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Otherworld Stories #0.09
Becoming
This graphic novella tells the story of Elena’s “becoming” a werewolf—that dark period from the time Clay bites her through her escape to Toronto.
28 pages, ebook
First published August 31, 2011
12 people are currently reading
2659 people want to read
About the author
Kelley Armstrong
302 books33.5k followersKelley Armstrong has been telling stories since before she could write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls, much to her teachers' dismay. All efforts to make her produce "normal" stories failed.
Today, she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves, while safely locked away in her basement writing dungeon. She's the author of the NYT-bestselling "Women of the Otherworld" paranormal suspense series and "Darkest Powers" young adult urban fantasy trilogy, as well as the Nadia Stafford crime series. Armstrong lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids and far too many pets.
Today, she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves, while safely locked away in her basement writing dungeon. She's the author of the NYT-bestselling "Women of the Otherworld" paranormal suspense series and "Darkest Powers" young adult urban fantasy trilogy, as well as the Nadia Stafford crime series. Armstrong lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids and far too many pets.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews
April 2, 2022
Graphic Novel about Elena's transformation after Clay bites her.
January 4, 2017
Rating: 3.5/5
I won this graphic novel and I have yet to read the series, but it does sound like a good one and I might just need to start on it at some point.
I won this graphic novel and I have yet to read the series, but it does sound like a good one and I might just need to start on it at some point.
August 29, 2022
First read: Sept 2011
Re-read: August 2022
Rating: 4/5 stars
Story #9 in my chronological re-read of the Women of the Otherworld series
Becoming picks up immediately after the events of Beginnings, with Elena newly bitten and Jeremy struggling to pick up the pieces of Clay’s reckless actions. Unlike all the previous Otherworld stories, this one is told in the form of a graphic novel, which is a really good choice. There are a lot of dark, bleak moments for Elena here, and it is much easier for the reader to process those events in this visual style, as opposed to being inside Elena’s mind for every awful thing that happens.
One thing the story does well is explain why Elena is so hostile to Clay at the beginning of Bitten, which I originally read years before this graphic novel was published. I always felt a little sorry for Clay, because he obviously desperately loves Elena, and she couldn’t get over what he’d done to her. Knowing more of Elena’s back story definitely allows the reader to gain more sympathy for Elena’s position in Bitten. During the course of figuring out what has happened to her, Elena is . Eventually Jeremy tracks her down and she accepts his help to understand what she has become.
In the print version of Becoming there is another section which focuses on the pack legacy, (I can’t remember if I read it before). It is great for a details/world-building/trivia geek like me, but there is too much trivia to summarise here. It covers everything from the origins of the Pack in America, previous female werewolves and what happened to them, all the way up to entries on Clay and Elena. There is also a character guide and a guide to types of half-demons and their abilities; something which at this point in the series hasn’t been explored in detail yet.
My only criticisms are that I felt Elena’s story of what happened to her was too short; there were time jumps of ‘three days later’ and ‘four days later’ which could have been actually explored. I also felt that the font used on the ‘legacy’ section was very hard to read, as it was meant to look like old-fashioned handwriting.
Re-read: August 2022
Rating: 4/5 stars
Story #9 in my chronological re-read of the Women of the Otherworld series
Becoming picks up immediately after the events of Beginnings, with Elena newly bitten and Jeremy struggling to pick up the pieces of Clay’s reckless actions. Unlike all the previous Otherworld stories, this one is told in the form of a graphic novel, which is a really good choice. There are a lot of dark, bleak moments for Elena here, and it is much easier for the reader to process those events in this visual style, as opposed to being inside Elena’s mind for every awful thing that happens.
One thing the story does well is explain why Elena is so hostile to Clay at the beginning of Bitten, which I originally read years before this graphic novel was published. I always felt a little sorry for Clay, because he obviously desperately loves Elena, and she couldn’t get over what he’d done to her. Knowing more of Elena’s back story definitely allows the reader to gain more sympathy for Elena’s position in Bitten. During the course of figuring out what has happened to her, Elena is . Eventually Jeremy tracks her down and she accepts his help to understand what she has become.
In the print version of Becoming there is another section which focuses on the pack legacy, (I can’t remember if I read it before). It is great for a details/world-building/trivia geek like me, but there is too much trivia to summarise here. It covers everything from the origins of the Pack in America, previous female werewolves and what happened to them, all the way up to entries on Clay and Elena. There is also a character guide and a guide to types of half-demons and their abilities; something which at this point in the series hasn’t been explored in detail yet.
My only criticisms are that I felt Elena’s story of what happened to her was too short; there were time jumps of ‘three days later’ and ‘four days later’ which could have been actually explored. I also felt that the font used on the ‘legacy’ section was very hard to read, as it was meant to look like old-fashioned handwriting.
July 13, 2015
2.5 stars
Somewhat entertaining, the characters and story were quite cheesy and predictable, but I guess it was good seeing a little more of Elena's backstory. I wasn't all that impressed with the artwork, it was just average.
Somewhat entertaining, the characters and story were quite cheesy and predictable, but I guess it was good seeing a little more of Elena's backstory. I wasn't all that impressed with the artwork, it was just average.
February 28, 2021
This is a great little peak into what Elena went through after being bitten by Clay.
April 20, 2011
I loved it. I'm a huge fan of Kelley Armstrong and I'm also a huge fan of graphic novels, so when my favorite novels are made into graphic novels, then I have to check them out. I was so glad I checked this one out, but I can't believe I didn't already read this. What took me so long?
If you read Woman Of The Otherworld novels already, then this is a must read. Even if you didn't read the series and you are planning on it, then you can read this first and see how it all started for Elena and Clay.
'Becoming' takes you into what happened to Elena after she was bitten by Clay. This time in Elena's life was dark and brooding. You get to see how her relationship with Clay was like after the bite and you get to get a visual of her world.
I loved the artwork and of course the storyline. It may only be 28 pages, but it packs a punch.
I recommend it for anyone who's read or plans on reading the 'Woman of the Otherworld' series.
If you read Woman Of The Otherworld novels already, then this is a must read. Even if you didn't read the series and you are planning on it, then you can read this first and see how it all started for Elena and Clay.
'Becoming' takes you into what happened to Elena after she was bitten by Clay. This time in Elena's life was dark and brooding. You get to see how her relationship with Clay was like after the bite and you get to get a visual of her world.
I loved the artwork and of course the storyline. It may only be 28 pages, but it packs a punch.
I recommend it for anyone who's read or plans on reading the 'Woman of the Otherworld' series.
June 4, 2011
It seemed we were waiting ages for this one. There's basically three editions of it
The online edition, which is free on the author's website.
The Indy Planet Edition, which is from an independant, print on demand company
And the Subterreanen Press edition, which will be coming out in August
This reveiw is for the Indy Planet Edition
First of all, the art is pretty good, if a bit dark in places (I mean the colouring, not the story, though it is grim). I quite like the art and want to see more from the artist. However, I think that the graphic novel could have been longer, as it seems that a lot of it was edited out and things would have been explained better if there had been more text in it. For the art alone I would have given it three stars and for the story one star (which would have made it four stars in total).
Now on to the binding/printing part of it - I don't like the cover - (the artwork is fine, though) because it's glossy and you leave messy finger prints all over it. A matte cover would have been better. The binding is particuraly poor - there's an excellant two-page spread of Elena which depicts her trying to escape which is well excecuted in the online pdf version, but which is ruined in the Indy Planet version by cutting off half the centre. The same also happens to the picture of Clay as a wolf over two pages. The paper quality is poor as is the actual printing, as the ink doesn't seem to bond well onto the paper, espeacially the black ink as it's patchy. At the end, there's a series of experimental art for the comic which wasn't used because it came out wrong, and a step by step walk through of how the cover image was made. I like the art, but I don't like the way it's been laid out on the page. It's almost as if someone put it together in a Word program and looks tacky. In short, the presentation of the graphic novel by Indy Planet really lets the comic down.
Yeah, you can get a luxuary edition from Sub Press, but the length of the story doesn't really justify the cost ($45 in the US, £27 in the UK, plus £10 shipping, making it £37. (Don't know how much it is for US shipping).
So for the binding/printing of the comic, I give it two starts out of five and overall, three stars. Bear in mind that it would have been four overall had the quality of the printing had been better. For those of you considering the Sub Press edition, I would read it online first to see if you think the story is worth the money for a luxuary edition, which I don't think it is.
The online edition, which is free on the author's website.
The Indy Planet Edition, which is from an independant, print on demand company
And the Subterreanen Press edition, which will be coming out in August
This reveiw is for the Indy Planet Edition
First of all, the art is pretty good, if a bit dark in places (I mean the colouring, not the story, though it is grim). I quite like the art and want to see more from the artist. However, I think that the graphic novel could have been longer, as it seems that a lot of it was edited out and things would have been explained better if there had been more text in it. For the art alone I would have given it three stars and for the story one star (which would have made it four stars in total).
Now on to the binding/printing part of it - I don't like the cover - (the artwork is fine, though) because it's glossy and you leave messy finger prints all over it. A matte cover would have been better. The binding is particuraly poor - there's an excellant two-page spread of Elena which depicts her trying to escape which is well excecuted in the online pdf version, but which is ruined in the Indy Planet version by cutting off half the centre. The same also happens to the picture of Clay as a wolf over two pages. The paper quality is poor as is the actual printing, as the ink doesn't seem to bond well onto the paper, espeacially the black ink as it's patchy. At the end, there's a series of experimental art for the comic which wasn't used because it came out wrong, and a step by step walk through of how the cover image was made. I like the art, but I don't like the way it's been laid out on the page. It's almost as if someone put it together in a Word program and looks tacky. In short, the presentation of the graphic novel by Indy Planet really lets the comic down.
Yeah, you can get a luxuary edition from Sub Press, but the length of the story doesn't really justify the cost ($45 in the US, £27 in the UK, plus £10 shipping, making it £37. (Don't know how much it is for US shipping).
So for the binding/printing of the comic, I give it two starts out of five and overall, three stars. Bear in mind that it would have been four overall had the quality of the printing had been better. For those of you considering the Sub Press edition, I would read it online first to see if you think the story is worth the money for a luxuary edition, which I don't think it is.
April 28, 2020
REREAD 2020
Compared to Bitten, I've only read this comic once. Now, as then, I had some trouble with it. The art isn't quite my cup of tea, and the format of the book is messy - the middle part of the pages is cut strangly, making the speads and even the normal pages hard to read.
I also had some trouble with how the story was told. It isn't as dark or animalistic as it is described in the book. It's a stupid thing to get hung up on, but I did.
I do like the Legacy pages, however! They're really interesting, as long as I think of them as written AFTER the series is over. And the last two spreads with Clay just breaks my heart.
So not a bad comic, but not something I reread for the fun of it. One could say that's because of the tone of the story, but I don't mind that. It's more about the quality of the book, unfortunatly.
Keeping the original rating.
------------------------------------------------------
Original rating: 3/5 stars
Compared to Bitten, I've only read this comic once. Now, as then, I had some trouble with it. The art isn't quite my cup of tea, and the format of the book is messy - the middle part of the pages is cut strangly, making the speads and even the normal pages hard to read.
I also had some trouble with how the story was told. It isn't as dark or animalistic as it is described in the book. It's a stupid thing to get hung up on, but I did.
I do like the Legacy pages, however! They're really interesting, as long as I think of them as written AFTER the series is over. And the last two spreads with Clay just breaks my heart.
So not a bad comic, but not something I reread for the fun of it. One could say that's because of the tone of the story, but I don't mind that. It's more about the quality of the book, unfortunatly.
Keeping the original rating.
------------------------------------------------------
Original rating: 3/5 stars
August 8, 2011
This graphic novel was started on Kelley Armstrong's website as a free story. It was later published print on demand as a perfect bound graphic novel, and now finally as a limited hardcover edition by Subterranean Press.
In the first book of the Women of the Underworld series, we meet Elena who has been a werewolf for some time. "Becoming" goes back to how it began - with Clay biting Elena so that they can stay together. It's a story that isn't necesary to the chronology, but one that fans will love. And, it lends itself perfectly to the graphic novel format. This story needs to be seen, not just read. The artwork by Angilram is rich and beautiful, and corresponds well to the dark story Armstrong has written. The colors are bold, done in lots of red and black to evoke the terror, rage and hunger Elena endures through her transformation. Overall, an excellent prequel that is well worth reading.
In the first book of the Women of the Underworld series, we meet Elena who has been a werewolf for some time. "Becoming" goes back to how it began - with Clay biting Elena so that they can stay together. It's a story that isn't necesary to the chronology, but one that fans will love. And, it lends itself perfectly to the graphic novel format. This story needs to be seen, not just read. The artwork by Angilram is rich and beautiful, and corresponds well to the dark story Armstrong has written. The colors are bold, done in lots of red and black to evoke the terror, rage and hunger Elena endures through her transformation. Overall, an excellent prequel that is well worth reading.
July 23, 2013
you can read it for free here http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/becoming/
Read just now, quick read!
As I am not familiar with otherworld series I did not understand it entirely and that might have hurt my enjoyment.
Another thing, I did not like the illustrations. Just not my type.
If you read the otherworld series you might enjoy it, tit was a bit scary but I have the feeling that a written version would be much better, as from the little glimpse I had in some another work but her it was obvious that the woman is a GREAT storyteller.
Read just now, quick read!
As I am not familiar with otherworld series I did not understand it entirely and that might have hurt my enjoyment.
Another thing, I did not like the illustrations. Just not my type.
If you read the otherworld series you might enjoy it, tit was a bit scary but I have the feeling that a written version would be much better, as from the little glimpse I had in some another work but her it was obvious that the woman is a GREAT storyteller.
September 6, 2011
It was interesting - it was told as a comic strip - not what I was expecting, but interesting none the less. The hardest thing for me was that Jeremy looked nothing at all like I imagined. Oh well. At least I saw some insite into Elena's story when she was first bitten.
September 7, 2011
Some of the panels were deliciously gory. Alas, I felt nothing for the characters despite the intense situations they found themselves in. It's a pity. This could have potentially been a gritty and visceral work. Instead it planted the seeds of a paranormal romance. *sigh* Not really my cuppa.
April 29, 2017
2.5 Paid for the graphic novel and wished I hadn't. There wasn't anything new in the story that wasn't already mentioned in Bitten. The addition of The Legacy at the end was nice, but overall it wasn't worth the twenty bucks.
February 6, 2013
Wasn't a big fan of the graphic novel, wasn't bad but could have just been a small add on to the other short on the same subject
February 11, 2013
Ah.. I loved it! It's AMAZIMG! This graphic is about after Clay bit Elena! The pictures are so beautiful! It made me goose bump as well! :D
April 15, 2017
I think I would have enjoyed this more if it was in a short story format instead of a graphic novel.
July 21, 2019
Short story with not much new content. I love the series but this novella was 'eh' for me. The art style wasn't my favorite either.
January 27, 2018
A graphic novel (0.9 of the Otherworld series) that can be purchased on the author’s website in PDF form for just a few dollars. There’s a lot more than just the one story making it quite a bargain for the price.
It’s the story of the days after Elena was bitten by Clay and goes into denial trying to keep her human life. Which is continued in the book ‘Bitten’
After the main graphic story there are several add-ons. The Legacy, Becoming circa 1989: a record of pack laws, rules, history, etc. with photos from Europe to current day with Jeremy. A short graphic book scene from a remorseful Clay’s POV. There are also pages of sketches and bloopers, a chronological list of the Otherworld books, a character guide and a guide to half-demon abilities.
The art was okay, but I didn’t like the way Elena looks as a wolf. And I’m not used to the comic form so I feel it could have used more detail. Fortunately I was able to fill in the details from the other books.
Fave scene: Elena in the phone booth.
It’s the story of the days after Elena was bitten by Clay and goes into denial trying to keep her human life. Which is continued in the book ‘Bitten’
After the main graphic story there are several add-ons. The Legacy, Becoming circa 1989: a record of pack laws, rules, history, etc. with photos from Europe to current day with Jeremy. A short graphic book scene from a remorseful Clay’s POV. There are also pages of sketches and bloopers, a chronological list of the Otherworld books, a character guide and a guide to half-demon abilities.
The art was okay, but I didn’t like the way Elena looks as a wolf. And I’m not used to the comic form so I feel it could have used more detail. Fortunately I was able to fill in the details from the other books.
Fave scene: Elena in the phone booth.
July 20, 2021
I happened to stumble upon the series Bitten on Netflix just this year. I loved it! And of course thought it was way too short.. I couldn't believe my luck when I realized there were so many more stories in the Otherworld universe to be told. I also understood from reviews that the series deviated a lot from the books.
So after I finished the series, on a dreary Sunday afternoon, I set about researching all the stories that are part of this wonderful series. I downloaded the full story list, researched every single one to find out where I could get it, downloaded all the online stories in PDF and am now making my way down the list.
I decided to 'reset' my mind and start reading everything in order of timeline. And I AM LOVING EVERY SECOND OF IT! And this graphic novel? Just WOW. So well done and I loved the "The Legacy" diary entries as well. It gave so much more background!
I will continue reading this series with great pleasure. I love immersing myself in this world and so far, I never want this journey to end.. ❤
So after I finished the series, on a dreary Sunday afternoon, I set about researching all the stories that are part of this wonderful series. I downloaded the full story list, researched every single one to find out where I could get it, downloaded all the online stories in PDF and am now making my way down the list.
I decided to 'reset' my mind and start reading everything in order of timeline. And I AM LOVING EVERY SECOND OF IT! And this graphic novel? Just WOW. So well done and I loved the "The Legacy" diary entries as well. It gave so much more background!
I will continue reading this series with great pleasure. I love immersing myself in this world and so far, I never want this journey to end.. ❤
July 22, 2022
Three reasons to read Becoming:
1) The artwork is impressive. It has a lot of detail and isn't afraid to be realistically grimy and violent. I could quite happily sit and stare at each panel for 5+ minutes. The last graphic novel I read I barely paid attention to the art.
2) It's been mentioned in other books from this series how hellish the transformation process after being bitten is, but it was always a fairly toned down description. I didn't fully grasp the extent of the torture until I saw the artwork for it. It conveyed in one panel the full horror of it.
3) The Legacy pages are a really nice addition and cover fascinating stuff.
One drawback to Becoming:
1) Clay's two pages at the end are more interesting than all of Elena's because everything in Elena's panels has already been shared in the main books, so there's nothing new.
1) The artwork is impressive. It has a lot of detail and isn't afraid to be realistically grimy and violent. I could quite happily sit and stare at each panel for 5+ minutes. The last graphic novel I read I barely paid attention to the art.
2) It's been mentioned in other books from this series how hellish the transformation process after being bitten is, but it was always a fairly toned down description. I didn't fully grasp the extent of the torture until I saw the artwork for it. It conveyed in one panel the full horror of it.
3) The Legacy pages are a really nice addition and cover fascinating stuff.
One drawback to Becoming:
1) Clay's two pages at the end are more interesting than all of Elena's because everything in Elena's panels has already been shared in the main books, so there's nothing new.
May 7, 2022
LOVED but
This was a great read. I’ve always wanted to read Elena journey though the change. I though it would be In book form in Jeremy pov (was my hope) but I liked this way just fine except for pages 55-59 which I couldn’t read the writing so I have no ideas what it says and pages 71-93 where bloopers and book and book character names. Which sucked it wasn’t much to read. I got this off her website so I can read it though my kindle.
This was a great read. I’ve always wanted to read Elena journey though the change. I though it would be In book form in Jeremy pov (was my hope) but I liked this way just fine except for pages 55-59 which I couldn’t read the writing so I have no ideas what it says and pages 71-93 where bloopers and book and book character names. Which sucked it wasn’t much to read. I got this off her website so I can read it though my kindle.
February 2, 2018
Interesting but I would have liked to see more Clay and some of the artwork just looked a bit weird. Elena could look very masculine on one page and very fragile on the next. Also the wolf characters were interesting but some looked really really weird.
January 28, 2023
Good writing but the art is so bad it's a distraction. There wasn't enough of a story to justify buying/reading this but it wasn't bad writing wise, just forgettable. The art is two out of 5 stars but since I love Kelley armstrong so much I gave it three.
December 5, 2017
I liked it, the illustrations were beautiful and I love Elena's story.
May 6, 2020
It was good - graphic novels just aren't really my thing. I prefer my own imagination : )
June 22, 2020
I love that Otherworld is a mixed media series! But, to make a broad generalization, comics just aren't my "thing."
January 12, 2024
Loved the artwork and seeing how Elena reacts to the change is so sad, hopefully her story only gets better from here.
February 17, 2017
I can understand why Armstrong didn’t want to turn the tales of Elena’s turning into a short story. Whilst I was always curious about those months, even year after she was bitten, reading the story would have been depressing in the extreme. However, displaying this story as a graphic novel not only helps to impart the violence, anguish and confusion of the time, it also allowed a window into the experiences of Elena and helped to explain some of her actions throughout Bitten.
Displaying Becoming as a graphic novel not only assisted in highlighting the violence and emotional turmoil that Elena went through in her change, but it also helped to wade through a lot of the heady repetition that such a tale would have required. I spent an amazing hour reading this again and again as I looked through the amazing artwork. Every time I glanced over an image, I was able to find another aspect of the artwork that I had missed.
Displaying Becoming as a graphic novel not only assisted in highlighting the violence and emotional turmoil that Elena went through in her change, but it also helped to wade through a lot of the heady repetition that such a tale would have required. I spent an amazing hour reading this again and again as I looked through the amazing artwork. Every time I glanced over an image, I was able to find another aspect of the artwork that I had missed.
September 30, 2015
I read this graphic novel previously but read it again in order to re-acclimate myself to the werewolves of the Otherworld series. This is probably my favorite graphic novel to date, although my history with them is limited. The graphic novel upholds the "graphic" aspect of its name and shows some pretty gruesome transformations for Elena and subsequent consequences of her becoming a werewolf. The transformation process is not quite as smooth as it is in my head but that is probably because I often skip the difficult part and just picture a gorgeous wolf, better on my mind's eyes that way! Becoming follows the story about how Elena comes to be a werewolf well, it is not vague and does not skip key bits of information (which other GN seem to do). I think Armstrong does an excellent job with the werewolf sub-genre and her collaboration with the artist was well-done.
July 2, 2013
I really liked Becoming, it works as an excellent prequel to the series and the quick pace and sharp, graphic art really brings to surface Elena's feelings of rage, confusion and desperation. There were a few panels, in particular one where Elena is changing and terrified and Jeremy is sitting and watching with this powerful expression of sorrow/regret/suffering..I don't know but it was very strong for me.
Admittedly, it was short. I won my copy so I'm not complaining; and I think this story worked so well as a graphic as opposed to prose because of how dark it is. Elena is not in a happy place and I think the prose would've been much darker than the overall tone in the series and maybe made Clay too unforgivable. After seeing how she suffers in the comic I can understand why she stayed away for ten years.
Admittedly, it was short. I won my copy so I'm not complaining; and I think this story worked so well as a graphic as opposed to prose because of how dark it is. Elena is not in a happy place and I think the prose would've been much darker than the overall tone in the series and maybe made Clay too unforgivable. After seeing how she suffers in the comic I can understand why she stayed away for ten years.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews