Changing Ways: Book 1

Changing Ways #1

by Justin Randall, Wolfgang Bylsma (Editor)

How do you trust someone when you no longer know yourself?

David Barrot, a retired Corrections Officer, moved to Grey Oaks after the tragic death of his son, Cale.

With wife Lucy and daughter Jessie, the Barrot family bought a farm on the outskirts of town and began their new life, putting aside all the dark events of their past.

Unfortunately for them, the dark just won’t leave David alone.

The first sightings started months ago, igniting rumours of disease and infection. Newspapers reported unusual lesions appearing on livestock and stories of strange side effects spread quickly.

Perhaps it was inevitable that the people of Grey Oaks would be next…

These are their Changing Ways.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Judah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated and downright creepy.
Love not being able to figure out exactly what's going on right away.
Not loving having to wait for the next one, though. Hopefully it's out soon!

[47Time · Rating 2 out of 5]

The artwork looks like heavily-edited pictures of live actors. It's fun for a while, but it gets old. The story is just a series of horror tropes. You have regular people being hunted by a dubious mysterious force that could easily kill everybody, but chooses to play with the victims like a cat with a mouse. There is no big revelation or purpose for the epidemic or occult energy, just a bit of violence and suspense that is barely satisfying. It's certainly not enough to get me to read the next volume.

David Barrot is trying to protect his family from an epidemic. Strange symbols appear on the bodies of the infected humans, livestock and insects. He and his pregnant wife Lucy have it and he is determined to keep his daughter Jess away from the disease.

After an encounter with the neighbour and his dog that has the neighbour shoot himself in the head, David decides to move his family into a motel. On his way home to talk with the police he picks up an infected hitchhiker who attacks him. David strikes the man with inhuman force and notices that his mark is glowing. The police decide to lock him up, but he escapes.

Lucy is scared by aggressive wild pigs that attack the motel manager, so she leaves it to search for David. They reunite later on and suddenly Jess has a symbol too and mentions a black shape that she heard inside her head. They try to leave town and have to go through several infected to finally escape.

[Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

touching story and incredible art.

[Suzytornade · Rating 1 out of 5]

Si je vous disais que je suis allée voir trois fois le titre de ce comics pour vous en parler parce qu'à chaque fois je l'oubliais ? Vous me répondrez que j'ai un Alzheimer, soit c'est entendable, mais pour ma part c'est surtout parce que ce comics est oubliable.

Pas à un moment je ne me suis sentie impliquée dans l'histoire, le dessin est laid, figé, statique, on dirait qu'un roman photo a été copié collé dans cet ouvrage puis crayonné autour pour l'occasion, j'ai vraiment détesté. Ensuite l'histoire n'est pas captivante même si le pitch de départ était plutôt intéressant (un homme ancien gardien de prison découvre que sa femme enceinte a une cicatrice sur le ventre, et en parallèle des choses bizarres arrivent dans leur bled), c'est décousu, incohérent par moments...

Bref. De quoi je parlais déjà ?

[Wayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic illustrations

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

The artwork is beautifully disturbing. I thought the cover was going to be a one-off with completely different interior artwork, but it's consistent throughout.

It's such a moody, foreboding style that really suits the story. There are times where it's difficult to make things out, and other times where the detail is almost too intense.

The story has a Stephen King vibe while doing it's own thing. This book feels like it will work as a stand-alone story while also nicely setting up the second volume.

[Francesca Giardiello · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interessante primo numero che non fa affatto pesare il suo essere preparatorio per qualcosa di più grande: ottima illustrazione di ambiente e personaggi, con disegni particolari, quasi evocativi, particolareggiati e personalizzati come con sfumature ad acquerello. Carinissimo anche il cambio di stile grafico fra realtà e sogno.

[Ryan Rossi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a re-read on the way to the third edition, which I picked up a short while ago.

Changing Ways is an interesting take on superpowers. The fantastic art paints a grim picture of a world on the edge of... something. The story is suitably dark, twists of many genres that work well together.

[Luna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was absolutely amazing. I picked this up at a local convention, as it was by a Perth author, but didn't think much about it. I like to support local authors and artists, and this was fairly reasonably priced. I forgot about it until I was looking for something to read recently.

And holy crap I was blown away. The art is outstanding, and models were clearly used to ensure the facial expressions and positions were correct. There's something haunting about the characters eyes- I was actually fairly unnerved by them.

I was completely sucked into the story. I intended to only read a few pages before bed, but I devoured the whole paperback. I'm not sure where I'll be able to pick up the second copy- local authors are hard to find in stores- but I'm going to have to.

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Saw this book at Supanova this year and bought the digital copy later. Not quite like any graphic novel I have read so far and extremely spooky to boot. Without spoiling anything, I found the cannibals particularly unsettling.

Excellent first book and I immediately proceeded to buy and devour the next.

[David Schembri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful art and an interesting story. I would have liked the ending with a little more closure even if it is the first volume but that’s just minor. A master piece to look at. The pacing and mood of this book is stunning. The lighting is splendid. The dialogue is engrossing. You really get lost into the motion and find yourself on a rewarding ride. I must get the rest of this series.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Supremely creepy story illustrated with beautiful digital art. I can't wait for the next chapter.

[Magali · Rating 4 out of 5]

L'histoire est prenante, mais ce sont surtout les dessins qui sont fabuleux.

[Pete Aldin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is excellent. The artwork is superb. The concepts are well realised. The use of panels on each page is beautifully thought out. Highly recommend.