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Warm Blood Vol. 1
The popular high-school mystery webcomic comes to print for the first time in this special edition from Buno. Join our hero Penny, a quiet girl who dreams of becoming a video game developer, as she navigates her first year at Greenwood High. There she must contend with a string of bizarre murders, potentially evil twins, rumors of shadow monsters, and a strange presence lurking just outside her window. Helping Penny through it all are her friends, including her anime loving best buds from elementary school, a 4th wall smashing girl she meets on her first day, and a sweet awkward girl eager to be her BFF, and who happens to be very handy with a baseball bat. Josh Tierney is the creator of the Eisner, Harvey, Shuster, and Diamond-Gem nominated “Spera” series of fantasy graphic novels and co-creator of the sci-fi mini-series Halo-Gen. His projects are created in collaboration with artists from around the world.Warm Blood includes work by Josh Tierney, Afu Chan, Saskia Gutenkunst, Joysuke, Winston Young, Naomi Franquiz, Marina Julia, Olivier Pichard, Jane Bak, Vlad Gusev, e jackson, Leiana Nitura, Blakely Inberg, Eva Eskelinen, F. Choo, Cleonique Hilsaca, Thomas Rouzière, Sandrine Han Jin Kuang, Mathilde Kitteh, Shanen Pae, Stephen Rodgers, Sara DuVall, Cat Sukiman, Xulia Vicente, Nuno Plati, Heikala, Crista Castro, Irma Kniivila, Stephanie Son,Cristina Rose Chua, María Ponce Esparcia, Kat Lyons, Gaby Epstein, and nims.
128 pages, Paperback
First published May 19, 2020
2 people are currently reading
61 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
June 11, 2021
I can't say that I understood what just happened here. I mean, I'm kind of used to strange storylines in the spirit of Welcome to Nightvale, but this seemed to go a step further, not really caring about the reader keeping up. Which, I know, can alienate some people, but intrigued me.
The main driving point was, obviously, the 30 different illustrators working on this book. And I gotta say, I fucking loved it. Every single art style was so unique in their aesthetic and I'm still baffled by the fact that the story was able to keep on flowing even though the style changed every three pages. Kudos to every single illustrator that contributed to this.
The main driving point was, obviously, the 30 different illustrators working on this book. And I gotta say, I fucking loved it. Every single art style was so unique in their aesthetic and I'm still baffled by the fact that the story was able to keep on flowing even though the style changed every three pages. Kudos to every single illustrator that contributed to this.
April 15, 2020
I was given an e-arc of this book by the publisher through Edelwiess+ to give an honest review.
Warm blood is an still ongoing high school mystery webcomic. Its written by JoshTierney and each scene or chapter is made by a different artist. The story is about a rather silent girl called Penny who decides not to go to an all girl high school with her friends but into a public school. This is to follow her dream as a game dev and she is hoping to find more gaming friends at this school.
She soon makes new friends at this school but there is also alot of weirdness going on. The first person we are introdued to a second year guy who admits he been killing a guy and he keeps on admitting he is the murder everyone is looking for. Yet no one seem to bat an eye about this. We also have a very overly happy girl who seem lesbian and want nothing but being in a relationship with Penny but its nothing thats ever spoken out load more than that she wants to be pennys BFF. We also have an alien mystery and a sleepover at halloween. It feels like a high school drama comic filled with mystery weirdness.
This webcomic have alot of very talented artists working on this and soemtimes it felt like a new comic when the style changed. It made it a bit choppy to read. But i do like that the art style could change the mood of what was happening too. The charecter design is made by Afu Chan so the charecter still look the same.
Something that bothered me for a long time until i just ”went with it” was that we never got an explanation to all the weird stuff. Why is there a giant shrimp in Pennys class that her friend is inlove with? Why is there a man made out of metal called metal head? Is this to show the difference between kids in a public school and a private school? Or is it a magic world? Or is this a world with mutants?
This bothered me so much that i couldnt think of the story the first time i read it. After i went back to it a second time I picked my own answeres to all my questions. And i could follow the story alot better. I dont think we should think to much about it, maybe its a story with questions that will drive us to read more to figure them out. I dont know but I do feel a huge want in reading volume 2 to see if it answeres my questions and if what i think is correct.
I would not suggest this as an easy read comic or even to someone who dont read much comic since before. It does need som kind of time to understand it fully. With that said its also filled with alot of nerdy content like Pokemon, Yuri on ice, manga/anime references as well as other comic references (batman etc). Just to name a few.
Warm blood is an still ongoing high school mystery webcomic. Its written by JoshTierney and each scene or chapter is made by a different artist. The story is about a rather silent girl called Penny who decides not to go to an all girl high school with her friends but into a public school. This is to follow her dream as a game dev and she is hoping to find more gaming friends at this school.
She soon makes new friends at this school but there is also alot of weirdness going on. The first person we are introdued to a second year guy who admits he been killing a guy and he keeps on admitting he is the murder everyone is looking for. Yet no one seem to bat an eye about this. We also have a very overly happy girl who seem lesbian and want nothing but being in a relationship with Penny but its nothing thats ever spoken out load more than that she wants to be pennys BFF. We also have an alien mystery and a sleepover at halloween. It feels like a high school drama comic filled with mystery weirdness.
This webcomic have alot of very talented artists working on this and soemtimes it felt like a new comic when the style changed. It made it a bit choppy to read. But i do like that the art style could change the mood of what was happening too. The charecter design is made by Afu Chan so the charecter still look the same.
Something that bothered me for a long time until i just ”went with it” was that we never got an explanation to all the weird stuff. Why is there a giant shrimp in Pennys class that her friend is inlove with? Why is there a man made out of metal called metal head? Is this to show the difference between kids in a public school and a private school? Or is it a magic world? Or is this a world with mutants?
This bothered me so much that i couldnt think of the story the first time i read it. After i went back to it a second time I picked my own answeres to all my questions. And i could follow the story alot better. I dont think we should think to much about it, maybe its a story with questions that will drive us to read more to figure them out. I dont know but I do feel a huge want in reading volume 2 to see if it answeres my questions and if what i think is correct.
I would not suggest this as an easy read comic or even to someone who dont read much comic since before. It does need som kind of time to understand it fully. With that said its also filled with alot of nerdy content like Pokemon, Yuri on ice, manga/anime references as well as other comic references (batman etc). Just to name a few.
January 4, 2020
I’m with you, so you don’t have to be afraid of the dark anymore.
I'm not sure what I was expecting with this but I've reached the end and I've yet to come to a concise thought or conclusion as to what I just read.
There's a lot going on in terms of plot and art and that could be a lot for some people but for me I loved it.
You flip a page and the characters and story stay the same but the lines blur and the art is a bit starker. There are dozens of artists working on this and their talent is tangible.
It flows so well and the story lines are intriguing. There are murders, creepy twins, and a haunted woman that creeps over a bed at night. Our protagonist is a young girl named Penny whose nose drips with blood constantly and who has a penchant for Pokemon and Yuri on Ice.
I did have some issues following the story at times and did wish they were more fleshed out but I did really enjoy this graphic novel and the characters. This was a fun, quirky, and dark read and I'm really excited for for 2nd volume already.
There's a lot of amazing talent being put to use here and it's such a delight to see.
Thanks very much to Edelweiss and the publisher for my advance copy. All opinions are my own.
For more of my reviews please check out my blog: aelilyreads.com
I'm not sure what I was expecting with this but I've reached the end and I've yet to come to a concise thought or conclusion as to what I just read.
There's a lot going on in terms of plot and art and that could be a lot for some people but for me I loved it.
You flip a page and the characters and story stay the same but the lines blur and the art is a bit starker. There are dozens of artists working on this and their talent is tangible.
It flows so well and the story lines are intriguing. There are murders, creepy twins, and a haunted woman that creeps over a bed at night. Our protagonist is a young girl named Penny whose nose drips with blood constantly and who has a penchant for Pokemon and Yuri on Ice.
I did have some issues following the story at times and did wish they were more fleshed out but I did really enjoy this graphic novel and the characters. This was a fun, quirky, and dark read and I'm really excited for for 2nd volume already.
There's a lot of amazing talent being put to use here and it's such a delight to see.
Thanks very much to Edelweiss and the publisher for my advance copy. All opinions are my own.
For more of my reviews please check out my blog: aelilyreads.com
October 13, 2020
Collecting the first five chapters of the webcomic, Warm Blood is a brilliant high school mystery story and a lucid dream experiment all in one. Aiding writer Josh Tierney (Spera) on this is 30+ illustrators as each chapter is split up into different segments, heightening the strange dream logic as every few pages flows into a different style while impressively maintaining a strong sense of cohesion.
Read my entire review at:
https://www.trustyhenchman.com/post/r...
Read my entire review at:
https://www.trustyhenchman.com/post/r...
February 27, 2021
Am I the only one that shipped Eve and Penny the entire time? Eve is clearly in love with Penny, you cannot tell me otherwise. Some artwork in this was a hit or miss for me. I liked the satire and the characters. I hope the rest of the story gets published so I can buy it.
May 30, 2024
I just grabbed this on a whim when I was picking up some things from the library and was pleasantly surprised at how it drew me in. I love the whole breaking the fourth wall and the killer confessing on literally the second page. Yet life goes on normally and people keep wondering who's doing the murdering. We don't ever actually see him commit said murders although we see the evidence afterwards. There's a lot of hints being dropped, a lot of strong stylistic choices for the narrative being made right in the beginning that really draws you in and has you wondering what the hell is going on.
The worldbuilding was interesting yet somehow not overly confusing, at least for me. The style just worked and it was quirky but also very grounded in some moments with relatable emotions. There are a lot of scenes that just play out like a normal high school contemporary story and it gives the story a lot of balance. The character were well written with nuance and their relationships felt realistic and believable. I was surprised that switching art styles every few pages wouldn't disrupt the experience.
I didn't realize that this was not a complete work, though, so nothing got resolved at the end of the physical volume I had. It's apparently originally a webtoon and is available online and finished. I do want to keep reading but it's hard for me to fully rate this first part because I do have a suspicion on where a storyline is going and if it ends a certain way I might take issue with it so for now I'm just giving it an average rating until I see where things go.
The worldbuilding was interesting yet somehow not overly confusing, at least for me. The style just worked and it was quirky but also very grounded in some moments with relatable emotions. There are a lot of scenes that just play out like a normal high school contemporary story and it gives the story a lot of balance. The character were well written with nuance and their relationships felt realistic and believable. I was surprised that switching art styles every few pages wouldn't disrupt the experience.
I didn't realize that this was not a complete work, though, so nothing got resolved at the end of the physical volume I had. It's apparently originally a webtoon and is available online and finished. I do want to keep reading but it's hard for me to fully rate this first part because I do have a suspicion on where a storyline is going and if it ends a certain way I might take issue with it so for now I'm just giving it an average rating until I see where things go.
May 19, 2025
Stranger Things vibes with our FMC getting nose bleeds, monsters, and teenage drama. The two FMC claim to be just friends but they take each other to the dance at the end of the book.
What’s really intriguing, and honestly kind of confusing, about this graphic novel is how the art style changes every few pages. That part really blew me away by how it flips between styles—makes it fun to look at but hurt my brain a little!! 😅 The front says that this book was illustrated by over 30 different illustrators!
What’s really intriguing, and honestly kind of confusing, about this graphic novel is how the art style changes every few pages. That part really blew me away by how it flips between styles—makes it fun to look at but hurt my brain a little!! 😅 The front says that this book was illustrated by over 30 different illustrators!
November 6, 2021
I’m not really sure what I read. Everything about this volume was disjointed from the drawings to the events unfolding on the page. There’s murder, aliens, and coming-of-age scenes, but nothing really makes any sense. I suppose there might be more of an explanation in the next volume but I don’t think I’ll ever pick it up.
March 4, 2025
I like the diff art styles and crazy story that doesn't make a lot of sense. Love a high school graphic novel haha
January 9, 2020
Thank you to Edelweiss for the ARC. The opinions herein are mine alone and may not reflect the views of the author, publisher, or distributor.
I anticipated not liking this.
I anticipated incorrectly.
The cover gives me the impression of a Scooby-Doo-esque mystery involving actual paranormal elements, and not just men in masks. Oh, how very wrong I was, and how very glad I ended up backtracking!
Warm Blood follows young Penny as she enters a specialized high school where she can start on her game design ambitions, and boy, is it weird. One student is a literal shrimp, one has a metal face (and his name is Metal Face), and one frequently shows up with blood on his hands and feet. Bare feet. In winter. Everyone is okay with these facts, and it is my specific flavor of surreal. Yes, there is a murder mystery, but it doesn't resolve in the first volume here. Which I thought lends to building more of the characters and story rather than just giving us a "monster of the week" kind of deal.
Penny herself is a normal thirteen-year-old with Pikachu stuffies and a Pokemon obsession, much like myself even now as I near my thirties. Her slumber parties and devoted friends really threw me back into my school days, and while all the bizarre events unfolded, I found a warm and comfy place to feel bittersweet and nostalgic. I've never felt that while reading a graphic novel before. Midnight whispering, playing Pokemon until the wee hours, watching horror movies...oh, man. That was me to a T.
I absolutely loved the positive female friendships for Penny, too. So often in books and media we see girls who are catty to each other for no reason, or over a boy, or because of the wrong clothes. We need less toxicity, especially in times like these. Penny got that, and it warmed my little heart.
Like I said, the mystery doesn't resolve in this volume, but that's okay. We get some hints as to what's happening, and we still have questions left to explore. Makes me want the second volume even more now.
Overall, not only will this be going on the stacks at work, but it will be going into my personal library as well.
I anticipated not liking this.
I anticipated incorrectly.
The cover gives me the impression of a Scooby-Doo-esque mystery involving actual paranormal elements, and not just men in masks. Oh, how very wrong I was, and how very glad I ended up backtracking!
Warm Blood follows young Penny as she enters a specialized high school where she can start on her game design ambitions, and boy, is it weird. One student is a literal shrimp, one has a metal face (and his name is Metal Face), and one frequently shows up with blood on his hands and feet. Bare feet. In winter. Everyone is okay with these facts, and it is my specific flavor of surreal. Yes, there is a murder mystery, but it doesn't resolve in the first volume here. Which I thought lends to building more of the characters and story rather than just giving us a "monster of the week" kind of deal.
Penny herself is a normal thirteen-year-old with Pikachu stuffies and a Pokemon obsession, much like myself even now as I near my thirties. Her slumber parties and devoted friends really threw me back into my school days, and while all the bizarre events unfolded, I found a warm and comfy place to feel bittersweet and nostalgic. I've never felt that while reading a graphic novel before. Midnight whispering, playing Pokemon until the wee hours, watching horror movies...oh, man. That was me to a T.
I absolutely loved the positive female friendships for Penny, too. So often in books and media we see girls who are catty to each other for no reason, or over a boy, or because of the wrong clothes. We need less toxicity, especially in times like these. Penny got that, and it warmed my little heart.
Like I said, the mystery doesn't resolve in this volume, but that's okay. We get some hints as to what's happening, and we still have questions left to explore. Makes me want the second volume even more now.
Overall, not only will this be going on the stacks at work, but it will be going into my personal library as well.
May 3, 2020
This book is definitely for the fans of the web comic, so if your students/patrons are not specifically looking for this title, go ahead and skip it.
Warm blood follows Penny, a first year student at Greenwood High who wants to become a video game designer. She befriends a few classmates and seems to be privy to insider info on the weird happenings at her public school - most notably of which is a murderer on the loose. No one else seems to be that put-off by the murders that happen at this school. Likewise, Penny tries not to make a big deal out of the fact that she sees weird things at night, like footprints she didn't make, or strange figures outside her window or in her own bedroom. Rather, her days are more consumed with appeasing her friends, such as Eve who has a crush on her, or her two friends from elementary school who now attend an all-girls private school.
Tierney has each different scene illustrated by a different artist, and this jars the reader at the beginning of the book until some visual cues are standardized across artists, and readers can pick up on who is who in the story. The choppiness of the narration seems unnecessary, as well as the amount of narrative holes. Why is Penny the only one who can see certain things? even though she's having a slumber party of many other girls? Why is Penny unfazed by the boy who continues to confess to the murders of their classmates? These questions may be answered in the web side of this webcomic, or they may not. Regardless, they are distracting and detract from the storyline that could otherwise be really sweet. This coming-of-age novel lacks in the expository elements that help readers care what happens when aliens show up or supernatural forces threaten the group of friends.
The publisher rating is 13 , which seems to adequately describe the appropriateness of this title. There is blood, as you can guess from the cover image.
Sara's Rating: 5/10
Suitability level: Grades 7-12
This review was made possible with an advanced reader copy from the publisher through Edelweiss.
Read more graphic novel reviews at www.graphiclibrary.org.
Warm blood follows Penny, a first year student at Greenwood High who wants to become a video game designer. She befriends a few classmates and seems to be privy to insider info on the weird happenings at her public school - most notably of which is a murderer on the loose. No one else seems to be that put-off by the murders that happen at this school. Likewise, Penny tries not to make a big deal out of the fact that she sees weird things at night, like footprints she didn't make, or strange figures outside her window or in her own bedroom. Rather, her days are more consumed with appeasing her friends, such as Eve who has a crush on her, or her two friends from elementary school who now attend an all-girls private school.
Tierney has each different scene illustrated by a different artist, and this jars the reader at the beginning of the book until some visual cues are standardized across artists, and readers can pick up on who is who in the story. The choppiness of the narration seems unnecessary, as well as the amount of narrative holes. Why is Penny the only one who can see certain things? even though she's having a slumber party of many other girls? Why is Penny unfazed by the boy who continues to confess to the murders of their classmates? These questions may be answered in the web side of this webcomic, or they may not. Regardless, they are distracting and detract from the storyline that could otherwise be really sweet. This coming-of-age novel lacks in the expository elements that help readers care what happens when aliens show up or supernatural forces threaten the group of friends.
The publisher rating is 13 , which seems to adequately describe the appropriateness of this title. There is blood, as you can guess from the cover image.
Sara's Rating: 5/10
Suitability level: Grades 7-12
This review was made possible with an advanced reader copy from the publisher through Edelweiss.
Read more graphic novel reviews at www.graphiclibrary.org.
September 21, 2021
The art was pretty neat, but I didn't understand the plot at all, and not in an enjoyable way. Maybe something is lost in the translation from webcomic to print.
August 18, 2020
I'm assuming this was suppose to be some kind of satire but the story was just confusing. It felt like some kind of joke I wasnt in on. Everyone is looking for a killer all the while this one boy straight out keeps admitting to being the killer and no one pays attention to him. Then theres something about smoking blood and shadow monsters being afraid of legs and one character pointing out she has legs like that's not obvious. The change in art style and the time jumps made it feel jumbled. There was no real sense of continuity and I think the narrator even switches at some point. We get introduced to so many people without really getting to know any of them. This just wasnt at all what I was expecting.
July 29, 2022
Definitely for fans of Meta-Fiction
While I think this comic is a love letter to all us art nerds and creatives alike I do think there are flaws in the writing and plot that lend to making this a somewhat forgettable read
While I think this comic is a love letter to all us art nerds and creatives alike I do think there are flaws in the writing and plot that lend to making this a somewhat forgettable read
December 22, 2019
I would like to thank Edelweiss and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. I hadn't heard about this graphic novel before and the premise of it sounded interesting. The story line kept my interest and I liked the fact that there was different illustrators so each section was drawn differently which made it seem fresh each time reading it. I will be interesting in reading volume 2.
February 22, 2020
Arc was provided by Edelweiss + in exchange for an honest review.
I'm not quite sure what I just read. There's murder but also an alien and a shrimp goes to school with a bunch of human's, a murderer and a guy with a metal face. Overall I enjoyed it, however the various art styles threw me off. I understand it started as a webcomic but most webcomics are redrawn when published. I would have loved one consistent art style. Some of the art was beautiful and some was not so great.
I'm not quite sure what I just read. There's murder but also an alien and a shrimp goes to school with a bunch of human's, a murderer and a guy with a metal face. Overall I enjoyed it, however the various art styles threw me off. I understand it started as a webcomic but most webcomics are redrawn when published. I would have loved one consistent art style. Some of the art was beautiful and some was not so great.
September 9, 2021
This feels very purposefully disjointed and weird, and the characters are hard to relate to, but damn I still went and read everything on webtoons in one day desperate to find some coherence and enamored with the art. The coherence never came, but the art was always spectacular.
February 10, 2021
I have a hard time figuring out how I feel about this book because the story it sets up seems interesting, but it felt like it didn't really go anywhere? I feel like maybe the transition from web comic to physical comic wasn't entirely kind, and maybe I would have had a better time if I'd read this every week online, rather than all at once in book form.
August 9, 2020
I love that this comic features so many different artist and I'm definitely going to be keeping an eye out for a couple. But I found the story odd and it didn't grab my attention. Likely won't be continuing with the series.
September 4, 2020
I follow the story on Webtoon (a webcomic app) and was really excited to find that a book was published! The concept with multiple illustrators is really engaging, the story is satisfyingly bizarre. Definitely worth a read.
Want to read
February 1, 2020Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.
February 24, 2020
Read an e-arc.
May 20, 2020
I've followed the webcomic for a long time and I'm a fan, but I just wish I understood even a quarter of the story.
June 2, 2020
Unsettling and intriguing.
October 25, 2020
Odd collection of stories connected in a girl called Penny life. Bizarre events. The art is the draw. Over 30 illustrators unique styles punctuate the story.
April 18, 2021
I found the story a bit disjointed and hard to follow in parts. Saying that I loved the humour. I laughed out loud a number of times with it's quirkiness. Definitely would appeal more to older teens.
June 29, 2021
2.5/5*
August 30, 2021
Just really strange and confusing. I couldn't find my footing of what was supposed to be a joke (to myself or the characters) and what was serious, and nothing was made any clearer by the end.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews