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Adventuregame Comics
Adventuregame Comics: Leviathan (Book 1): An Interactive Graphic Novel
Make choices to defeat a mysterious sea monster in the first of a new series of innovative, interactive graphic novels from the award-winning creator of MeanwhileAdventuregame Comics is a new series of interactive graphic novels in the vein of Jason Shiga's hit graphic novel Meanwhile. Readers follow the story from panel to panel using tubes that connect them, and sometimes the path will split, giving readers the chance to choose how the story unfolds.
Leviathan is set in a medieval coastal village, where residents live in fear of a giant sea creature. Your goal as a reader is simple: defeat the Leviathan! As you wander through the open world, the town's backstory is revealed. You can attempt to visit the library to try and learn why the Leviathan destroyed it years ago. You can stop by the castle to discover the town was once riddled with crime and theft—and how that’s stopped as the Leviathan will wreak havoc on the town for the smallest misdeeds. If you’re lucky, you may find your way to the old wizard who may possess the one thing that could keep the Leviathan at bay. But not everything is as it appears in this village. Can you discover the secrets and stop the Leviathan before it’s too late?
Leviathan is set in a medieval coastal village, where residents live in fear of a giant sea creature. Your goal as a reader is simple: defeat the Leviathan! As you wander through the open world, the town's backstory is revealed. You can attempt to visit the library to try and learn why the Leviathan destroyed it years ago. You can stop by the castle to discover the town was once riddled with crime and theft—and how that’s stopped as the Leviathan will wreak havoc on the town for the smallest misdeeds. If you’re lucky, you may find your way to the old wizard who may possess the one thing that could keep the Leviathan at bay. But not everything is as it appears in this village. Can you discover the secrets and stop the Leviathan before it’s too late?
144 pages, Hardcover
First published September 13, 2022
12 people are currently reading
180 people want to read
About the author
Jason Shiga
21 books157 followersJason Shiga is an award-winning Asian American cartoonist from Oakland, California. Mr. Shiga's comics are known for their intricate, often "interactive" plots and occasionally random, unexpected violence. A mathematics major from the University of California at Berkeley, Mr. Shiga shares his love of logic and problem solving with his readers through puzzles, mysteries and unconventional narrative techniques.
Jason Shiga's life has been shrouded in mystery and speculation. According to his book jacket, he was a reclusive math genius who had died on the verge of his greatest discovery in June 1967. However, upon winning a 2003 Eisner award for talent deserving of wider recognition, a man claiming to be Jason Shiga appeared in front of an audience alive and well only to tell them that he had been living on an island in the South China Seas for the past 40 years. The man who accepted his award was Chris Brandt (also known as F.C. Brandt), who had disguised himself as Jason Shiga, and accepted the award at the behest of Jason's publisher (Dylan Williams of Sparkplug Comic Books) and Jason himself.
At the age of 12, Shiga was the 7th highest ranked child go player in Oakland.[citation needed]
Jason Shiga makes a cameo appearance in the Derek Kirk Kim comic, "Ungrateful Appreciation" as a Rubik's Cube-solving nerd. Shiga is credited as the "Maze Specialist" for Issue 18 (Winter 2005/2006) of the literary journal McSweeney's Quarterly, which features a solved maze on the front cover and a (slightly different) unsolved maze on the back. The title page of each story in the journal is headed by a maze segment labeled with numbers leading to the first pages of other stories.
Jason Shiga's father, Seiji Shiga, was an animator who worked on the 1964 Rankin-Bass production Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Jason Shiga's life has been shrouded in mystery and speculation. According to his book jacket, he was a reclusive math genius who had died on the verge of his greatest discovery in June 1967. However, upon winning a 2003 Eisner award for talent deserving of wider recognition, a man claiming to be Jason Shiga appeared in front of an audience alive and well only to tell them that he had been living on an island in the South China Seas for the past 40 years. The man who accepted his award was Chris Brandt (also known as F.C. Brandt), who had disguised himself as Jason Shiga, and accepted the award at the behest of Jason's publisher (Dylan Williams of Sparkplug Comic Books) and Jason himself.
At the age of 12, Shiga was the 7th highest ranked child go player in Oakland.[citation needed]
Jason Shiga makes a cameo appearance in the Derek Kirk Kim comic, "Ungrateful Appreciation" as a Rubik's Cube-solving nerd. Shiga is credited as the "Maze Specialist" for Issue 18 (Winter 2005/2006) of the literary journal McSweeney's Quarterly, which features a solved maze on the front cover and a (slightly different) unsolved maze on the back. The title page of each story in the journal is headed by a maze segment labeled with numbers leading to the first pages of other stories.
Jason Shiga's father, Seiji Shiga, was an animator who worked on the 1964 Rankin-Bass production Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews
October 16, 2022
A small fishing village is terrorised by a Lovecraftian sea monster called Leviathan. A mysterious stranger offers a young adventurer a fortune if they can bring back the Starlight Wand that controls the creature - will you accept the challenge?
Jason Shiga’s latest comic is similar to his previous one, Meanwhile…, in that Leviathan is also a choose-your-own-adventure-style comic. And, like Meanwhile…, Leviathan’s not bad.
By far the most impressive thing about the comic is that Shiga has replicated the feel of playing a point-and-click video game in comic format. The novelty is fun, flicking back and forth between pages to find the next panel/sequence as you realise your choices do affect the story, particularly the ones that rely on you figuring out a number puzzle to progress to the next panel (or you could cheat and flick through the pages until you find what looks like the right one). The technical brilliance is amazing.
The story though is slight and not that compelling. Some threads deadend to nowhere (the island part) and the ending is limited and underwhelming. At under 140 pages, it’s an all-too-brief experience and, as undeniably creative an undertaking it is, I’m more of a fan of Shiga’s traditionally linear comics rather than his game comics, and I would’ve preferred something like Demon or Empire State instead of this.
Still, if you’re a Jason Shiga fan like me, Leviathan’s worth a look and it’s pretty fun - just don’t expect anything too substantial, original or memorable. It shows you that comics have range as well even if that versatility feels like a storyboard for a game in development.
Jason Shiga’s latest comic is similar to his previous one, Meanwhile…, in that Leviathan is also a choose-your-own-adventure-style comic. And, like Meanwhile…, Leviathan’s not bad.
By far the most impressive thing about the comic is that Shiga has replicated the feel of playing a point-and-click video game in comic format. The novelty is fun, flicking back and forth between pages to find the next panel/sequence as you realise your choices do affect the story, particularly the ones that rely on you figuring out a number puzzle to progress to the next panel (or you could cheat and flick through the pages until you find what looks like the right one). The technical brilliance is amazing.
The story though is slight and not that compelling. Some threads deadend to nowhere (the island part) and the ending is limited and underwhelming. At under 140 pages, it’s an all-too-brief experience and, as undeniably creative an undertaking it is, I’m more of a fan of Shiga’s traditionally linear comics rather than his game comics, and I would’ve preferred something like Demon or Empire State instead of this.
Still, if you’re a Jason Shiga fan like me, Leviathan’s worth a look and it’s pretty fun - just don’t expect anything too substantial, original or memorable. It shows you that comics have range as well even if that versatility feels like a storyboard for a game in development.
September 13, 2022
A fun and humorous choose your own path adventure in graphic format. Older elementary and middle school readers will fall in love with the endless possibilities of Jason Shiga's Leviathan. And I do mean endless. On first read, I wound up in an infinite cycle of swimming aimlessly. It took me lots of page flipping to figure out I was stuck swimming and washing ashore forever!
September 13, 2022
real fun. when they make the video game i cant wait to say, “i liked the book better”
September 25, 2022
Leviathan is a quick adventure into a light fantasy world that has a uniquely pointed message.
You get a quest, explore, and try to stop the bad guy by gathering a magic wand. If that sounds like a game plot, well the comparisons don't end there. When you leave locations you have a classic role playing game top down view which allows you to choose where to go next, where you can solve math and logic puzzles. But there is more to the world than it first seems.
Reviewing this from the lens of the intended audience of grades 3 - 7, I think it would be fun and empowering. While the message may be a bit heavy for the lower grades, I believe it would start important conversations.
Where this differs from many other of Shiga's past work, and many in the interactive comics space, is the format. Not only the use of tubes, but the fill in the blank page numbers, and the day/night state cycle puzzle. Elements like this have been seen before (Virtual Reality Gamebooks for example), but are still relatively unknown to most. The implementation of both here have a direct purpose, which when it all comes together is delightful.
Jason Shiga's interactive comics are often so highly focused on format that they lose momentum in their storytelling. While this book adds new mechanics, it also avoids plot for greater meaning. The tale of the protagonist is not more than the single sentence paragraph above. What makes this memorable is that the inspiration (Hobbes' Leviathan) mixed with the intended audience of grades 3 - 7. It is saying something big to someone tiny, in a way that I think could stick.
The only downside is that this book has is that the choices are to move or talk throughout. As the interactive comics genre has expanded by leaps and bounds in the past five years, it feels oddly stiff and lacking whimsy of his earlier titles. There is less choice here, less plot here, less character, than compared to any other series, especially ones for kids. While I understand why (this is 116 pages!) the end result is an on-rails experience that only gets off rails to solve one of four puzzles. It is lovely, but there is no replayability once read. That may be a challenge compared to other children's titles which have found clever ways to use the visual nature of these interactive comic books to make reengaging in these stories to make fresh choices or explore new areas even more fun.
This is the first book in a series and this is a bold, engaging start. Here's hoping the mention of Sugarcane Island within brings this series the same luck as the previous series who used that as their original first title: Choose Your Own Adventure. I'm excited to see where this series goes next!
You get a quest, explore, and try to stop the bad guy by gathering a magic wand. If that sounds like a game plot, well the comparisons don't end there. When you leave locations you have a classic role playing game top down view which allows you to choose where to go next, where you can solve math and logic puzzles. But there is more to the world than it first seems.
Reviewing this from the lens of the intended audience of grades 3 - 7, I think it would be fun and empowering. While the message may be a bit heavy for the lower grades, I believe it would start important conversations.
Where this differs from many other of Shiga's past work, and many in the interactive comics space, is the format. Not only the use of tubes, but the fill in the blank page numbers, and the day/night state cycle puzzle. Elements like this have been seen before (Virtual Reality Gamebooks for example), but are still relatively unknown to most. The implementation of both here have a direct purpose, which when it all comes together is delightful.
Jason Shiga's interactive comics are often so highly focused on format that they lose momentum in their storytelling. While this book adds new mechanics, it also avoids plot for greater meaning. The tale of the protagonist is not more than the single sentence paragraph above. What makes this memorable is that the inspiration (Hobbes' Leviathan) mixed with the intended audience of grades 3 - 7. It is saying something big to someone tiny, in a way that I think could stick.
The only downside is that this book has is that the choices are to move or talk throughout. As the interactive comics genre has expanded by leaps and bounds in the past five years, it feels oddly stiff and lacking whimsy of his earlier titles. There is less choice here, less plot here, less character, than compared to any other series, especially ones for kids. While I understand why (this is 116 pages!) the end result is an on-rails experience that only gets off rails to solve one of four puzzles. It is lovely, but there is no replayability once read. That may be a challenge compared to other children's titles which have found clever ways to use the visual nature of these interactive comic books to make reengaging in these stories to make fresh choices or explore new areas even more fun.
This is the first book in a series and this is a bold, engaging start. Here's hoping the mention of Sugarcane Island within brings this series the same luck as the previous series who used that as their original first title: Choose Your Own Adventure. I'm excited to see where this series goes next!
April 11, 2024
The Leviathan is a sea creature who attacks towns and ships of people who do wrong. The only thing that stops it is a legendary item. You are an adventurer trying to stop the Leviathan but you have to pick your own path and see if you can find the item and get to the creature before it attacks.
This is not just a choose your own adventure story, it is also a puzzle. You have to see if you can figure out the right path to win. You have to remember facts and tips you learn to correctly maneuver different landscapes. I tried about 7 different paths and didn't figure it out yet. It is challenging, but you have to admire the challenge that Shiga created.
Notes on content:
Language: I didn't come across any on the paths I went on, and didn't see any flipping through pages.
Sexual content: None that I found
Violence: It is mentioned the creature has drowned ships of people and attacked towns, but it is mostly portrayed by tentacles grabbing a ship or smashing a house, nothing graphic on page that I saw.
Ethnic diversity: The character could be from a number of cultures, the setting is mythical.
LGBTQ+ content: None specified in what I saw.
Other: An innkeeper offers ale or mead to the adventurer and smokes a pipe.
This is not just a choose your own adventure story, it is also a puzzle. You have to see if you can figure out the right path to win. You have to remember facts and tips you learn to correctly maneuver different landscapes. I tried about 7 different paths and didn't figure it out yet. It is challenging, but you have to admire the challenge that Shiga created.
Notes on content:
Language: I didn't come across any on the paths I went on, and didn't see any flipping through pages.
Sexual content: None that I found
Violence: It is mentioned the creature has drowned ships of people and attacked towns, but it is mostly portrayed by tentacles grabbing a ship or smashing a house, nothing graphic on page that I saw.
Ethnic diversity: The character could be from a number of cultures, the setting is mythical.
LGBTQ+ content: None specified in what I saw.
Other: An innkeeper offers ale or mead to the adventurer and smokes a pipe.
April 23, 2024
Pas la première fois où je lis Jason Shiga. J'aime bien ses histoires, car on ne sait jamais où elle vont aller.
Cette fois-ci dans un mode livre dont vous êtes le héros, ça m'a rappelé quand je lisais ce type de livre dans ma jeunesse. L'histoire est prenante et je me suis laissé prendre.
Cette fois-ci dans un mode livre dont vous êtes le héros, ça m'a rappelé quand je lisais ce type de livre dans ma jeunesse. L'histoire est prenante et je me suis laissé prendre.
July 4, 2024
Jason Shiga definitely has a gift for writing endings that make me go "...is that it?"
November 18, 2022
What I liked: The format is used in a really cool way here. The book is almost a mashup of video games and Choose Your Own Adventure where the reader controls the story with their choices. I really liked the map pages where you could choose which direction the character went. I also thought the library pages were cool with different books supplying different information. I think students who love puzzles or video games will be intrigued.
What didn't work for me: The dark color palette was not my favorite. I got trapped in a cycle where I kept repeating the same story aspects over and over again. I couldn't figure out how to get to an ending or how to learn more information. I think you would need to take notes to actually successfully complete this adventure so that you don't get stuck in a loop. Taking notes would totally be ok, but if you're going to work that hard to play a game or read a book it's nice if the payoff at the end is worth it. I ended up cheating this morning and flipping through the book in page order so I could see what the endings were. The endings felt rushed, underdeveloped and disappointing to me after all the time invested. I think young readers might find this frustrating as well. I'd have liked to see more development, especially at the end, so the puzzles and mazes are worth it.
Overall I think I'd still recommend this to students who perhaps are big gamers, but aren't sure about reading... or students who like puzzles or D&D. I'd be curious to know what they think overall when they're done. I think gamified reading is really cool , it just would be nice if there were a bigger payoff in the end.
What didn't work for me: The dark color palette was not my favorite. I got trapped in a cycle where I kept repeating the same story aspects over and over again. I couldn't figure out how to get to an ending or how to learn more information. I think you would need to take notes to actually successfully complete this adventure so that you don't get stuck in a loop. Taking notes would totally be ok, but if you're going to work that hard to play a game or read a book it's nice if the payoff at the end is worth it. I ended up cheating this morning and flipping through the book in page order so I could see what the endings were. The endings felt rushed, underdeveloped and disappointing to me after all the time invested. I think young readers might find this frustrating as well. I'd have liked to see more development, especially at the end, so the puzzles and mazes are worth it.
Overall I think I'd still recommend this to students who perhaps are big gamers, but aren't sure about reading... or students who like puzzles or D&D. I'd be curious to know what they think overall when they're done. I think gamified reading is really cool , it just would be nice if there were a bigger payoff in the end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 20, 2022
Leviathan by Jason Shiga (2022) is the first book in the Adventuregame Comics series. Although it feels like it should be the second since it uses the same graphical interface as Meanwhile (2011) to turn a comic book into a choose your own adventure.
http://pussreboots.com/blog/2022/comm...
http://pussreboots.com/blog/2022/comm...
January 24, 2026
The best way that I can describe the Adventuregame Comics is that it's a video game on paper. Jason Shiga somehow managed to create an open world book! I really enjoyed exploring the world in Leviathan. The "game mechanics" were so fun and creative! I can't wait to read the other Adventuregame Comics!
January 13, 2023
Jason Shiga is THE name in plot-your-own graphic novels. If anyone isn't familiar with his previous book, Meanwhile, I highly recommend checking it out.
You're a character on an island who needs to solve a quest. There are loops and maps, and tricky bits. It took me several sittings to solve it because I got stuck. This is not for the faint of heart!
Definitely recommend for upper elementary on up.
You're a character on an island who needs to solve a quest. There are loops and maps, and tricky bits. It took me several sittings to solve it because I got stuck. This is not for the faint of heart!
Definitely recommend for upper elementary on up.
October 18, 2022
Compared to Meanwhile, the art is worse, the inking is sloppy and the story is both less clever and less moving. Paper quality and production values are way down too.
But it is still a very worthwhile experiment with interactivity in paper comics. I was especially fond of how Shiga made lies (small, large, and ONE giant one) both the theme of the story and a choice-based mechanic. It is really neat when you are urged to lie just to witness the consequences (or sometimes the lack of them) and from those draw your own conclusions about the truth of things you have been told before.
The free wandering and the day/night cycle are charming but would need at least one more layer of complexity to really enthrall you and immerse you by way of deeper engagement with the map and its locations. A moving NPC would likely do the trick but would not be trivial to implement without snowballing the page count.
But it is still a very worthwhile experiment with interactivity in paper comics. I was especially fond of how Shiga made lies (small, large, and ONE giant one) both the theme of the story and a choice-based mechanic. It is really neat when you are urged to lie just to witness the consequences (or sometimes the lack of them) and from those draw your own conclusions about the truth of things you have been told before.
The free wandering and the day/night cycle are charming but would need at least one more layer of complexity to really enthrall you and immerse you by way of deeper engagement with the map and its locations. A moving NPC would likely do the trick but would not be trivial to implement without snowballing the page count.
May 8, 2023
Une lecture super sympa et qui change des BD classiques. Je me suis beaucoup amusée et j'ai envie d'essayer les autres histoires proposées par Jason Shiga!
August 10, 2023
(I received a finished copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.)
Meanwhile is what originally got me into Jason Shiga's work: a visionary choose-your-own adventure comic impossible to find in libraries without the telltale tugs and crinkles of being loved by hundreds of kids. I've enjoyed nearly everything else Shiga's done since, and I certainly didn't mind this return to his roots.
I spent hours reading Leviathan. Having now read The Beyond, his second book in this series (each can function as a standalone), I highly recommend that you give this to a kid with a lot of free time, because the sheer satisfaction of knowing you can do the whole thing at once cannot be overstated. Probably thousands of books have been described as "like a RPG but a book" or "good for kids who like video games," but this is the only time that's actually come to my mind while reading.
Everything from the medieval fantasy setting to the "sleep until night/day" functions in the book purposefully call to mind classic video games, and as someone who's never been particularly beguiled by them, I still felt an immediate nostalgia in the comfort of hitting buttons that get simple responses-- as I turned static pages! I couldn't believe it.
I'd like to reread Meanwhile to compare the two, but just from my first read, I would say anyone who enjoyed the former will enjoy the latter. It's easy to lose hours in while being small enough to fit in a purse, and the use of page numbers to flip to rather than tabs means it'll likely stand the test of time a bit more easily than the bedraggled copies of Meanwhile trapped in sweaty childfingers worldwide. The formatting itself is exceptionally clever; there's one (and only one) brain-breaking puzzle where you can genuinely get lost, and there's no way to really get spoiled. Even the decisions made to shrink the pagecount by having numerous options return to the same place (think "no matter what you do in these 3 options you get the same outcome, so let's keep all the result panels to one page rather than having a unique destination for each")! The page design is 100% intentional across the book, including the library and the map at the back. This guy is a genius.
And the plot is great! It has a unique message! I'm not even into medieval fantasy and I loved it! I honestly just wish it was longer; at only two endings it's not quite a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure to me, and while perhaps that's part of the RPG vibes, I do wish I could've gotten maybe ten more pages of substance and closure re: various questions I had, and just one more ending. This is so bingeable; I'd read so many more of these; I feel very strongly that you should EXPERIENCE this RPG-as-book and that it would be a smash hit if parents got more comfortable meeting their kids where they're at rather than trying to get Timmy Who Only Plays Video Games to read War and Peace.
...or maybe you're Little Timmy and you want to read a book you enjoy that's not a Minecraft survival guide or some kind of branded spinoff. This is legit! It's a genuine comp title for RPGs at large! Shiga deserves FAR more credit for his innovations in comics; like I said he's a fucking genius and I love him. Time to binge all his past work while I wait for the next one.
P. S. Thanks for the nonbinary shoutout :) It was appreciated.
Meanwhile is what originally got me into Jason Shiga's work: a visionary choose-your-own adventure comic impossible to find in libraries without the telltale tugs and crinkles of being loved by hundreds of kids. I've enjoyed nearly everything else Shiga's done since, and I certainly didn't mind this return to his roots.
I spent hours reading Leviathan. Having now read The Beyond, his second book in this series (each can function as a standalone), I highly recommend that you give this to a kid with a lot of free time, because the sheer satisfaction of knowing you can do the whole thing at once cannot be overstated. Probably thousands of books have been described as "like a RPG but a book" or "good for kids who like video games," but this is the only time that's actually come to my mind while reading.
Everything from the medieval fantasy setting to the "sleep until night/day" functions in the book purposefully call to mind classic video games, and as someone who's never been particularly beguiled by them, I still felt an immediate nostalgia in the comfort of hitting buttons that get simple responses-- as I turned static pages! I couldn't believe it.
I'd like to reread Meanwhile to compare the two, but just from my first read, I would say anyone who enjoyed the former will enjoy the latter. It's easy to lose hours in while being small enough to fit in a purse, and the use of page numbers to flip to rather than tabs means it'll likely stand the test of time a bit more easily than the bedraggled copies of Meanwhile trapped in sweaty childfingers worldwide. The formatting itself is exceptionally clever; there's one (and only one) brain-breaking puzzle where you can genuinely get lost, and there's no way to really get spoiled. Even the decisions made to shrink the pagecount by having numerous options return to the same place (think "no matter what you do in these 3 options you get the same outcome, so let's keep all the result panels to one page rather than having a unique destination for each")! The page design is 100% intentional across the book, including the library and the map at the back. This guy is a genius.
And the plot is great! It has a unique message! I'm not even into medieval fantasy and I loved it! I honestly just wish it was longer; at only two endings it's not quite a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure to me, and while perhaps that's part of the RPG vibes, I do wish I could've gotten maybe ten more pages of substance and closure re: various questions I had, and just one more ending. This is so bingeable; I'd read so many more of these; I feel very strongly that you should EXPERIENCE this RPG-as-book and that it would be a smash hit if parents got more comfortable meeting their kids where they're at rather than trying to get Timmy Who Only Plays Video Games to read War and Peace.
...or maybe you're Little Timmy and you want to read a book you enjoy that's not a Minecraft survival guide or some kind of branded spinoff. This is legit! It's a genuine comp title for RPGs at large! Shiga deserves FAR more credit for his innovations in comics; like I said he's a fucking genius and I love him. Time to binge all his past work while I wait for the next one.
P. S. Thanks for the nonbinary shoutout :) It was appreciated.
September 11, 2023
Picked this up because I really enjoyed Meanwhile, when I first discovered it years ago. This book revisits that idea in a more compact way. I think that giving the reader freedom to choose where they go and what they say is a wonderful idea for comics. That interactivity makes for a much more enjoyable experience for me than reading standard comics.
Mild spoilers from here.
One thing that I am disappointed by in this book is how much the reader is given an illusion of choice. Almost every player choice has zero impact on the events that occur because they all lead to the same outcomes. And more often than not, the reader is simply looped out to the map where they can choose the same interaction again or something else. I only found one instance of player choice where you can actually change the ending of the story.
It’s hard to list that as a critique though because there is a reason for the simplicity of this book compared to Meanwhile. Meanwhile is a lot more like a choose your own adventure book with multiple outcomes and interactions based on your choices.
This book is more about exploring the world, by having each interaction in order to understand the lore and information required to solve the two or three puzzles that get you to the end.
And one of those puzzles really forces you to analyze this unique medium and understand how the book works in order to solve.
The last thing I want to say though is that one major issue with this book is that book endings are unsatisfying. In order to get to either one you will have to solve the puzzle I just praised. And at that point you will have a lot of information on the lore of the world and there will likely be a few mysteries that had me invested to see how things play could out.
But there’s one moment that is required for both endings that just kind of subvert the entire story and lore. The problem is there are things that characters tell us about events in their past that are flat out stated to be false events and we the reader are not given any resolution as to what actually occurred and what those characters think about it.
Shiga is a humorous author and artist. It’s what attracted me to Meanwhile, and ending like these worked in meanwhile because there was always another ending to find in a re-read.
However, I think that the endings of this book just don’t work. And because there are only two of them, there’s no reason to read this book again. There’s very little that it has to offer that I didn’t experience in my first read. My second read was a speed run to see a couple choices I could’ve made differently that ended up having no impact, then a similarly unsatisfying ending.
Mild spoilers from here.
One thing that I am disappointed by in this book is how much the reader is given an illusion of choice. Almost every player choice has zero impact on the events that occur because they all lead to the same outcomes. And more often than not, the reader is simply looped out to the map where they can choose the same interaction again or something else. I only found one instance of player choice where you can actually change the ending of the story.
It’s hard to list that as a critique though because there is a reason for the simplicity of this book compared to Meanwhile. Meanwhile is a lot more like a choose your own adventure book with multiple outcomes and interactions based on your choices.
This book is more about exploring the world, by having each interaction in order to understand the lore and information required to solve the two or three puzzles that get you to the end.
And one of those puzzles really forces you to analyze this unique medium and understand how the book works in order to solve.
The last thing I want to say though is that one major issue with this book is that book endings are unsatisfying. In order to get to either one you will have to solve the puzzle I just praised. And at that point you will have a lot of information on the lore of the world and there will likely be a few mysteries that had me invested to see how things play could out.
But there’s one moment that is required for both endings that just kind of subvert the entire story and lore. The problem is there are things that characters tell us about events in their past that are flat out stated to be false events and we the reader are not given any resolution as to what actually occurred and what those characters think about it.
Shiga is a humorous author and artist. It’s what attracted me to Meanwhile, and ending like these worked in meanwhile because there was always another ending to find in a re-read.
However, I think that the endings of this book just don’t work. And because there are only two of them, there’s no reason to read this book again. There’s very little that it has to offer that I didn’t experience in my first read. My second read was a speed run to see a couple choices I could’ve made differently that ended up having no impact, then a similarly unsatisfying ending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 1, 2024
I ordered this a while back, just because a choose your own adventure graphic novel seemed like something kids would like, but I finally picked one up to look at it and realized that it has a couple of other layers. Like most choose your own adventure books, you follow a path and occasionally have to make a choice, but there are a few spots in the story where you run into an empty box where there should be a page number. For example, at one point, you need to charter a boat. The captain tells you that it's a treacherous trip and asks if you even know how many ships have been lost in this particular ocean. And then instead of a box with a page number, there's an empty box and a panel where you respond that you don't know. He tells you, "Well, come back when you know then" and you have go go back through the narrative, find the answer, and make your way back to him. Then the answer you found (always a number) is the page number and you can continue. But until you find that piece of information, that page - and therefore, the rest of the story - is closed off. It's very neat. It, as well as the layout of page sthat are snippets of maps with page numbers representing the different paths you can choose from, reminded me of an old school Zelda game. I mean, to figure this out I was taking notes, drawing maps, and in one spot, even doing math.
I will admit that, as with early Zelda games, I eventually cheated. I'd probably recommend this for upper elementary/middle school kids - you can get stuck in a loop and it is frustrating! And the story itself is pretty thin. But the concept is super fun - I can't even imagine how Shiga laid this all out in a way that made sense - and for most kids, I think the experience will be interesting enough.
I will admit that, as with early Zelda games, I eventually cheated. I'd probably recommend this for upper elementary/middle school kids - you can get stuck in a loop and it is frustrating! And the story itself is pretty thin. But the concept is super fun - I can't even imagine how Shiga laid this all out in a way that made sense - and for most kids, I think the experience will be interesting enough.
September 23, 2022
Leviathan is a strange allegory delivered in a strange way. Shiga's comic book / choose-your-own format makes the story a game. Beginning as a character in the town of Cloud Harbor on Cobalt Island, you go on a D&D-style adventure through the panels, which are connected by "tubes," sometimes turning hundreds of pages forward and back to get to the next piece of action. Instead of a simple two-choice fork at the end of each scenario, Shiga has set up something like a bike wheel, with different spokes that run past each other on various pages. At its best, Leviathan is a compelling fantasy allegory of the mythical leviathan, a moral leveler for the society that punishes ne'er-do-wells at sea, and the wizard Kanoxx, who is using a spell to protect the town. Though, perhaps protect is not the right word, as nothing is as it seems. The story’s tone is ominous and it matches that the bluish-gray overcast feel to the coloring and the diminutive, worried-looking characters. There is an HP Lovecraft feel to the ending. The work required to get to the ending can be a bit too much. At its weakest, the format gives you a page with three possibilities, each of which leads to a page that looks too similar. This happens especially in the map of town or swimming in open water sequence, and the choices all blend together if you're not paying close attention. I found myself unable to break out of a few loops.
January 10, 2024
I first attempted to read this book as an ebook, I quickly realized that this was a mistake and purchased a physical copy.
Really fun little choose your own adventure adjacent comic. Mechanically it is quite similar to Meanwhile. As far as I know this kind of comic, especially done well, is extremely rare to find. I’ve only ever really seen this author succeed in making it feel right although admittedly I haven’t looked very hard.
This book was highly interactive to the point that it felt like playing a video game at times! I don’t want to talk too much about the details of the mechanics as half the fun is discovering how clever the whole system is, but the author clearly put a lot of work into crafting this book.
The book is really lighthearted. The humor is on point and it got me to chuckle a few times.
I give it 4 instead of 5 stars because the plot/world has some issues if you think about it too hard. Normally I care more about those things but experiencing the book was fun. Really it’s a 4.5 or 4.75.
Really fun little choose your own adventure adjacent comic. Mechanically it is quite similar to Meanwhile. As far as I know this kind of comic, especially done well, is extremely rare to find. I’ve only ever really seen this author succeed in making it feel right although admittedly I haven’t looked very hard.
This book was highly interactive to the point that it felt like playing a video game at times! I don’t want to talk too much about the details of the mechanics as half the fun is discovering how clever the whole system is, but the author clearly put a lot of work into crafting this book.
The book is really lighthearted. The humor is on point and it got me to chuckle a few times.
I give it 4 instead of 5 stars because the plot/world has some issues if you think about it too hard. Normally I care more about those things but experiencing the book was fun. Really it’s a 4.5 or 4.75.
December 31, 2025
The idea behind this book is really interesting. It is sort of a choose your own adventure story but it also has clues that help you along that you have to find, recognize and remember. I loved the part about the library, where all the information was housed. That was interesting. My problem though was the storyline and plot became boring, so I lost interest. I also became stuck at one point swimming around from place to place which was a bit irritating. I also read Star Trek's Lower Deck interactive graphic novel which was amazing and I am trying very hard not to compare that work with this one. To finish this one, I just kinda read the middle of the book and eventually ended up with two endings. One ending was a bit annoying because I felt like I did all of this "work" to end up with such a lackluster ending. The other ending was just well, an ending. I have two more of Shiga's interactive books so I am going to give the next one a try.
September 12, 2023
A pretty damn cool role-playing game as a comic. It reminds me of the old online point-and-click exploration games. You talk to people and make decisions. Each one gets you to flip to a different page. It has interesting stuff like walking back to the inn and you wait until evening or morning to get a different experience. You can research in the library and talk to people so when you get to certain stages you know which page to turn to. One part has you lost in the ocean, but if you'd read the map in the library earlier you know which direction to go (ie page to turn to).
It's not the greatest story ever and doesn't hold up next to even the most basic RPG. It's more of a curiosity, a cool gift book. Because really it'd be nicer just to click than to sit there trying to find page 109 for the third time. I read this one at the dog park... people must have thought I was crazy.
It's not the greatest story ever and doesn't hold up next to even the most basic RPG. It's more of a curiosity, a cool gift book. Because really it'd be nicer just to click than to sit there trying to find page 109 for the third time. I read this one at the dog park... people must have thought I was crazy.
January 17, 2024
Shiga's Meanwhile did amazing things with the idea of a choose-your-own-adventure comic. This smaller, more focused book never reaches those heights, but it's fun to see him playing around with the format again. This has a very simple story that you can explore in an order you choose, with a couple simple tricks you have to get past to get to the ending.
The main conceits (which are NOT just a copy of anything he did in Meanwhile:
The main conceits (which are NOT just a copy of anything he did in Meanwhile:
October 9, 2022
If you've read Shiga's Meanwhile, this is basically a "junior" edition of that book: it's a graphic novel with branching paths that you choose as you attempt to solve a puzzle that is the narrative heart of the story. However, Leviathan is 1) much shorter than Meanwhile, and 2) a lot easier to read while handling the choices (mainly because Shiga directs you to pages instead of using the tab-and-path mechanic in Meanwhile). I think both of these changes make for a much tighter and enjoyable work, and there's a nice twist in the delivery that is echoed in the storytelling.
August 5, 2023
The reader is in a tavern. They are approached by another patron who offers them the opportunity to go on a quest to save the village from a leviathan. In order to do this, they will need to retrieve the starlight wand first.
The thing that makes this graphic unusual is that is is told as a choose your own adventure. The reader is given options along the way and they turn to the appropriate page after making their choice. Flipping back and forth between the 140 pages moves the story along in multiple directions. It is unique and fun but can be frustrating if you miss the lines or page numbers directing you to the next location as your story will not make sense reading solely in a linear fashion.
The thing that makes this graphic unusual is that is is told as a choose your own adventure. The reader is given options along the way and they turn to the appropriate page after making their choice. Flipping back and forth between the 140 pages moves the story along in multiple directions. It is unique and fun but can be frustrating if you miss the lines or page numbers directing you to the next location as your story will not make sense reading solely in a linear fashion.
March 4, 2023
This is a choose your own adventure graphic novel.
It has a definite old timey video game feel to it. Sort of like Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis which I used to play with my kids 30 years ago. I think kids that enjoy choose your own adventure and/or video games should like this.
The author describes how the story works in the first few pages but I think most kids will easily figure it out on their own. Basically, there's a town that is... protected? by a giant squid/octopus like creature - the leviathan. But it only attacks people that are doing something wrong. If it even exists, that is. It's intriguing! And books and libraries play an essential role in the story also.
It has a definite old timey video game feel to it. Sort of like Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis which I used to play with my kids 30 years ago. I think kids that enjoy choose your own adventure and/or video games should like this.
The author describes how the story works in the first few pages but I think most kids will easily figure it out on their own. Basically, there's a town that is... protected? by a giant squid/octopus like creature - the leviathan. But it only attacks people that are doing something wrong. If it even exists, that is. It's intriguing! And books and libraries play an essential role in the story also.
May 3, 2025
I loved Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books as a kid, but the classic ones often suffer from a feeling of randomness. Jason Shiga’s books are more like paper computer games, like old-school text adventures. He uses the comics format to create a navigable map of the world, gatekeeper secret areas with knowledge you have to discover elsewhere in the story, and let the reader uncover the story bit by bit in whatever order their curiosity takes them. I’ll definitely be reading the others in this series; they’re shelved in the kids section of my library but are perfect for a sleepy Saturday morning read.
Read
October 6, 2022'Adventuregame Comics: Leviathan (Book 1)" with story and art by Jason Shiga is a graphic novel where you choose the path the main character takes.
You are visiting a coastal town that fears the Leviathan. There are various paths you can take to try to find out more and maybe even help the town, but beware, because there are traps to avoid and some people are hard to talk to.
Reviewing this as a linear digital file took some of the fun out of reviewing it, but I caught the idea and there are some nice puzzles and twists and turns.
You are visiting a coastal town that fears the Leviathan. There are various paths you can take to try to find out more and maybe even help the town, but beware, because there are traps to avoid and some people are hard to talk to.
Reviewing this as a linear digital file took some of the fun out of reviewing it, but I caught the idea and there are some nice puzzles and twists and turns.
February 3, 2023
I picked this up because I enjoyed his previous book Meanwhile. Obviously I wish this had the larger format and full color that Meanwhile did but I'm sure that would've make it cost significantly more.
Using numbers instead of tabs made it slightly harder to find the next section but did make it much easier for me to track where I'd been.
If you like Shiga's style and/or "legally we can't say Choose Your Own Adventure" books it's a good read.
Using numbers instead of tabs made it slightly harder to find the next section but did make it much easier for me to track where I'd been.
If you like Shiga's style and/or "legally we can't say Choose Your Own Adventure" books it's a good read.
September 6, 2023
It’s a graphic novel choose-your-own-adventure book. I mostly enjoyed it, although I found myself stuck at parts, flipping back and fourth through sections I already read, not able to get to the end. I understand that “frustration” is a part of the story that the reader and protagonist share. The upside of this frustrating circularity is it gives the reader a chance to experience more of the story than a traditional choose your own adventure. There is a type of humor to the story that could only happen because of how it’s told. Art style and humor all great.
November 14, 2022
A graphic novel Choose Your Own Adventure? A video game in book form? Out of various options, you choose where to go and which options you think will lead you further into the story. Follow the paths to know which panel to read next (so not necessarily the order you would expect). I liked that going to the library gave clues to advance (hooray for research!). Definitely give this to kids who are regularly immersed in video game adventures.
December 11, 2022
MC is on a quest for the mysterious Starlight Wand, which no one has ever seen. Can you help them find it and control the murderous Leviathan?
CYOA meets video game, this would be perfect for those MS gamers who claim to not like reading. The endings were frustrating for me (and the plot hole about the Leviathan was puzzling), but overall, a cute, if thin, story. Recommended for readers in grades 5-9 who need a book that feels like playing a video game.
CYOA meets video game, this would be perfect for those MS gamers who claim to not like reading. The endings were frustrating for me (and the plot hole about the Leviathan was puzzling), but overall, a cute, if thin, story. Recommended for readers in grades 5-9 who need a book that feels like playing a video game.
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