue
-Beyond The Code
-After The Flood

⚠️ Parental Warning ⚠️
For parents familiar with the series, there isn’t anything new or beyond the established lore and language.

Starclan is the heavenly clan of passed on warrior cat ancestors, friends and mates, that watch over and guide the clan cats. Appearing like a Star Wars force ghost vision, they will communicate through dreams.

The series usually contains slurs such as “mouse brained”

This book contains a sad account of a father and mother cat. The father “doesn’t like” his mate and litter, and runs off with another mate. The mother is mean and neglectful to the kittens. The kittens are left sad and confused by both parents.

🚨 Controvery 🚨
There is concern of homosexual, or #Agenda based content within this series. There is nothing of that sort in this series, nor any other Warrior books that I’ve seen. The rumor seems to have started from within the fandom as a way to retcon two male characters that are close friends, to be gay. And this started from the graphic novel Ravenpaw’s Path. But the creator of the series has gone on record to say that the characters are not gay and that homosexuality will not be a factor in these stories because the cats are realistically based, and there is no homosexuality in cat behavior.

[TreeSpright · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series focuses on Skyclan a few seasons after Firestar and Sandstorm were there. If you love Leafstar and Billy storm, you'll be happy to see their kits in this one. There's also the added element of Sol up to no good behind the scenes in the third one, so this book would be good if you like Sol too. I don't know if Sol is telling the truth about his past, but it does make me feel sorry for him of all he ever wanted to be was a warrior in a clan. I think he has good intentions, if he wasn't lying, but he doesn't go about them the right way. He also hates being told what to do and if he learned to do that I think he would have made an excellent warrior.

[Christine Lamoreaux · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leafstar is such a complex character. One minute I absolutely love and admire her and the next minute I am appalled by her spazoid temperament. She is a cat I would hesitate to pet. But, that aside, I really enjoyed SkyClan and the Stranger. Sol is introduced and explained but I still have no sympathy or affection towards him. And EchoSong... I really really enjoyed EchoSong. This is a must read for any and all Warrior Cat fans. Quite beautiful in every way conceivable. Remember, always, WARRIOR CATS RULE!!!!

[Izzy Polo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sol fails at life for three books, very entertaining! I understand his motivation behind being a warrior he just went about it all wrong. Leafstar is awesome and I like how they show she can be both a leader and a mother through the support of her community. Also predestination is now cannon? Concerning. Lastly, now I kind of wish they explored sol’s possible medicine cat talents since he was clearly better at that then fighting. Oh well!

[Silverperri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the "Leafstar screams at people" content I needed from Skyclan's Destiny. But for real, my big takeaway from this manga is just how strong of a character she is, and I think that's great, especially since her struggle as a leader and a mother is so rare. Oh, and Sol is here, too-- biggest loser I know!

[Fawna Sidoryk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book

I'm Kenliegh and I was reading with my dog Ripley and she didn't bark at the cats and she is only 3 months old I really liked this and I had fun reading this please make a Survivors manga thank you Erin Hunter and Amazon :-)

[Maddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

I really enjoyed getting to see SkyClan again, as I've been reading the arc books (im on The Forgotten Warrior now), I've been not-so-paitiently waiting for SkyClan to join the clans amongst the Lake, so it was really satisfying to see what SkyClan has been up to.

I have a similar gripe with this book that I do with SkyClan's Destiny. Leafstar is constantly going on about how important the warrior code is and gets upset with some of her Clan members for enjoying kittypet food when they're Clan born. Yet, there's some warriors in SkyClan who are quite literally Kittypets, and who eat, sleep, and breathe the Kittypet life just as much as Clan life. This seems so hypocritical to me. She'll give an exception to day-light warriors yet critique and get upset with other cats just because they were born in SkyClan. Yet, she welcomes all of these cats into the Clan equally but criticizes them differently depending on their birth. It's completely unfair. If Leafstar is going to embrace the warrior code and champion it the way she does, then she may as well take it seriously, at the bare minimum. Yet she chooses to accept some aspects of the code while rejecting others to the benefit of her Clan.

Also another question, at the beginning of this graphic novel it states that Clovertail has decided to stay in the nursery full time, however, we know that her kits are Apprentices and she has no actual kits in the nursery. Leafstar struggles with the responsibility of her Clan vs. Kits, but I feel like Clovertail staying in the nursery the whole time would make this less complicated? Like why isn't Clovertail with the kits during the battle with the foxes? And WHY doesn't Leafstar ask Clovertail to keep an eye on the kits when she goes for a walk. I mean, seriously, that conflict is so unbelievable. No way would a nursing queen leave her kits completely alone for an entire afternoon without even asking a single cat to keep an eye on them.

Obviously, it's not Clovertail's job to watch Leafstar's kits, but since she chose to work in the nursery full time, she totally should've been with the kits in multiple instances of this story.

I know i critique a lot, but this was so fun. It dragged one of the best reactions out of me when Harry said, "My name is Sol," I was so shocked. Im really curious about what happens in between this graphic novel and Power of Three because obviously Sol does quite a bit.

I loved the art in this graphic novel. I think the writing was good. It found a way to include multiple familiar faces while also adding some new ones. It also developed the story of multiple characters (Sharpclaw & Cherrytail). Overall, I think it was a nice edition to the story.

[jess (bibliophilicjester) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5
Sigh. I think I like the idea of these more than the execution. I think this is an earlier one but meh. Sometimes you can really tell they're stories based on a preexisting world/group of characters; I wish the written parts were at least done by one of the erins. Certain differences really take me out of these stories...like leafstar's kits calling her mama. It's cute I guess, but kits always call their parents by name. Or seeing a cat put their arm around another cat's shoulder like a human. It's just not how things work in the other books. And so it's extra jarring to read AND see discrepancies.

I will say, the reveal on the last page of the first story/volume was great for me!! I'm playing a bit of catch up now with all the supplemental stuff after getting to (/being traumatized by) the last hope. (yes, I looked it up and knew it was coming. No, I still wasn't prepared. Yes, I cried.) So anyway, I had already seen "the reveal" (as I'll call it for the sake of spoilers) via the main story arcs.

Also not my favorite because I'm still not sure if I like leafstar. I think the only cat I actually care about/like in skyclan is sharpclaw. And maybe echosong bc I think I have a soft spot for medicine cats in general.

The thing that annoyed me the most here, and throughout the whole series in general, honestly, is the portrayal and compulsion of motherhood. I know the characters are cats, and cats are different than humans, but still. I hate the narrative of it being a shecat's "duty" to have kits and strengthen the clan or whatever. There's a cat in I forget which arc who really struggles with the fact that she doesn't want kits. I know I'm probably projecting a bit as a human who doesn't want children, but it's just a weird narrative to push. I don't want to rant, but i can't NOT mention it.

Anyway. It's been fun learning about skyclan and how different it is from other clans (and also how similar)! Just not my favorite warriors stories, which is fine. They all read fast for me even when they drag - does that make sense? Idk but I'm glad to have read this even if I didn't much care for it.

[Alesha Cary · Rating 3 out of 5]

As most who know me know, I'm not a cat person. I love dogs. So, reading this series was not at the top of my list of priorities.

I do, however, like graphic novels, and when I found this one on a clearance table, I picked it up with the intentions of adding it to my book shelf for the 8th grade class I would have this school year. In reading it, I can say that the story line is interesting, even if it is about cats. :) I can see why it is an engaging series for younger readers.

This graphic novel includes 3 separate stories, all involving a new member coming into the clan and the drama that surrounds it. The overall goal seems to be illustrating the way that the warrior code ties the cats together, and the story line does that effectively. I also really enjoyed the graphic format. I'm not sure I would make it through the novelized version of the story, but the images were super engaging and kept the story moving along.

My plot notes are in my updates. I will say that generally, this was a good read, and it's a good addition to my middle school bookshelf for any readers who are reluctant and looking for something engaging.

[MyrYara (Kjell Ray) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the story of this book. But I hate to say it, I dont like the style from the illustrations. Everything is so pretty.. and then you have the faces.
In the main series Sol is introduced as a very VERY handsome cat. I dont see any of that in the comic.. his face is so awefull. It made me question why I love Sol so much..
And Sol was always one of my favorite characters. But the not likable faces of every cat in this stile are just not cat-like. If you think about cats, they are elegant, mysterious, fancy.. and even a big strong cat has more elegancy in it than these face drawings. And its only the face, because the rest of the drawings are very fancy!

Im just so sad that this is the style they those for the story. (I know its the common style for the Warriors comics, and my opinion is the same for those. The story’s are fantastic, but whats up with all of their faces..) I hope if they ever make more comics, the faces will be more cat-like.
They can get inspiration from all the fantastic artists in the community!

[Kelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, this collection provides some insight into how SkyClan is getting along after Firestar and Sandstorm left as well as into Sol’s background.

It was nice to see more of SkyClan. We don’t really get to see a lot of how the clan operates in the main books. They are still a peripheral clan. But, it was good to see how Leafstar leads—as well as how she navigates being both a leader and a mother.

Personally, I also enjoyed getting a glimpse of dear Fallowfern as well. I’ve got a soft spot for her.

More, it was good to see more of Sol’s character. His background is surprisingly sad—and will probably resonate with many readers. Having an absent father and a distant mother doesn’t usually lead to living a well-adjusted life. Some of Sol’s choices make more sense in light of that info.

Anyway.

This was another solid collection. Especially if you enjoy any crumbs about SkyClan you can get~

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this to my 6 year old who absolutely loved it. I'm not generally big on animals as stand ins for humans, but this kept them more animal rather than anthropomorphic. I liked how they talked about the two-legs and the kittypets that lived with two-legs, in comparison to their [mostly] wild band. There was some fairly interesting characters, though it didn't have enough to really develop any to a great depth.
The artwork was fair. Nothing amazing, but it was clear and the cats were drawn nicely.

[Aaron Toponce · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a good book, with a decent plot, and I appreciate that Erin didn't follow the trope of the underdog ("undercat" I guess) meeting success.

But the story is a bit mundane, there are hints of magic or mysticism, without really explaining what's going on or how it works, and overall, the story progresses at a very slow pack.

I'm reading this because my daughter likes them, and it is an interesting and creative idea, but it's not great.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yup, I’m reading these too. The comics are fresh stories with characters from the novels, so I feel like I’d be leaving the series unfinished if I passed over them.

This was alright, albeit kind of pointless? There’s only one death and no real long-ranging consequences for SkyClan’s future. I’m also really don’t like the way the cats are drawn in these - especially the female cats. They’ve got these weird looking deformed hourglass-like skulls.

[Cami · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this story while in the middle of "The Power of Three" (post-"Eclipse"), and while technically there are some spoilers in this manga, I think it complements the main series nicely, since it provides context for suspicions the main series has already introduced. I'm extra eager to read more of the main series now!

[Aubri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cool and pretty artwork. The book also SMELLED awesome. 👃📖
I really loved Leafstar’s little Harrykit Stormkit and Firekit. And I like Sandypaw, Clovertail’s son.
I thought it was nice how it showed that Sharpclaw and Cherrytail got together and she was pregnant with Hawkkit.
Sol was also a good introduction.

[Roan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this!! Loved seeing the story of Skyclan continue in a manga format. Also so interesting to learn about Sol's backstory, poor guy, but he's just not a good cat for some reason! And on he goes to wreak havoc in the rest of the clans, haha. I loved Billystorm and Leafstar. Good read, I recommend!

[Evelyn Lamb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evelyn Ruth Lamb

I chose this rating because it was a good book but it could have been a little more interesting. The other graphic novels were more interesting with the backstory than this one. That is why I am giving this book four stars.

[Colby West · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!

I really liked that it had color instead of it being black and white, like the single books. I really like how cute Leafstars kits are. Everything is so exiting, I can’t look away!

[Aplenty_WT · Rating 4 out of 5]

To chyba moja ulubiona graphic novela z tej serii, a wszystko zasługa obecności tego szylkretowego kocura który robi ta historie x10 lepsza. Art Pana Barryego jak zwykle jest dosłownie definicja wojownikow

[eryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's always nice to see a villain's backstory. It made me relate to Sol a little, not the kitnapping part but.. y'know. The kits and twolegs were really cute. SkyClan content is also always refreshing to see. Don't have all that much to say.

[Jasmine]

Interesting insider with thrills

[Vivian]

I loved it. There was a flood & a cleanup. Leafstar had kits then was taken by a female twoleg. Then there was Sol who went all crazy & stuff.