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Bionicle Graphic Novels #3
Bionicle #3: City of Legends
Presents the adventures of the Toa, six heroes, each of whom controls a force of nature, as they fight to protect the people of the island of Mata Nui against the evil entity Makuta and his lackeys.
112 pages, Hardcover
First published October 28, 2008
About the author
Greg Farshtey
242 books92 followersGreg Farshtey is the author of the popular BIONICLE chapter books and Level 3 readers, as well as the long-running BIONICLE comic book series. His day job is Editor-in-Chief and head writer for the LEGO Club Magazine and the LEGO BrickMaster Magazine.
Greg has been writing since fourth grade. After earning a degree in Communications from the State University of New York at Geneseo, he worked as a reporter, sports editor, game designer and editor, and copywriter before joining LEGO Company in 2000. Before becoming involved with BIONICLE, he wrote game material for such diverse properties as Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Tales From the Crypt.
Greg is the author of more than 30 novels and guidebooks, as well as the author or co-author of more than 35 game sourcebooks and adventures.
He lives in West Hartford, Connecticut.
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Far...
Greg has been writing since fourth grade. After earning a degree in Communications from the State University of New York at Geneseo, he worked as a reporter, sports editor, game designer and editor, and copywriter before joining LEGO Company in 2000. Before becoming involved with BIONICLE, he wrote game material for such diverse properties as Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Tales From the Crypt.
Greg is the author of more than 30 novels and guidebooks, as well as the author or co-author of more than 35 game sourcebooks and adventures.
He lives in West Hartford, Connecticut.
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Far...
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 30, 2026
Another Bionicle graphic novel down. Maybe my least favorite of these first three, but it still had its highlights.
First, as usual, the art is great. This one actually has a bit of a different visual style in terms of colors and atmosphere, which is likely due to the change in setting from the earlier stories; nice to see some variety. I liked the writing of the Toa here as well, especially in contrast to the Mata/Nuva in the previous graphic novels. While that team often came into conflict and sometimes struggled to get along, the Metru here feel much more unified as a team, which I liked as a different approach to the writing. I also liked that this graphic novel gives you one part that is told from the villains’ perspective—again, something that feels like a different approach which I enjoyed. In general, this graphic novel feels like a breath of fresh air for the series in many ways.
Unfortunately, the reason why I still didn’t care for this too much despite those praises is that I just didn’t find the stories in here that interesting. Like the previous graphic novels, this one has two arcs in it; the first just didn’t do anything for me, while the second at least had an interesting premise. It’s one of those cases where there are some great aspects to this, but the sum is not greater than its parts in my opinion.
Overall a decent, quick read. There was some interesting writing and good characterization here, and great art, but the story and characters just didn’t do much for me.
Rating: 6/10
First, as usual, the art is great. This one actually has a bit of a different visual style in terms of colors and atmosphere, which is likely due to the change in setting from the earlier stories; nice to see some variety. I liked the writing of the Toa here as well, especially in contrast to the Mata/Nuva in the previous graphic novels. While that team often came into conflict and sometimes struggled to get along, the Metru here feel much more unified as a team, which I liked as a different approach to the writing. I also liked that this graphic novel gives you one part that is told from the villains’ perspective—again, something that feels like a different approach which I enjoyed. In general, this graphic novel feels like a breath of fresh air for the series in many ways.
Unfortunately, the reason why I still didn’t care for this too much despite those praises is that I just didn’t find the stories in here that interesting. Like the previous graphic novels, this one has two arcs in it; the first just didn’t do anything for me, while the second at least had an interesting premise. It’s one of those cases where there are some great aspects to this, but the sum is not greater than its parts in my opinion.
Overall a decent, quick read. There was some interesting writing and good characterization here, and great art, but the story and characters just didn’t do much for me.
Rating: 6/10
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August 18, 2022What is the book about? You don't need to tell the whole story over — just give an idea of what it's about. the story is about each of these Lego legends in each of these tribes in Metru-nui
Do you think other people would like it? 1, because its Lego 2, because it explains each tribes
What emotions did you feel while reading the book (sad, funny…)? content
Did you learn something from the book? no
Did you think it was interesting? Would you want to read it again? no because i don't like reading books again
Would you want to read other books by the same author or about the same subject? perhaps
What was your favorite part? when i got to the map.
Do you think other people would like it? 1, because its Lego 2, because it explains each tribes
What emotions did you feel while reading the book (sad, funny…)? content
Did you learn something from the book? no
Did you think it was interesting? Would you want to read it again? no because i don't like reading books again
Would you want to read other books by the same author or about the same subject? perhaps
What was your favorite part? when i got to the map.
April 12, 2022
Clearly, this was a product placement book (for Lego Bionicles) and I bought these because my son poured over them, was glued to them, at the time. And I was desperate to get him reading. Anything. I didn't care for the story; I couldn't really make heads or tails of it, but I believed it's okay to slide whatever works under their noses, if they're motivated to read it. We bought all 9.
April 30, 2018
It was an amazing book, if I could i would rate it ten
June 3, 2011
City of Legends is the third graphic novel compilation of the Bionicle comics. This book covers most of 2004, the beginning of the Metru Nui years - where we find that the elder Turaga were really once Toa, and before that, Matoran.
Leaving Mata Nui was probably one of my least favorite moves in the story, and I don't think Bionicle ever captured the appeal of the mysterious island with its combination of the natural and mechanical. I also think that the Toa's personalities are very different from the ones they present as Turaga, which is confusing. The enemies they face off against are a giant plant, an army of robot soldiers (almost like the Bohrok all over again), and a dragon-like thing (the winner of a contest, as it stands). The Dark Hunters were the only ones who really moved the story along, and the quest for Toa Lhikan unfortunately does not get resolved in the comics. All in all the story is a bit of a let down.
Randy Elliott's arts does get better, but the proportions on the Toa make them seem too tall and skinny sometimes. Overall I think it's an improvement though.
Papercutz has also added some of the info sheets that appeared in the centerfolds of the original comics - a map of Metru Nui, descriptions of the Vahki and the disks. These are a welcome addition that really add to the package.
As a whole, I still love the idea of the graphic novels and will continue to buy them. The story just really hit a low for me on Metru Nui though, so the enjoyment was just not as high as with the classic Mata Nui comics. If you're collecting the series, pick it up. If you just want the good parts of Bionicle though, this one can stay in the store.
Leaving Mata Nui was probably one of my least favorite moves in the story, and I don't think Bionicle ever captured the appeal of the mysterious island with its combination of the natural and mechanical. I also think that the Toa's personalities are very different from the ones they present as Turaga, which is confusing. The enemies they face off against are a giant plant, an army of robot soldiers (almost like the Bohrok all over again), and a dragon-like thing (the winner of a contest, as it stands). The Dark Hunters were the only ones who really moved the story along, and the quest for Toa Lhikan unfortunately does not get resolved in the comics. All in all the story is a bit of a let down.
Randy Elliott's arts does get better, but the proportions on the Toa make them seem too tall and skinny sometimes. Overall I think it's an improvement though.
Papercutz has also added some of the info sheets that appeared in the centerfolds of the original comics - a map of Metru Nui, descriptions of the Vahki and the disks. These are a welcome addition that really add to the package.
As a whole, I still love the idea of the graphic novels and will continue to buy them. The story just really hit a low for me on Metru Nui though, so the enjoyment was just not as high as with the classic Mata Nui comics. If you're collecting the series, pick it up. If you just want the good parts of Bionicle though, this one can stay in the store.
December 6, 2013
It was okay. I'm starting to get the feeling of these stories only existing to try and get kids to buy Bionicle products, instead as a story for those who have already purchased Bionicle products. I would really like to be able to explore the world a little bit more, I guess. I feel trapped sometimes, but maybe I'm just wanting something that the series wasn't set up to give me.
July 29, 2016
A solid short read
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews