Folklords

Folklords #1-5

by Matt Kindt, Matt Smith (Illustrations)

WHERE DO YOU BELONG?

In a world of magic and monsters, Ansel is an outsider haunted by visions of well-pressed suits and modern technology. When it comes time for him to declare his Quest, Ansel decides to seek out the mysterious Folklords, hoping they can explain his visions...but looking for the Folklords is strictly forbidden, punishable by death. How much is Ansel willing to risk to find out about the world he has never truly belonged in?

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fantasy, Young Adult, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published July 14, 2020

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first 4 issues are really strong. Ansel lives in a fantasy world, heading out on his quest when he turns 18. He dreams of modern technology crafting things like a zippo lighter in a medieval, folktale world. I'm not sure Kindt stuck the landing with the ending though. I was left confused. Hopefully that will get cleared up in a sequel series.

[Tiag⊗ the Mutant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nooooo!!! I want more of this, really, I NEED more of this, Matt Kindt, tell me you have plans for more volumes, this story was really imaginitive and needs to be expanded and concluded, just pick it up and read it, trust me, the less you know the better, recommended to all comicbook fans.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moving a bit slowly, but an interesting concept.

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

Total review score: 3.1

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a coming-of-age quest in a sinister storybook fantasy world. References to The Lord of the Rings, On the Road, the works of Edgar Allan Poe, and the tale of Hansel and Gretel get hashed up into a fairly standard hero's journey. It reminded me of Vertigo's Fables and The Unwritten. I liked the characters and the way the plot unfurled.

It's an enticing opening chapter, especially given the set-up at the end, but three years later I don't see any info that a continuation is coming anytime soon or at all.

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 3 out of 5]

So Matt Kindt seems to be in his "meta" phase - this has the same themes as his recent Dark Horse project Bang!.

It all moves at a nice clip, there are few answers, and a lot of setup for a second arc.

I liked the art a lot.

[♠ TABI⁷ ♠ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know if this will continue or stay with that really, really open ending . . . but it was fun! Not the greatest nor the most clear story, but the artwork was nice (yep I'm easy to please when it comes to art) and the character variations and slight fairytale twists were entertaining to see and read.

[Mitticus · Rating 3 out of 5]

En un mundo de fantasia, cuando llega a la edad de madurez es hora de hacer una Busqueda. En el caso de Ansel, sus sueños le hablan de un mundo extraño, moderno con máquinas que le llaman la atención.

Su Busqueda le traerá problemas. Vetos , peligros y ¿qué son los Bibliotecarios?

#1 ★★★★
#2 ★★★
#3 ★★★1/2
#4 ★★★
#5 ★★

Empezo de bien a mal. Igual le daré una oportunidad a la continuacion del segte arco argumental con la intriduccion de un nuevo personaje.

Ansel mejor que se avive
Me gusta Ugly
Archer me parece que es un traidor a lo Wormtail.
La chica... nada :/

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strong start with confusing ending.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this weird mash up of fairytales and folklore and can't wait to see where it goes. Great art and a story that reminds me of Jim Henson's Storyteller. Particularly, my favorite episode, A Story Short, in which the storyteller becomes part of the story. Great fun

[RG · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5* damn that last issue just made it confusing. Otherwise this would have been perfect. I hope they continue this series but atm i guess it was the 5 issues only

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of half-baked and there doesn't seem to be more to this than the five issues collected here. The darn quest was just getting started. The art's not bad...

[Gabriell Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Velmi povedena jednohubka, s velmi prijemnou kresbou, zajimavymi postavami a necekanym twistem. A jakkoliv to muze znit divne, tak ctvrtou hvezdu tomu nedam, dokud se neukaze, ze to bude mit pokracovani, protoze to cele obrovsky pusobi jako rozjezdovy dil a bez dalsich sesitu, kde se clovek docka nejakych vysvetleni tohle spada do ranku veci, ktere funguji ciste samoucelne a neobtezuji se domyslenim.
Pokud je to bez legrace ciste jenom tech 5 sesitu, tak tu mame velmi silny rozjezd a velmi urychleny konec a milion a jednu nezodpovezenou otazku. A to ne vzdy zachrani kvalitni kresba, postavy a napady.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars. I wanted to read this ever since issue #1 dropped. This was the first series I forced myself to wait for the trade. Man this was so good. It’s about a teenage boy, Ansel, from this quiet town with elves, gnomes and trolls. All the kids choose a quest to go on when they turn 18. The quest Ansel wants to do however is forbidden. He also has these visions of what is described as sounding like our world. What Matt Kindt does with that idea hooked me right in. The things that were explored and laid out for future volumes has me very interested. Loved all the other characters in the book as well. Ugly, Sal, Dee, they were all well done. Plus loved Matt Smiths art. Really hope the next arc comes out.

[Valéria. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Výborný nápad ale bohužiaľ neskutočne a zbytočne uponáhlané. Skvelý svet, ktorému mohli dať naozaj viac priestoru kľudne na dva-tri booky a nie ho len tak predstaviť a v poslednom čísle to celé zaraziť. Celé to posledné číslo bolo mätúce a zbytočne rýchle.. ale kresba tomu neskutočne pomohla a ako celok je to naozaj skvelá jednohubka. 4/5

[Anoja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this!! Such a cool concept and I’m obsessed with it! I love the idea that the fantasy world in this story is the “real world” and our actual real world is this magical place that Ansel has visions of. Really hoping that there are more volumes to come!!

[Reza Qalandari · Rating 4 out of 5]

به‌شکل عجیبی خوب بود :)))
امیدوارم ادامه پیدا کنه.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Folklords, by Matt Kindt, is an interesting graphic novel about a young boy, Ansel, living in a fantasy world of gnomes, trolls, elves and magic. He dreams of glittering cities, planes, watches and zippo lighters, and tries to create these fantastical gadgets in his world. He also dreams of the Folklords, mysterious beings who may be able to jump dimensions. When, during the quest ceremony his village holds for those coming of age, Folklords are mentioned, the Librarian's burst in and silence the meeting for its heresy. Intrigued, Ansel sets off on a quest to find the folklords, combat the tyrannical Librarian's, and maybe glimpse the beautiful world he dreams of.

This was, in a sense, a meta-story about literature. It had beautiful illustrations, and a rather interesting story. The events in the events in the book were not "incredible," but I did have fun reading through this volume, and would definitely continue the series when/if volume 2 is published. Well done, and interesting, although not perfect.

[ScottIsANerd (GrilledCheeseSamurai) · Rating 3 out of 5]

If the ending didn't feel so rushed I would probably bump this up to a 4 star. 🤷‍♂️

There was some cool art...the story was entertaining enough...I just feel like we needed another issue or two. Maybe there will be more? I don't think anything has been announced though which just kinda makes me feel, meh, about it all.

[Kadi P]

This sounds awesome! But, ugh, Hoopla doesn’t have the collected edition, it only has separate issues... guess I’ll just have to wait for it to be updated!

[Aylin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Folklords; renkli ve ilgi çekici görselleri, zengin fantastik unsurları, masal dünyasına ait öğeleri farklı bir bakış açısı ile ele alan hikayesi ile eğlenceli ve keyifli bir grafik romandı. Farklı dünyalara dair görüler, cüceler, elfler ve troller gibi farklı ırklar, yetişkinliğe geçen bireyin aldığı görevler gibi fantastik dünyalarda geçen öğelerin,eğlenceli bir kurgu çerçevesinde işlendiği dikkat çekiyor.

Ansel; cüceler, troller, elfler ve insanların birlikte uyum içinde yaşadığı Köy'de kıyafetleri ve icatları ile dikkat çeken bir gençtir. Bu Köy'de 18 yaşına gelen bireyler kendilerine bir görev seçerek dünyayı keşfetmek için yola çıkarlar. Ansel uzun süredir kendi görevini bilmektedir. Uzun süredir farklı bir dünyaya ait olduğunu düşündüğü görüleri sebebi ile, bu konuda bilgi alabileceği Folklordları aramak istemektedir. Ancak Kütüphaneciler Loncası olarak bilinen ve Köy'ü yöneten gizemli bir grup bu arayışın yasak olduğu gerekçesiyle görevleri durdurur. Ansel pes etmez ve Elf arkadaşı Archer ile yola çıkar. Bu macera tehlikeli düşmanlar ile karşılaşmasına ve yeni dostlar edinmesine sebep olacaktır.

Hikayede geçen isimleri ile Hanz ve Greta ve şekerden yapılmış kulübe, takım elbise giyen ve kendi köyüne uymayan, teknolojik keşifleri ile çevresini şaşırtan Ansel, eski bir kütüphaneci ve yeni savaşçı olan Sal ve insanlardan kendini izole eden Çirkin gibi karakterleri ve keyifli görselleri ile bir oturuşta biten keyif aldığım bir çizgiroman oldu. 5 kitaptan olsa da şuan devam kitapları bulunmuyor.Ancak fantastik bir evrene keyifli bir bakış sağlaması açısından iyi ki okudum dediğim grafik romanlar içinde yerini aldı.

[Colleen Earle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting graphic novel.
Really enjoyed the nods to various stories.
Would love to see a second volume

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable reversal of common tropes.

[Lucas Lima · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, this is a confusing story, with something that you're expecting turning out in something that you kind of was expecting as well. But i freaking love it.

On this one, we got a boy named Ansel, living in a fantasy world, with magic and monsters. But he wears a suit, has some weird gadgets, as a fire lighter and a watch. And he have dreams about buildings, cellphones and podcasts (yeah, i'm overreacting here). And, for his young quest, he's going to find the so called Folklords for answers about it.

I know Matt Kindt is a very well established writer on the business, but this is my first contact with his work. I'm a fantasy fan, and this plot instantly hooked me. And it's very interesting. We got plots under subplots, and the ending was very cool. It's a story for all the nerds out there who used to (or still) dream about living this kind of adventure. But it has his kind of protest about it, with these Librarians being a group that would make George Orwell very upset.

The art by Matt Smith is very good, very cartoonish, simple and clean, but very pretty.

Anyway, i just loved this book and Matt Kindt will be a writer on my list. Really recomend this.

[Audrey (Warped Shelves) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit short and somewhat uneventful, nevertheless I enjoyed Folklords for what it is--a unique, snappy questing tale. I liked the characters and their different personal goals, especially how these goals intertwine with one another's. More than anything I adore the art--the colors, especially.

I am a little bummed that this is the end of the story for now. Hopefully, when more volumes are released, I'll still be interested in continuing this series. We'll see. Overall a fun time-killer of a graphic novel.

[Ondra Král · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cítím se lehce podveden. Čekal jsem uzavřený příběh, přitom to jasně směřuje k pokračování a celá řada otázek zůstává nezodpovězena (třeba postava Archera v kontextu jen téhle knihy nefunguje). První 3 sešity jsem si hodně užíval, meta rovina (bez uspokojivých odpovědí) mě ale moc nebrala. Kresba je super.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sí el món real fos el dels éssers fantàstics i el món imaginari el nostre, que passaria?
Més que recomanable proposta fantàstica. Un gir constant als contes tradicionals molt ben narrat i amb un dibuix que li escau d'allò més.
No el deixeu escapar.

[The Wintermute System · Rating 2 out of 5]

That ending wrapped nothing up, very unsatisfying…

[Vail Chester · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intriguing concept and I love that the main character is a little weirdo who knows more about modern doodads & gizmos than actual medieval questing. Militant librarians as a way to control a populace & their knowledge is very ANTI-Librarian's Creed, but that's what makes them such compelling antagonists.
The ending tho?
What ending!?!
It looks like we were shaping things up to be slightly like "the Unwritten" series, with writers shaping a reality beyond what's put on page, but then it just...stops.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty basic fare. A lot of clichés and the art goes back and forth between good and not weirdly enough. Also, I'm not sure if the cliffhanger ending was intentional or it got canned, but the ending as it stands is very unsatisfying and makes it read like an unfinished book.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://youtu.be/AP9K4Y_lhM0