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Bolero #1-5
Bolero
It’s Christmas in snowy Los Angeles, and Devyn “Dagger” Dagny is heartbroken. Her twelve-year relationship with her ex Natasha has just come to a tragic end, she’s an aimless college dropout floundering at her job, and now her best friend is getting married to the wrong guy.
But what if she could start all over again?
A mysterious stranger. Something called an “anti-door” and a “mother-key.” Only 53 chances. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind meets Locke and Key as writer WYATT KENNEDY and artist LUANA VECCHIO take you on an emotional journey across the multiverse.
“Every so often, a book crosses your path that serves as both a burning reminder of what only comics can do and as a warning shot to the rest of the industry, putting all of us on notice. What KENNEDY and VECCHIO have created is a thrumming, heartfelt bravado story that defies genre even as it defies expectation. It is, genuinely, glorious.
It is an overused phrase in an era of quick-copy and blurbs, but, in all sincerity, BOLERO is a must-read.” —GREG RUCKA
Collects BOLERO #1-5
But what if she could start all over again?
A mysterious stranger. Something called an “anti-door” and a “mother-key.” Only 53 chances. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind meets Locke and Key as writer WYATT KENNEDY and artist LUANA VECCHIO take you on an emotional journey across the multiverse.
“Every so often, a book crosses your path that serves as both a burning reminder of what only comics can do and as a warning shot to the rest of the industry, putting all of us on notice. What KENNEDY and VECCHIO have created is a thrumming, heartfelt bravado story that defies genre even as it defies expectation. It is, genuinely, glorious.
It is an overused phrase in an era of quick-copy and blurbs, but, in all sincerity, BOLERO is a must-read.” —GREG RUCKA
Collects BOLERO #1-5
264 pages, Paperback
First published August 2, 2022
18 people are currently reading
566 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 127 reviews
December 22, 2022
So it's all about the multiverse and unlikable people jumping around trying futilely to find their happiest reality. Tedious.
The main characters are all LGBTQ+ women, but the book seems aimed at the male gaze as those women spend a lot of time naked. Well, the cis women have their boobs on display a lot; the trans woman not so much . . .
FOR REFERENCE
Contents: Bolero / Wyatt Kennedy, writer; Luana Vecchio, illustrator -- Afterword / Wyatt Kennedy -- "So You're Thinking About Dating a Writer!" / Alana Fox, writer; Brandon Graham, illustrator -- Cover Gallery & Extras / Luana Vecchio, writer and illustrator; Jim Mahfood, Maria Llovet, Brandon Graham, Luigi Formisano, illustrators -- Gospel for a New Century / Wyatt Kennedy, writer; Luana Vecchio, illustrator
The main characters are all LGBTQ+ women, but the book seems aimed at the male gaze as those women spend a lot of time naked. Well, the cis women have their boobs on display a lot; the trans woman not so much . . .
FOR REFERENCE
Contents: Bolero / Wyatt Kennedy, writer; Luana Vecchio, illustrator -- Afterword / Wyatt Kennedy -- "So You're Thinking About Dating a Writer!" / Alana Fox, writer; Brandon Graham, illustrator -- Cover Gallery & Extras / Luana Vecchio, writer and illustrator; Jim Mahfood, Maria Llovet, Brandon Graham, Luigi Formisano, illustrators -- Gospel for a New Century / Wyatt Kennedy, writer; Luana Vecchio, illustrator
January 2, 2025
My 250th and FINAL read for the year. And what a banger.
An intriguing story about a woman who has messed up her life so badly that when she's offered the chance of a do-over, she doesn't hesitate.
What follows is a foray through multiple worlds, with gorgeous artwork to match.
I'm not gonna lie - it was the art that really sucked me in here. The story was interesting but quite confusing at times, but the art never went wrong. It was GORGEOUS.
I was frustrated by the protagonist at times and I'm still not entirely sure what happened in the end, but I still really enjoyed it. A gorgeous story about trainwreck characters doing trainwreck things.
An intriguing story about a woman who has messed up her life so badly that when she's offered the chance of a do-over, she doesn't hesitate.
What follows is a foray through multiple worlds, with gorgeous artwork to match.
I'm not gonna lie - it was the art that really sucked me in here. The story was interesting but quite confusing at times, but the art never went wrong. It was GORGEOUS.
I was frustrated by the protagonist at times and I'm still not entirely sure what happened in the end, but I still really enjoyed it. A gorgeous story about trainwreck characters doing trainwreck things.
November 2, 2022
5 stars because I think if you get it…you GET it. And if you don’t then you perhaps haven’t lived a life that allows you to get it. No disrespect but that’s really what it boils down to. A beautiful story of an addictive personality and the permission to forgive and protect yourself.
September 10, 2022
Fine artwork and story. The story is essentially a person is frustrated with her personal life and gets the opportunity to jump into another time line. It's pretty random, but she's allowed to make (IIRC) 50 "jumps" to different time lines.
I got a bit frustrated with the main character by the end. There's too much emphasis on how dramatic a short-term relationship is. I guess I can't really relate.
I got a bit frustrated with the main character by the end. There's too much emphasis on how dramatic a short-term relationship is. I guess I can't really relate.
September 8, 2022
I wish this multiverse contained a reality where I cared about any of the characters. Perhas the author should take a break from relationships?
May 14, 2025
Bolero is a graphic novel about a woman named Devyn who gets to experience her life in 53 alternate universes to see if she’s happy there. Ultimately, it’s a book about choices and how often we repeat the same behaviors (both negatively and positively).To start with the positives, the art style is beautiful!!! It was really fascinating to see the initial character sketches in the back of the book and to trace how much the art style shifted. I also found the queer representation to be very natural and beautiful. I thought it explored addictive personalities through an interesting lens, but the whole thing also fell a bit flat for me. Things got a bit confusing plot wise, not in a “wow this is a cool multiverse thing” way, but in a “I actually have no idea what the hell is going on” way. Sometimes it was difficult to tell who was talking because the font and coloring changed a lot. I did enjoy this book overall, but I checked out about 3/4ths of the way through. I would give Bolero a 3.2/5
July 26, 2022
This speculative fiction graphic novel follows a struggling millennial, Devyn Dagny, as she leaps through parallel universes in search of a better life. This plot device, being presented with a key that allows one to escape one’s current world and try others on for size, is a brilliant way to show that one can’t fix one’s life by changing one’s scenery -- one has to change one’s self. Otherwise, attempts to escape are just exercises in Einsteinian insanity (i.e. doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.)
Unfortunately, I didn’t feel this was the lesson conveyed. It seemed like the lesson in question was that it’s impossible to escape one’s history and that world-hopping in the hope that some external environment will align to make everything perfect is a valid approach. In the back-matter there’s a line written by the book’s artist (Luana Vecchio) that says, “Most of our traumas come from our parents.” That philosophy explains the story arc without character growth. Nothing is my fault, everything is my parents’ fault -- ergo, I’ll forever be broken unless someone else can come along and make everything alright for me.
I will admit that I might have missed the intended point of the story because the book reads chaotically. It’s not so much the jumps between parallel worlds, but jumps around in time and in relationships.
The art was nicely drawn. There may have been palette changes to distinguish different times and / or worlds, but besides the red of the interdimensional space, I couldn’t keep them straight – i.e. there were either too many different palettes or they lacked distinction. Am I in a flashback, a flashforward, and alternate dimension? I couldn’t always tell.
I have mixed feelings about this one. Some will love it and others will find it frustrating. The premise and much of the execution was splendid, but the helter-skelter feel and missed opportunities for character development and growth resulted in a dissatisfaction.
Unfortunately, I didn’t feel this was the lesson conveyed. It seemed like the lesson in question was that it’s impossible to escape one’s history and that world-hopping in the hope that some external environment will align to make everything perfect is a valid approach. In the back-matter there’s a line written by the book’s artist (Luana Vecchio) that says, “Most of our traumas come from our parents.” That philosophy explains the story arc without character growth. Nothing is my fault, everything is my parents’ fault -- ergo, I’ll forever be broken unless someone else can come along and make everything alright for me.
I will admit that I might have missed the intended point of the story because the book reads chaotically. It’s not so much the jumps between parallel worlds, but jumps around in time and in relationships.
The art was nicely drawn. There may have been palette changes to distinguish different times and / or worlds, but besides the red of the interdimensional space, I couldn’t keep them straight – i.e. there were either too many different palettes or they lacked distinction. Am I in a flashback, a flashforward, and alternate dimension? I couldn’t always tell.
I have mixed feelings about this one. Some will love it and others will find it frustrating. The premise and much of the execution was splendid, but the helter-skelter feel and missed opportunities for character development and growth resulted in a dissatisfaction.
February 4, 2025
Very beautiful art, but I felt a bit lost with the plot. The afterword by the author made everything make more sense thematically, but the storyline got quite confused for me at the end— Nope, not really further explored. I also thought it was a bit strange to make the main character half-Korean, presumably Korean on her father’s side, but her last name is Dagny? Also, even I could tell all the Korean was Google translate. Makes me think the being Korean was an afterthought. Which is not an enormously big deal, but given how much thoughtfulness it takes to make a comic, especially a long-form one, it seemed strangely careless.
I found Devyn’s self-hatred and self-destructiveness enacted by constantly jumping to new universes and running away from perceived failures to be a creative depiction of the mental cycles we can get stuck in. Her dissatisfaction with herself was very… like, yep, I remember what it’s like to be fourteen! “She told me something once that she’s never repeated since. That the most depressing thing she ever thought was that tomorrow, she’ll have to wake up and still be her. And the next day. And the next day. And the truth is, she will. Maybe when she figures that out, she’ll get better.” 🫠🫠🫠
I found Devyn’s self-hatred and self-destructiveness enacted by constantly jumping to new universes and running away from perceived failures to be a creative depiction of the mental cycles we can get stuck in. Her dissatisfaction with herself was very… like, yep, I remember what it’s like to be fourteen! “She told me something once that she’s never repeated since. That the most depressing thing she ever thought was that tomorrow, she’ll have to wake up and still be her. And the next day. And the next day. And the truth is, she will. Maybe when she figures that out, she’ll get better.” 🫠🫠🫠
September 7, 2022
Art was cool. I didn’t love the story, and found it didn’t make much sense.
August 14, 2023
3.6⭐️ A sapphic & trans comic that explores relationship woes, alcoholism, & alternate universes.
Rating// Adult.
Don’t go into this if you want a happier, lighter read. I really enjoyed it but it’s definitely bleaker and opens with a break up that causes the MC to spiral further into alcohol.
Wanting to escape our MC gets offered a key to other universes but the keys come with catches and rules she must follow.
It felt fresh and intriguing, and you could definitely feel the authors own struggles with alcohol through the emotion of the storylines here. It’s a look into trauma and means we find to cope, and then it mixes that with sci-fi exploration taking us through Joan of Arc, Dickinson, and Space inspired universes.
The artwork was absolute perfection, and has a style and choice of pallets I absolutely adored.
I did mark it down because the ableist R-slur didn’t need to be used. And also I felt like the ending lacked catharsis and felt rushed. At times it was slightly confusing with world jumps.
Rep// Korean American Bi/Pan MC, Trans Sapphic MC, Black Hard of Hearing (Prominent) SC, Black Sapphic (Prominent) SC, More MLM & WLW SCs. Main relationship focus is WLW but there are graphic sex scenes that are WLW, WLM, MLM in this (MC is bi/pan and also returns in one universe as a man.)
TW’s listed below, please skip if you don’t want vague spoilers.
Tw//CW// alcoholism (addiction, dependancy, multiple relapses, vomiting) graphic, blood and gore (brief but fairly graphic), cheating (prominent on page), death of a parent, emotionally abusive parent (brief), ableist slur use (R Slur used once), Harry Potter mention, Sex on page including: full body nudity, oral, anal, vaginal, strap on use, pegging, bdsm themes with spanking. (Graphic, prominent & reoccurring. MLM, WLW, WLM sex depicted)
Rating// Adult.
Don’t go into this if you want a happier, lighter read. I really enjoyed it but it’s definitely bleaker and opens with a break up that causes the MC to spiral further into alcohol.
Wanting to escape our MC gets offered a key to other universes but the keys come with catches and rules she must follow.
It felt fresh and intriguing, and you could definitely feel the authors own struggles with alcohol through the emotion of the storylines here. It’s a look into trauma and means we find to cope, and then it mixes that with sci-fi exploration taking us through Joan of Arc, Dickinson, and Space inspired universes.
The artwork was absolute perfection, and has a style and choice of pallets I absolutely adored.
I did mark it down because the ableist R-slur didn’t need to be used. And also I felt like the ending lacked catharsis and felt rushed. At times it was slightly confusing with world jumps.
Rep// Korean American Bi/Pan MC, Trans Sapphic MC, Black Hard of Hearing (Prominent) SC, Black Sapphic (Prominent) SC, More MLM & WLW SCs. Main relationship focus is WLW but there are graphic sex scenes that are WLW, WLM, MLM in this (MC is bi/pan and also returns in one universe as a man.)
TW’s listed below, please skip if you don’t want vague spoilers.
Tw//CW// alcoholism (addiction, dependancy, multiple relapses, vomiting) graphic, blood and gore (brief but fairly graphic), cheating (prominent on page), death of a parent, emotionally abusive parent (brief), ableist slur use (R Slur used once), Harry Potter mention, Sex on page including: full body nudity, oral, anal, vaginal, strap on use, pegging, bdsm themes with spanking. (Graphic, prominent & reoccurring. MLM, WLW, WLM sex depicted)
January 16, 2023
4.5/5
Rating: M / Mature
Genre: Romance / Science Fiction
If you’re a fan of comics, sequential art, and amazing graphics… or if you just really like the Saga series, you will like Bolero. Warning: this book is for adults only with graphic content and explicit sexual images.
In an unknown year on Earth it is snowing in Los Angeles and Devyn, an aspiring tattoo artist, is not doing well emotionally after recently ending a 12-year relationship with her partner, Natasha. Devyn is then presented with an opportunity to jump up to 53 times into various lives in the multiverse in order to help her figure out her life sans-Natasha.
I found this at my local comics store and was blown away by the illustrations. The synopsis on the back cover said this was a cross between Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (a top 5 favorite movie) and Locke and Key, so I was instantly sold. What transpires is a story of love, regret, and forgiveness — plus a whole bunch of interesting twists and turns.
Wyatt Kennedy states at the end of the book that this was never about the multiverse; writing this novel helped him get over his depression. This story is also about addiction, trauma, mental illness, and how we move forward from our pasts. The multiverse is simply an analogy.
For a good part of the story it was a little difficult to follow what was going on, but then it would come together and overall I did love it. If you’ve been through a recent breakup this book will feel like both a positive force and negative; I am still processing it. Luana Vecchio’s illustrations are absolutely stunning.
Rating: M / Mature
Genre: Romance / Science Fiction
If you’re a fan of comics, sequential art, and amazing graphics… or if you just really like the Saga series, you will like Bolero. Warning: this book is for adults only with graphic content and explicit sexual images.
In an unknown year on Earth it is snowing in Los Angeles and Devyn, an aspiring tattoo artist, is not doing well emotionally after recently ending a 12-year relationship with her partner, Natasha. Devyn is then presented with an opportunity to jump up to 53 times into various lives in the multiverse in order to help her figure out her life sans-Natasha.
I found this at my local comics store and was blown away by the illustrations. The synopsis on the back cover said this was a cross between Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (a top 5 favorite movie) and Locke and Key, so I was instantly sold. What transpires is a story of love, regret, and forgiveness — plus a whole bunch of interesting twists and turns.
Wyatt Kennedy states at the end of the book that this was never about the multiverse; writing this novel helped him get over his depression. This story is also about addiction, trauma, mental illness, and how we move forward from our pasts. The multiverse is simply an analogy.
For a good part of the story it was a little difficult to follow what was going on, but then it would come together and overall I did love it. If you’ve been through a recent breakup this book will feel like both a positive force and negative; I am still processing it. Luana Vecchio’s illustrations are absolutely stunning.
May 31, 2023
I respect this art knowing it was:
1. The authors first ever comic, and
2. Based on a lot of real life experiences and the time traveling was not supposed to be the main purpose behind the work.
Beautiful artwork, little hard to follow at times. Overall good message ❤️
1. The authors first ever comic, and
2. Based on a lot of real life experiences and the time traveling was not supposed to be the main purpose behind the work.
Beautiful artwork, little hard to follow at times. Overall good message ❤️
January 25, 2024
The storyline reminded me of the movie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and a bit of The Matrix. The multiverse idea was very imaginative. However, I didn’t like the characters especially the main one Devyyn. She was constantly complaining and pining over her exs, but at the same time making extremely bad choices. Disclaimer: the graphics can be very explicit at times. This graphic novel is for extremely mature eyes only.
April 20, 2025
While Vecchio is rapidly becoming one of my favorite illustrators, I couldn’t quite connect with Kennedy’s storytelling. This was a little confusing at times. I did enjoy the idea, but the time jumping was a little hard to fully understand.
Super sexy though - great queer rep & great characters.
3/5
Super sexy though - great queer rep & great characters.
3/5
May 9, 2025
The art is beautiful, the concept is good, but It was a little hard for me to read. The characters aren’t super likable and I was hoping for more when it came to each jump into the multiverse.
Read
July 10, 2022You know how one of the less awful of this year's surprise developments was the release, practically back to back, of two films about multiversal motherhood? Well, for a slightly younger crowd, here's the #relatable sad, gay, millennial multiverse.
"Tired of feeling trapped??
Want a do-over??
Realizing you shouldn't have spoken to that one ex??
Take a trip to an alternate universe!"
We open on protagonist Devyn when that one ex is not yet ex, but this is very much a pre-credits tease of a lost golden age; before you know it, everything's ruined and she's having a cry-wank over old photos. Or a "sad cum", as it's called here – just another of those charming little pavement/sidewalk discrepancies between our English and America's. Nor is that the only turd in life's punchbowl: as she moans to someone she's only just met, in between relapsing and shagging him, "My ex is here and I miss her, but she hates me. I think I'm gonna lose my job soon. My mom, just... my mom, that's it, and my best friend is marrying a pair of khakis. Oh, and I have sick on my shirt." The script is by Wyatt Kennedy, not a name which means much to me, but he's good, using the set-up as a way to talk about the endless tension between settling and wanting something more; about the way no two people ever want quite the same thing and yet somehow we tie ourselves to each other anyway; about the solipsism unhappiness so often brings in its wake. The really ingenious bit is in the specifics; people often talk about multiverses as liable to stop anything mattering, or else make that the whole point of the story in something like Larry Niven's All The Myriad Ways. Whereas here, there are restrictions, as arbitrary as any other law of physics, which limit your escapes, and ensure the story retains the tension of life, with all its irrevocable decisions bearing unknowable consequences. You can only hop worlds 53 times, you can't go back, and you don't get to choose your destination – it is assigned by the Mother ("Do not ask to speak to the Mother."), whose representative is a large, businesslike, but not unfriendly cat. The story takes in worlds Ghibli-esque, Regency, mediaeval – all of them beautifully captured by Luana Vecchio, although the majority of the story takes place in AUs closer to home, with a look which reminded me a little of the slightly grubby cuteness I associate with Leslie Hung. Something that, combined with the particular flavour of the story's queerness, its emphasis on awkward encounters over epic battles, made me think of this book as feeling more like something I'd expect to see from Oni than its actual home, Image. Although it's not as if Hung's Snotgirl wasn't an Image book too, and at least this way Bolero is free of whatever the hell is going down over at Oni lately, and also, I suppose Oni books can sometimes lean a little too heavily into wholesome gayness, whereas Bolero knows all about the fabulously fucked-up possibilities which arise when almost all of the characters can potentially get with each other, maybe connecting in bed over a mutual ex: "Touch me like he touched you."
Oddly, the one name I did recognise on the credits was Brandon Graham, except that while I know him and like his stuff as writer and/or artist, I've never really thought of him as a letterer of other people's stuff, so wasn't that a bit of a waste of his time? As it turns out, really not. There's some very clever stuff going on in the bubbles here, whether that be dropping in ones shaped and coloured to make clear they're messaging in amongst speech, or the way inner monologue plays off dialogue, so that alongside Devyn's outwardly civil meeting with her ex's new girlfriend, we get what is immediately and intuitively obvious as the silent portion of the encounter:
"Fuck you, Megan. Stupid-ass name, Megan."
"'Babe.'"
"I bet she doesn't even shit."
Best of all, though, is the when the line "Keep your secrets then!" is dropped into a conversation between intimates, and there's a tiny little Elijah Wood face peering over the bottom of the balloon. Man's near as dammit found the typeface to indicate memes!
So yeah, a cover quote recommends Bolero "for anyone that is struggling, has struggled, or will struggle", which before I went in felt bold. But having read it I more think that even if that doesn't cover you, it's worth reading for the insight on everyone else, and even if you don't know anyone in that category either, it's got some excellent bits of comics craft.
(Edelweiss ARC)
"Tired of feeling trapped??
Want a do-over??
Realizing you shouldn't have spoken to that one ex??
Take a trip to an alternate universe!"
We open on protagonist Devyn when that one ex is not yet ex, but this is very much a pre-credits tease of a lost golden age; before you know it, everything's ruined and she's having a cry-wank over old photos. Or a "sad cum", as it's called here – just another of those charming little pavement/sidewalk discrepancies between our English and America's. Nor is that the only turd in life's punchbowl: as she moans to someone she's only just met, in between relapsing and shagging him, "My ex is here and I miss her, but she hates me. I think I'm gonna lose my job soon. My mom, just... my mom, that's it, and my best friend is marrying a pair of khakis. Oh, and I have sick on my shirt." The script is by Wyatt Kennedy, not a name which means much to me, but he's good, using the set-up as a way to talk about the endless tension between settling and wanting something more; about the way no two people ever want quite the same thing and yet somehow we tie ourselves to each other anyway; about the solipsism unhappiness so often brings in its wake. The really ingenious bit is in the specifics; people often talk about multiverses as liable to stop anything mattering, or else make that the whole point of the story in something like Larry Niven's All The Myriad Ways. Whereas here, there are restrictions, as arbitrary as any other law of physics, which limit your escapes, and ensure the story retains the tension of life, with all its irrevocable decisions bearing unknowable consequences. You can only hop worlds 53 times, you can't go back, and you don't get to choose your destination – it is assigned by the Mother ("Do not ask to speak to the Mother."), whose representative is a large, businesslike, but not unfriendly cat. The story takes in worlds Ghibli-esque, Regency, mediaeval – all of them beautifully captured by Luana Vecchio, although the majority of the story takes place in AUs closer to home, with a look which reminded me a little of the slightly grubby cuteness I associate with Leslie Hung. Something that, combined with the particular flavour of the story's queerness, its emphasis on awkward encounters over epic battles, made me think of this book as feeling more like something I'd expect to see from Oni than its actual home, Image. Although it's not as if Hung's Snotgirl wasn't an Image book too, and at least this way Bolero is free of whatever the hell is going down over at Oni lately, and also, I suppose Oni books can sometimes lean a little too heavily into wholesome gayness, whereas Bolero knows all about the fabulously fucked-up possibilities which arise when almost all of the characters can potentially get with each other, maybe connecting in bed over a mutual ex: "Touch me like he touched you."
Oddly, the one name I did recognise on the credits was Brandon Graham, except that while I know him and like his stuff as writer and/or artist, I've never really thought of him as a letterer of other people's stuff, so wasn't that a bit of a waste of his time? As it turns out, really not. There's some very clever stuff going on in the bubbles here, whether that be dropping in ones shaped and coloured to make clear they're messaging in amongst speech, or the way inner monologue plays off dialogue, so that alongside Devyn's outwardly civil meeting with her ex's new girlfriend, we get what is immediately and intuitively obvious as the silent portion of the encounter:
"Fuck you, Megan. Stupid-ass name, Megan."
"'Babe.'"
"I bet she doesn't even shit."
Best of all, though, is the when the line "Keep your secrets then!" is dropped into a conversation between intimates, and there's a tiny little Elijah Wood face peering over the bottom of the balloon. Man's near as dammit found the typeface to indicate memes!
So yeah, a cover quote recommends Bolero "for anyone that is struggling, has struggled, or will struggle", which before I went in felt bold. But having read it I more think that even if that doesn't cover you, it's worth reading for the insight on everyone else, and even if you don't know anyone in that category either, it's got some excellent bits of comics craft.
(Edelweiss ARC)
August 30, 2022
Recommended by Brandon Graham (of Prophet fame) as a ‘comic he likes better than Saga’, I was intrigued but ultimately (somewhat) disappointed. While Saga is a story that I’ve lost a considerable amount of my initial interest in (and praise towards), Bolero was a comic that failed to make me care.
While the premise was somewhat intriguing, the execution not so much, especially when some of the big plot developments started taking place some issues in. Another big problem was the core theme (), which I just didn’t like and had no interest in delving into.
The ending (most of the story, actually) was somewhat confusing in a way that reminded me of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime (the movie version of which the author actually mentions as one of his biggest inspirations). One should not take this as any kind of praise, given that I didn’t like the ending to said show (and had similar feelings towards the comic).
The art also failed to grab my attention, being far from what I usually enjoy (and too generic at that). It felt too ‘clean’ and inoffensive for the story, which would have benefited from something a bit darker and edgier (not grimdark, of course) but maybe something along the lines of Upgrade Soul or maybe even more surreal stuff (a la Métal Hurlant).
While the premise was somewhat intriguing, the execution not so much, especially when some of the big plot developments started taking place some issues in. Another big problem was the core theme (), which I just didn’t like and had no interest in delving into.
The ending (most of the story, actually) was somewhat confusing in a way that reminded me of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime (the movie version of which the author actually mentions as one of his biggest inspirations). One should not take this as any kind of praise, given that I didn’t like the ending to said show (and had similar feelings towards the comic).
The art also failed to grab my attention, being far from what I usually enjoy (and too generic at that). It felt too ‘clean’ and inoffensive for the story, which would have benefited from something a bit darker and edgier (not grimdark, of course) but maybe something along the lines of Upgrade Soul or maybe even more surreal stuff (a la Métal Hurlant).
July 15, 2023
Picked this off the shelf randomly, based on the cover (which I didn’t fully process). Glad I did.
January 30, 2024
Amazing art, really good story, i will be reading this again the in the future!
March 6, 2024
I too love End of Evangelion
October 19, 2024
Damn, that was awesome. Heartbreaking, but cathartic. And the art was incredible.
December 27, 2024
I went into this blind and was pleasantly surprised with all of the twists and turns. Recommended.
July 24, 2025
Good art, pretty hard to follow and lackluster other than that though.
December 21, 2025
Intriguing, yet difficult to describe. The afterword provided by the author leaves a lot of room to think.
January 3, 2023
Very ambitious but the writing is kind of a mess
October 8, 2024
Tired of seeing the same generational trauma within Korean mother and daughter relationships and then passed on to the next and next generations. Healing is possible.
June 28, 2023
❗️3.5/5🌟
Anche se in alcuni punti confusa e in altri poco approfondita, mi sento di consigliare questa lettura per almeno 2 motivi:
1) Incarna la "quintessenza della queerness"
Il "trope" del viaggio nel Multiverso diventa il mezzo attraverso cui esplorare e riconoscere le infinite possibilità di espressione, identità di genere e orientamento s3ss*al3 - abbattendo tabù, stereotipi e pregiudizi.
La presenza e ricorrenza di scene di n*d0 e s3*50 - narrate come attimi di vita quotidiana o esplorazione
- sfidano l'idea di anormalità e inappropriatezza
spesso loro associata.
2) Illustra che la vita è fatta anche di momenti di difficoltà e dolore, da affrontare e con cui scendere a compromessi - dando così il giusto spazio a una rappresentazione vera, (a volte) straziante, difficile da cogliere e decifrare, della precarietà della salute mentale ed emotiva di noi esseri umani.
Anche se in alcuni punti confusa e in altri poco approfondita, mi sento di consigliare questa lettura per almeno 2 motivi:
1) Incarna la "quintessenza della queerness"
Il "trope" del viaggio nel Multiverso diventa il mezzo attraverso cui esplorare e riconoscere le infinite possibilità di espressione, identità di genere e orientamento s3ss*al3 - abbattendo tabù, stereotipi e pregiudizi.
La presenza e ricorrenza di scene di n*d0 e s3*50 - narrate come attimi di vita quotidiana o esplorazione
- sfidano l'idea di anormalità e inappropriatezza
spesso loro associata.
2) Illustra che la vita è fatta anche di momenti di difficoltà e dolore, da affrontare e con cui scendere a compromessi - dando così il giusto spazio a una rappresentazione vera, (a volte) straziante, difficile da cogliere e decifrare, della precarietà della salute mentale ed emotiva di noi esseri umani.
November 9, 2025
What a psychedelic trip this was. I have to say probably one of the best graphuc novels I have read this year.
The images are breathtaking and so full of color! I absolutely loved the plot and the personal relationships we observe through these pages. The main characters are all so relatable, and I won't lie they are toxic adults most of the time, but who isn't nowadays.
I absolutely loved the mix of characters being super flawed, victims of those who came before them, but also dreamy of a better world!!
Recommended for all the teenagers that are going through major steps of their life and the adults that were so busy with their activities and skipped teenage years!
The images are breathtaking and so full of color! I absolutely loved the plot and the personal relationships we observe through these pages. The main characters are all so relatable, and I won't lie they are toxic adults most of the time, but who isn't nowadays.
I absolutely loved the mix of characters being super flawed, victims of those who came before them, but also dreamy of a better world!!
Recommended for all the teenagers that are going through major steps of their life and the adults that were so busy with their activities and skipped teenage years!
November 4, 2023
Reading about gay heartbreak whilst in a depression trough was probably not the smartest idea, but this was beautiful.
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