HALESTORM: Hyde Manor

by Halestorm

Collab between Z2 and Halestorm to bring to life the art and narrative of Hyde Manor. Join us in the descent of one woman's fight with her darkest self!

This Halloween, Z2 Comics and Grammy-winning rock band Halestorm will transform the group’s barbed riffs and evocative narratives into sequential art for Hyde Manor, a harrowing descent into one woman’s fight with the darkest parts of herself. Twins Brittany and Brianna Winner (the Twin Soul series), artist Sara Scalia, and colorist DJ Alonso weave a tale of the celebrated group as they seek refuge in the titular Hyde Manor—a sprawling gothic estate perched on the remote end of the Oregon Coast. Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the 2012 EP Hello, It’s Mz Hyde and its ensuing LP, The Strange Case Of…, the Hyde Manor graphic novel depicts the members of Halestorm encountering sinister doppelgangers of themselves. Within the decrepit halls of Hyde Manor, mirror reflections independently talk back and photographs transform to reveal sordid prophecies, leading the band to slowly succumb to madness while recording a new album. The tale creaks and twists with doom-filled revelations, perfectly tied to Halestorm’s scorching discography.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

120 pages, Hardcover

Published April 23, 2024

Reviews

[Catarina · Rating 1 out of 5]

The artwork is criminally bad with the characters not even really resembling the band, and often quite lazy with no facial features on some panels and the art not being consistent throughout etc. The fire at the end added some more color and life to the art and made it more tolerable but overall, I was not a fan. The art gallery pages by Egidija Guobyte in the back of the graphic novel were SO much better, really loved the style and it actually resembles Lzzy Hale!

The concept of the story was cool but the execution of it was kind of terrible and lackluster. The themes of your "shadow self" and the cool setting of the Hyde Manor could have been explored more in-depth.

I could also not get on board with the excessive swearing! Are the writers in middle school and have just learned to swear? I don't mind swearing at all (and I know the band is keen on it too) but I just have to roll my eyes when it's on every page and especially when I come across words like "fucknugget" 🙄

My ultimate takeaway from this graphic novel was that I don't ever need to read it again but it did give me the urge to listen to "The Strange Case of..." album again.

[Courtney · Rating 2 out of 5]

I waited a long time for this to arrive and I can't help but feel a little disappointed.

The artwork is absolutely breathtaking and that is the saving grace of this graphic novel. Yet, the plot line is so disjointed. It doesn't even make sense? I wish there was more to it.

Mz Hyde made an appearance about one page into it and then it's never really explained. I was hoping that there would be some lore that fits the music and less of a haunted house gone wrong vibe. I feel like they could've characterised the differences between Lzzy and Mz Hyde far better than simply Mz Hyde is violent and eats a lot of chicken wings?

Then there were the random hints at the band mates past trauma (I guess it's pretty unclear) but absolutely nothing is resolved. Lzzy's character chooses to let Mz Hyde live whilst letting her band mates kill their alter egos. So? Lzzy is transformed into the fire (nice reference to the music here) and everyone else dies??

[Robert Bussie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I ordered this book for my library almost a year and half ago. It was on back order. As a Huge fan of Halestorm's music I was highly looking forward to reading it. Was the long wait worth it? No, it is a big disappointment.

The story is about a haunted house that brings to life the darker side of the group's personalities. The side they sing about in their music, but are not who they are in real life. An interesting concept that is poorly written. It is nice though that the writers used some song lyrics and song titles in the conversation between the characters and narration in the book. But not enough to save this boring and uneven story.

The art is terrible. A large majority of the art work is not drawn or inked very well. The one saving grace of that are work is the coloring; it is pretty good.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The rock band Halestorm stay in Hyde Manor, an ominous gothic estate in the middle of nowhere, while they try to record a new album. Instead of getting a secluded place with great acoustics, the band members encounter sinister doppelgangers of themselves within the mirrors on the estate.

Will they go mad? Will they survive?

What will it take for one woman to overcome the darkest part of herself?

This book is an AMAZING piece of art and I’m so happy I now have it in my collection of books!

[Leslie Carnahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I waited quite a while to get this book, but overall I'm glad I ordered it for myself. It's a pretty fun read. Really cool to see the band drawn in a comic book art style. That being said, there are a few times that the artist didn't get it quiiiite right. Overall, I liked the story. The premise of fighting your inner self/inner demons was cool. I would give it a read if you like the band for sure.

[Aaron McKinney · Rating 3 out of 5]

5/10

I won't take the fact that the release of this was delayed several times into consideration for this review but it was extremely annoying.

That being said the story was alright, I liked the allusions to the bands songs and some of the concepts. The art was pretty iffy though. Character's faces would look different from frame to frame and at times didn't look anything like their real life counterparts.

[Jayda]

After 87 years of waiting for this to arrive i was finally able to sit down with a pop tart and read it. The concept was good, the story fine and the art was just okay and somewhat unpolished in some parts. However, i wanted good of course but i wasn't expecting anything top tier, it is a novelty collectible graphic novel and it was just cool seeing my favorite band in comic form.

[Saoirse Roibeard · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took a very long time to get this graphic novel but I loved it 🥰 the drawings look so like the band and I loved the story concept ♥️

[Courtney (courtneyandherbooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

sadly the art is so inconsistent especially with the characters. Story is okay.

I hoped for better

[Mikayla Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the plot of the graphic novel. The drawings were amazing and fun, but sometimes the characters look different than the real band members. Overall, very enjoyable!

[Rhi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fun, although the doppelganger motivations were somewhat underdeveloped.