Reaver, Vol. 1: Hell's Half-Dozen

Reaver #1-6

by Justin Jordan, Rebekah Isaacs (Contributor), Alex Guimarães (Contributor)

The continent of Madaras promised a new start for settlers... but 200 years after its discovery, the war rages on. Deep within this savage and untamed land, a darkness builds at The Anvil that must be stopped at all costs.

To do so, the Imperials assemble six of its most despicable prisoners--a turncoat, a skin eater, a sorcerer, his bodyguard, a serial killer, and the Devil's Son.

They are the only ones who can stop the end of the new world. They are Hell's Half-Dozen.

JUSTIN JORDAN (The Strange Talent of Luther Strode) and REBEKAH ISAACS (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) create a grim, dark fantasy comic for a post-Game of Thrones world. This is REAVER.

Collects REAVER #1-6.

Genres: Comics, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Adult, Comic Book, Ebooks

136 pages, Paperback

First published February 18, 2020

About the author

Justin Jordan is an American comic book writer. He is known for writing and co-creating The Strange Talent of Luther Strode, Spread, Dead Body Road, Deep State, Dark Gods and Savage Things. He has also written Green Lantern: New Guardians, Superboy, Deathstroke and Team 7 for DC Comics and the relaunch of Shadowman for Valiant Entertainment.

In 2012, he was nominated for the Harvey Award for Most Promising New Talent.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

No real complaints.
It's the condemned prisoners who go on a suicide mission story, but with a fantasy setting.



The gist is that this group of inmates who are scheduled to be executed for various crimes, all get to go on a field trip to redeem themselves (sort of) and save the empire.



It's very readable with a few nice twists. Not sure how much I care for the end, though. And I only say that because I'm just not sure how interested I am in continuing due to it.
The character I liked the most was killed off, and the twist left me feeling a tad bit queasy about another main character.

Without spoiling too much I'll say it's kind of weird when the child serial killer has the most magnetic personality out of the whole bunch.
We'll see. Maybe volume 2 will blow me out of the water.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Dirty Dozen or the Suicide Squad of the D&D set. A group of criminals are sent on a last ditch mission behind enemy lines to kill a sorcerer practicing blood magic. All of the info dumping setting up this world dropped this down to a blood dripping three stars. For such a gorey book, Jordan had diarrhea of the mouth at times. It finished strong though.

Rebekah Isaacs has bled the Arthur Adams's influences out of her art unfortunately. It lost that distinctiveness it had with the slightly cartoonish look.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Individual issue reviews: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6

Total review score: 3.08

[Liz (Quirky Cat) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of Reaver Vol. 1 through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Reaver Vol. 1 is an all-new and dark fantasy series, one that pits cultures against one another, as one ragtag group strives to complete their goals. Or die. Madaras is neck-deep in a war, one that never seems to end.
That is how this story begins, with the war well underway. One nation, in what is arguably a desperate attempt for success, opts to choose six prisoners to send out on the latest in a series of missions. Under threat of death, they comply.
So you might be thinking to yourself: is this a fantastical version of the Suicide Squad? And you wouldn’t be entirely wrong in thinking that. This is a political and bloody tale, one where the squad all has their own goals – and reasons for being arrested. They’re also doomed should they dare run off…so yeah not too far off of a comparison.
At the helm of this project, you’ll find Justin Jordan (author), alongside Rebekah Isaacs, Alex Guimaraes, and Becky Cloonan. So get ready for a gory and fantastic read!

An evil magician, a war, politics, and six unwilling prisoners working together. That sounds like the making of a dramatic story, if ever I’ve heard one. Reaver is a dramatic series, one that is seriously full of bloodshed and violence, yet his highly entertaining.
This is a series that doesn’t hesitate to throw you into the action, as we quickly learn just how bad the circumstances have gotten. On the bright side, that went a long way in explaining the characters and their predicaments to us.
I was surprised by the few truly human moments snuck in throughout this volume. It really grounded it and gave us a chance to get to know a few of the characters. Granted, in some of their cases it never really felt like we knew them.
The epic scale of this quest was outstanding. I didn’t appreciate that fact as much as I should have. Not at first. But as the series progressed that fact became more and more clear. It was impossible to avoid – and explained why they wanted doomed men (and girl) to take on the job at hand.
There were some seriously shocking twists in this series, but honestly? I kind of love that. I love that this series was able to surprise me. Yeah, it hit me in the gut a time or two as well, but that’s just further proof of solid writing, right?
I’ll confess that it was the cover of the first issue that really caught my attention – I couldn’t resist picking it up and giving it a read. I was fascinated from the start. But for whatever reason, I failed to pick up the rest of the series as it released. So thank goodness for volumes, as I finally had the chance to follow-up on this story and find out what the heck happened next.
Speaking of, I’m slightly conflicted about the conclusion here. I actually loved the way it ended – it made complete thematic sense. But I’m also not sure if the story is done. I could honestly see it going both ways. It felt completed to me, while leaving the door open to tell more stories in this world? That is how I’m interpreting it, and I’m good with that. What does everyone else think?

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grimdark sword and sorcery in a Suicide Squad-type of deadly mission. Quite keen on seeing where this story goes next.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

We have the makings of something really good here. There are a lot of fair comparisons on Goodreads saying that this is a fantasy ‘Suicide Squad’. It makes sense. 6 antiheroes sent on a suicide mission against a bunch of people that are extremely easy to root against. The formula exists.

But this one seems to have put a very welcome spin on that premise. We’ve got an action packed first volume that builds enough of the world to where you feel like you have a basis of understanding, but you also want more. This volume is full of blood, viscera, and carnage. Amidst the chaos you will certainly find “your character” that you root for because there is enough in the way of fun and witty dialogue that you can identify these personalities.

I had a great time with this read. I’m hoping that on the next one we will see even more world building and another steady shot of the adrenaline this first volume provided.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I seem to have been dropped in the middle of a cheesy, boring war story. If I had only issue one, I never would have continued this story. Thankfully I had the volume of all six issues. A misfit band of criminals goes on an adventure to save the world. Nothing new in this type of story.
My favourite character is the purple haired goblin woman who likes to eat people’s skins. Can I get an entire volume of her?
ARC provided by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

[Alex Sarll]

A fantasy Suicide Squad – or given there's a war on, and the volume title, maybe more Dirty Dozen – in which various traitors, cowards and other dodgy types are sent by the good-ish kingdom to take out a big installation of the badder kingdom. The latter having built a death camp which they're using to power dark magic and give themselves an in on the former's plans. At pretty much every turn you can picture how the World War II version of this would have gone – which would have been a lot more open to accusations of tasteleness, but might not have been afflicted by the weightlessness and faintly generic air which so often afflicts post-GoT Image fantasy books. Still, two members of the crew (the feral young woman and the aristocratic bastard) were engaging enough company to keep me going ('Imagine our surprise!' – literally everyone with much idea of my type).

(Edelweiss ARC)

[Trike · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had my doubts about a Fantasy version of The Dirty Dozen, but by the end I was sold. This was rock solid grimdark storytelling with just enough twists and fresh takes among the tropes to make it work.

I also quite liked the art by Rebekah Isaacs, particularly the facial expressions on the characters, which really sells the emotion. It’s not often you can read things like smugness or revulsion so clearly. The eyerolls and evil smirks were subtly effective.

[Debbie Armbruster · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and absolutely concur with a fellow reader’s observation that this is a D&D Suicide Squad. Perfect (paraphrased) description!

Great story, fun art, dark and bloody, but with a bit too much reliance on f-bombs to fuel the dialogue. Outstanding ending though, and book 2 is waiting for me tomorrow.

[Ije the Devourer of Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story about a group of prisoners who are forced to form a team to fight against an evil magician. The artwork is good and the story is imaginative with lots of battles and gore. Interesting story and it would be good to see how the series develops.

[Elfo-oscuro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una sorpresa descubrir esta serie. Algunos personajes me han encantado y la historia tiene giros que te sorprenden

[Randy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a fan of Justin Jordan's work, but I will say in the beginning I struggled with the exposition heavy dialog. Then the action picked up, as did the gore, and the double-crosses,. I have to say things happened in a way I didn't expect. Rebekah Isaacs art was great very reminiscent of Art Adams. All in all 3.5 or 3.75 stars

[Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bunch of condemned prisoners on a suicide mission to save the Empire. A favorite scenario of mine. And this graphic novel does a good job with it. The characters are interesting, even if a few are a little formulaic. There were some surprises I didn't see coming, and that was a plus. The end was left a bit open, and I would be interested to see where it would go next.

[BOUNDLESS_READER - GIADA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Parliamo di un volume dalle tavole a colori super curate da Alex Guimaraes che utilizza diverse tonalità di colori come il nero, il blu, il viola e il rosso. I disegni creati da Rebekah Isaacs sono davvero particolari, i personaggi sono ben caratterizzati e anche l’ambientazione è curata. La storia potrebbe sembrare già vista o sentita ma a me è piaciuta anche con i cliché. Quando si parla di protagonisti cattivi, non posso non pensare al film “Suicide Squad” infatti, mi è sembrato di rivivere un po' quel film in un’epoca totalmente diversa ma la cosa mi è piaciuta tanto. In questo volume non abbiamo un solo protagonista ma diversi personaggi e la loro storia come il loro passato viene evidenziato nel volume, tutti i personaggi sono curati e nessuno è lasciato al caso. Aspettatevi un fumetto fantasy cupo, perché anche la magia che troverete nel volume, è una magia nera, una magia che si nutre della sofferenza dell’uomo insieme alle vite umane.
✨“Innumerevoli vite per alimentare orditi inimmaginabili, sacrificherebbero tutto per regnare su un impero di macerie.”
In questo volume ci sarà una vera carneficina che tiene il lettore incollato pagina dopo pagina, aspettatevi un linguaggio schietto e crudo non ci sono giri di parole anzi il linguaggio può essere a tratti tagliente. Ci troviamo nel Continente Sconosciuto, Madaras, che si trova ad affrontare un enorme battaglia che vede nemici diversi popoli, tra cui L’Impero che per fermare una tremenda lotta decide di affidare una missione suicida a ben sei criminali che dovranno uccidere il nemico. In questa lotta conosceremo pian piano tutti e sei criminali: “Il codardo” un guerriero di origine Esk, che cerca di trovare pace dopo aver disertato in battaglia, “la Mangiapelle” una donna che si nutre di pelle umana mangia davvero qualsiasi parte del corpo (anche i gioielli di famiglia degli uomini), il suo linguaggio è un po’ strambo non parla esattamente come gli altri personaggi ma si fa capire davvero molto bene (il personaggio, che più ho adorato fra tutti, ha un carattere fortissimo), “lo stregone” accompagnato dalla sua fedelissima “guardia del corpo”, “il Pluriomicida” un uomo disonesto che farebbe di tutto pur di avere salva la vita ha ucciso molti bambini ed è un traditore abile in battaglia (personaggio che più ho odiato) e “Figlio del diavolo” un Berseker che vuole la morte per trovare pace poiché in passato ha commesso delle atrocità che gli affiggono l’anima. Come avrete capito sono personaggi molto ambigui ma che insieme fanno davvero una strage. La lettura è veloce si arriva al finale con una grande curiosità per il seguito.
✨“Vivrai. Hai ancora molte cose da fare. La magia sta arrivando, Essen Braker e noi dobbiamo distruggerla”
Sicuramente troverete un personaggio che vi farà impazzire e sarà il vostro “eroe” preferito e troverete anche il personaggio che vorreste ammazzare subito subito. Io consiglio la lettura di questo volume agli amanti del fantasy e anche a chi vuole approcciare con il mondo del fumetto di genere fantasy consapevole del fatto che è abbastanza crudo.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my ongoing efforts to support my local comic book store, I picked this up on a whim during my last visit. The Dirty Dozen / Suicide Squad premise ported to a fantasy setting appealed to me, and the artwork looked up my alley. The story opens in the midst of a battle between two generic fantasy army foes (one has red uniforms and one blue -- which is about as generic as you can get). There's no particular context for this, so it kind of all flashes by and we move to a prison where we meet the four incarcerated antiheroes who are to join a mage and his bodyguard on a dangerous mission to turn the tide of the war. There's the "Turncoat" (he's not really a turncoat, just fled in battle), the "Serial Killer" (as advertised apparently, but we don't learn much about this), the "Devil's Son" (a kind of unkillable battle giant), and the "Skin-Eater" (a kind of wildling, savage type). They must break out of prison -- which seems a totally unnecessary complication (not to mention killing 10-15 guards) to ensure that the commander has "plausible deniability" of this covert mission, although why this would be needed is not at all evident.

They then trek across the countryside (more encounters, more killing) and head toward the massive tower where mysterious blood magic is being worked that's allowing the enemy armies to win. From there it's a classic D&D-style caper -- trick their way in, fight their way through the complex, face the boss, betrayal from within, capture, escape, fight, sacrifice, climax. It's all solidly done, and there are some neat twists on magic, but it often felt like an excuse for extremely graphic combat scenes of beheadings, disemboweling, etc... I'm not put off by that kind of stuff, but nor do I find it particularly interesting, so.. meh. The artwork is solid -- in keeping with the tone of the story, and generally effective, if not that distinctive. All in all, neither the story nor the characters gave me quite enough to care about to continue following the story in the next volume. 

[47Time · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been a while since I've read such wonderfully smart dialogue. The characters are so unique you can't help but love them. Each is as deadly as they come, but still somehow lovable. The story hits you with several names and mechanics that don't make a lot of sense, but they are as cool as can be. By the end of the volume, some named characters are removed and several mechanics are explained which will simplify the way forward.

The Empire is losing the war. The Escalene are reading the future to strike at the Empire army, resulting in massive losses. A daring plan involving a wizard and convicts on death row may be the only chance to capture the man who reads the future for the enemy and turn the tide of the war.

The plan is to infiltrate the Anvil, a prison where the soothsayer named Mahabaran is being fed the blood of the captives. The way to the prison is just as dangerous as the infiltration. The lands between the Escalene and their sworn enemy are populated by bloodthirsty factions. Dealing with them requires brute strength alone. Infiltrating the prison requires finesse. The group manages both and they reach the Mahabaran.

The slimy Styrian betrays the group to the Escalene, while feral Rekala stages a prison riot. Marris the wizard turns out to be merely a shell controlled by Thes, his mute bodyguard. Thes is behind the whole plan, using her magic - or 'workings' as they call it - to ccontrol others by touch alone. It takes some doing to face Mahabaran's level of magic, but Thes comes out on top. Of the original group, she is only able to protect Rekala and Essen Breaker the near-invincible muscle. Her goal has always been to destroy magic, lest it be used by men to their benefit, not humanity's. There is much more to do to kill magic and now she has trustworthy allies.

[Mattia Lugli · Rating 2 out of 5]

La storia di Reaver si apre con questo primo volume dai toni molto dark fantasy, cupi e decisamente improntanti verso quella che è una narrazione oscura e subdola tipica di questo filone.
L'inizio del volume potrebbe apparire abbastanza caotico agli occhi del lettore, mettendo nero su bianco decisamente troppi nomi in troppo poco tempo, dando un infarinatura generale di un mondo creato per queste pagine, di cui poi non si esplorerà molto proseguendo nella lettura.

I personaggi sono abbastanza stereotipati, proponendo un gruppo di avventurieri tipico delle narrazioni fantasy, con un guerriero, un berserker, un ladro, un mistico ed una figura misteriosa che si rivelerà essere centrale per la narrazione.

Purtroppo lo sviluppo della storia cede il passo ad una narrazione a tratti caotica, che a fine volume farà perdere un pochino di fascino alla storia stessa, che sembrerà quasi essere stata di riempitivo per via della sua breve durata. Anche l'approfondimento dei personaggi non è troppo sviluppato in questo primo volume, rivelandoli spesso saldi sul classicismo della "classe fantasy" che interpretano.

Vediamo come si svilupperà la storia in futuro, con il secondo volume, dato che questo primo volume potrebbe anche essere un perfetto albo autoconclusivo, visto lo sviluppo della sua storia.

[Himechidori mia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nel continente di Madaras sta per abbattersi una minaccia sovrannaturale, per sconfiggerla si crea una squadra di prigionieri sacrificabili per una missione suicida.

Reaver ha una trama abbastanza lineare e racchiude con se molti personaggi, molti nomi di cui io me ne ricordo la metà e cioè i personaggi principali e il truffatore, soprattutto il truffatore.

Un Fantasy che tende a cadere molto nello splatter, costituito da scene di violenza cruenta, lotte sanguinose e sangue presente nella maggior parte delle tavole.

Il gruppo suicida è composto da un bersenker, un truffatore, una selvaggia, un condottiero esk, un mago e la sua guardia. personaggi individualmente fatti molto bene e caratterizzati e disegnati alla stessa lunghezza d'onda. I dialoghi sono dei botta e risposta la maggior parte delle volte, alcune anche un po spinte. Non mi sono dispiaciuti del tutto ma mi hanno un pò spaccato a metà tra il mi piace e il non mi fa impazzire nel contesto. Ma vedendo i personaggi e i vari caratteri potrebbe anche starci.

Nonostante tutto questo è soltanto il primo volume e non voglio sbilanciarmi molto è l'apice di inizio di una storia dove i colpi di scena non mancano e mi sono anche piaciuti, sono sicura che il secondo volume me lo farà apprezzare molto di più.

[Theediscerning · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, this fantasy at least had a strong opening. It's kind of a D&D version of the Suicide Squad, as this callous bruiser, that brain fallen on hard times, that wastrel and the other type of criminal get banded together, with if you like a ticking time-bomb in their brains, to sort out why their paymasters are losing the war. It does come across at times like a whole list of different countries, peoples and attributes, but for such a disparate bunch – the waif who'd swallowed Harley Quinn's Guide to Make-Up, the berserker and so on – they seemed immediately worth spending time with. Until it got down to the nitty-gritty – and promptly fell apart into a melange of "what?" "who now?" "where'd she even come from?" and more. A fine premise, but a naff book. Two stars is a little generous.

[Alfredo Luna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man, sometimes I wish I weren't such a sucker for the Suicide Squad, dirty dozen type of story, mostly because they tend to be a bit edgier and more grim than my tastes enjoy, but it's just such a fun and satisfying frame! On top of that, Reaver is a fantasy heist that has a different approach to magic that I thought was pretty cool as well. I'm not sure that the story was able to cash in every check that it wrote, but it got close, and it had a twist that I really dug regarding the actual dynamic of an old wizard and his tough bodyguard.

I say this as a major compliment: this reminded me of Gail Simone's Secret Six.

I don't really know how compelled I am to go and read the second volume knowing that it didn't get carried for a longer story, but I will likely check it out eventually.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

LOTR meets Suicide Squad. That’s it, that’s the review.

In all seriousness, this was a fun story, a colourful cast of characters with some good world building. I only wish the ending stuck the landing because it felt so rushed. I had to go back and check I hadn’t skipped pages which is never a good sign. I really want to read the second volume when it releases later this year but I’m just hoping it’s a bit more LOTR and a little less suicide squad (in terms of quality!)

Also, Rekala is the star of the show here. By a mile.

[Niche · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark fantasy Dirty Dozen

A dark fantasy version of the Dirty Dozen with maybe a dash of the Lord of the Rings. I found the characters entertaining enough, but I really liked themes involving magic alot. There's a lot of fantasy that involves "magic ritual must be stopped" but I liked the idea of "the ritual must be stopped to avoid copycats." It sort of tied into magic being analogous to technology and industry in high fantasy settings but framed in the context of it being used exploitively.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Justin Jordan creates an interesting world of swords and magic with Reaver. There were quite a few twists although some were obvious. The book is bloody but fun. I wished there was more exposition as there was so much introduced. There were some great characters introduced here and I'm intrigued to see what happens to them. The art was okay but some panels felt very rushed. Overall, a good beginning to a series with a lot of potential.

[Paul Allard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nicely produced fantasy comic series

With a “Dirty Dozen” scenario, this fantasy series, although initially quite complicated, brings together an assortment of characters, presumably developed later on. The story moves along at a correct pace and the artwork is delightful, detailed with the right amount of colour. Enjoyable stuff.

[❀ iro ❀ · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5*
Unfortunately this was not for me. There was potential there, and the artwork was fine, but the world-building was confusing, and never properly explained and the story was kind of boring (I skimmed some parts because of this even though I didn't feel like I missed anything of substance). So disappointed.

[Will Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would say 3.5 stars because it's fun to see a rag tag group of essentially D&D characters do a Suicide Squad style quest, but it didn't seem as amazing as it could have been? I think the characters were interesting, but the bad guy they were after didn't seem scary or tough enough?

[Faby Farao · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nulla di epocale questo primo volume,ho voluto essere magnanina nella valutazione perché alla fine dei conti è stata una lettura piacevole con un buon finale che sovverte le certezze appena lette e lascia incuriositi per il proseguo.

[Graeme Strachan · Rating 2 out of 5]

An intensely mediocre grimdark fantasy twist on The Dirty Dozen, with lashings of Suicide Squad tossed in.

Predictable to a fault and the smatterings of interesting ideas are swallowed by rote character types and a lot of waffling dialogue.

Shan’t be reading further.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars.
Review Submitted to Diamond Bookshelf for possible publication.