Peter WartmanBesprekingen

I wouldn't normally rate something this short and random, but I had such a strong reaction to reading this that I felt like I had to.

How did this get published? More importantly, how did the author spend so much time on excellent illustration to tell a story that is so mind mindbogglingly terrible? I'm not even sure what the target audience is here, but it feels too creepy for small children and so devoid of purpose for anyone else.

Unfortunate, since the art was good.

Good start! Hope the rest of this story comes out someday; I think I've read approximately the same beginning in a few different formats now? Oops. Indie comics are hard.

This is was a super powerful read and using some of your favorite characters to share this powerful story was really impactful. It has dived into aspects of racism and also how racism is represented in different populations. it also had some elements of and some quotes that really stuck to with me. I loved seeing the gang back together and the new characters we met.

This is was a super powerful read and using some of your favorite characters to share this powerful story was really impactful. It has dived into aspects of racism and also how racism is represented in different populations. it also had some elements of and some quotes that really stuck to with me. I loved seeing the gang back together and the new characters we met.

I picked this up a bit ago and for some reason didn't read it right away. A story about a young girl who wants to save the brother she is beginning to forget, this is a quickly paced volume.

Anya doesn't stop - not when presented with a demon from the stories, not when she finds her brother (broken and forgetting himself) and not even when a greater demon (a Named demon) threatens her.

We're given much of the background of the world in chunks, though even that is still somewhat sparse compared to how much we learn about Anya through her actions.

I wanted to know more about the stories (the humans say the demons got greedy, the demons say the humans became cruel) and the Old City. The magic that fuels the barrier and reasons why the rift happened.

Luckily for me this is a series and I have book two (Stonebreaker) waiting for me.

This graphic novel did absolutely nothing for me. Girl sneaks out and goes through "portal" type thing to an empty city that has only demons, as the humans have moved out and hope to recapture the city one day. The send 16-year olds each year, but this year our main character's brother did not return. She will find him and return him. She meets a nice demon to help her and escapes the bad demon, dragging her brother back.

A cosy and occasionally funny story about Rayla and Callum, as their grief, fear and budding romance between season 3 and 4 sets the stage for what's to come. I appreciate a tie-in story being this intrinsically connected to the main plotlines. This feels pleasantly like an important story that easily could have been its own episode of the show, rather than the standalone, forgettable tale I was expecting.

Loved the TV series on Netflix too! A great Fantasy with everything you need packed for an awesome read...

3.5 stars.

All super nice and cute, but doesn't really add anything.

Some very good bones here (demons eating the names of humans, using those names as a shield against magic, being given a name, the history of the town, the ritual of the boys...), but not enough space to fully develop them.

Short, but builds nicely on the storyline from the first novel (not graphic novel), and series. The artwork, though simpler, reflects the spirit and characters of the series well. Too much of the story will contain spoilers so suffice to say, if you are enjoying the series on television, then you will enjoy where this graphic novel takes us. This is effectively book 2, but warning, does end in a cliffhanger.½

Series Info/Source: This is the first volume in the Dragon Prince Graphic Novel series. My son got this as a Christmas gift and I borrowed it from him to read.

Story (3/5): This is a short story that takes place after the most recent episode of the Dragon Prince (I think we left that in season two or three?). If you haven’t watched the Netflix series (which is absolutely amazing BTW) you will be completely confused by what is happening here. This is just a little blip of a story and honestly doesn’t add a lot to the broader story on the Netflix series. It is done in keeping with the style of the Netflix series though and was okay.

Characters (3/5): The characters stay true to form with the Netflix series. I didn’t feel like there was a ton of growth and there are a lot of characters from that series kind of shoved into this book. Again, I do love the characters from this series but felt like their representation here was just okay.

Setting (3/5): The Moon Nexus was interesting but again I feel like the magical, beautiful settings of the Netflix series weren’t as well portrayed in graphic novel format. It was okay but lacking a lot of the magic and beauty of the cartoon.

Writing/Drawing Style (3/5): In keeping with the theme of the rest of this review, this was okay. The drawing style stayed true to the cartoon, it just wasn’t quite as lush and beautiful. The writing style kept the same ironic tone of the cartoon but just wasn’t as humorous and funny. This whole thing was like a weak and unnecessary shadow to the original cartoon series.

My Summary (3/5): Overall this was okay but definitely something I could have skipped reading. Unless you are a seriously diehard Dragon Prince fan I would skip this. Me and my family absolutely adore the Dragon Prince Netflix cartoon series, but still felt that this was just kind of unnecessary and blah. I would recommend skipping and just wait for the next Dragon Prince season to release.

With this volume, the Avatar continuation comics switch from being by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru to Faith Erin Hicks and Peter Wartman. It's an effective transition. I liked Yang's writing overall, but though he captured the characters well in dialogue, I didn't always feels that he did a great job with their actions, and a couple of his installments felt sort of aimless. Hicks knocks it out of the park right out of the gate (now there's a mixed metaphor for you). All of Team Avatar have a strong sense of voice, but also their personalities and predilections really shine through. Aang struggles with how to balance disparate communities when there's no villain as obvious as a Fire Lord; Toph discovers a talent for investigating; Sokka provides humor and humanity. Only Katara feels somewhat superfluous, not really fulfilling a narrative role other than Aang's girlfriend. The story does a good job setting up much of what we will see in The Legend of Korra, and Hicks explores timely themes of "reverse discrimination." Plus the jokes are good, which is of course important for Avatar.

Wartman's art apes the style of the cartoon less than Gurihiru's; his linework looks more like comics linework, with variable thickness, than the smooth linework of Gurihiru. Your mileage may very (I am sure someone wants this to closely ape the tv show), but I liked it more as a result. He has a strong sense of character. Like the Yang/Gurihiru "Library Editions," this one includes marginal notes from the creators. Yang was always a smart commentator, but I found Gurihiru's insights a bit bland; thankfully, Wartman has much more to say about his own creative process than Gurihiru did.

Another worthwhile installment of this series, which is why it surprises me to learn that Dark Horse is abandoning the post-tv trilogy format in favor of a series of standalones set during the tv run for future Hicks/Wartman volumes. Not sure what what's about, but I will be there regardless.

I loved the art and this story was fantastic. It was a tiny bit short, and I wanted more, but I loved the characters and the demon was adorable. Yes, good.

This story follows a young woman as she deals with trying to make a living by scavenging in the ruins of an ancient city filled with monsters, and as she is judged and criticized by the other people in her town for her decision to do so, when that is a traditionally male job. When strangers come to town and break into the city, it's up to her to protect them from the monsters.

I understand this is a middle volume of a larger series, so I'm sure I'm missing some nuance in my grasp of events in this book, but I really liked the characters, and the art style was dynamic and fit the story. I would definitely be interested in reading more of this series.

So the second book in the series wasn't as magical as the first one. I think its because there is more story. Similar to the first book, its mostly pictures, but we find out more about the world, what happened to the city, what the demons actually are. The mystery isn’t so mysterious anymore. That isn't a bad thing, because the book is gorgeous, and is told more through illustrations, than actual dialogue. I really can't wait for the next one to be available.½

Fast-paced fantasy comic

What I Enjoyed: Although I haven't read the first book in this series, Wartman does a decent job of creating a standalone plot. We get to know the characters in multiple omniscient third party point of views, with meaningful color breaks while switching. Each character is intriguing in their own right, and I look forward to seeing what happens to them in the next one!

The Downside: I wasn't sure if there will be a third comic? The end of the story certainly points to more of the story. Perhaps after the author is done working on the next Airbender...

Overall Rating: 4 stars - An enjoyable fantasy read with interesting subplots and characters.

I enjoyed Over the Wall, the first volume of the Stonebreaker Chronicles a great deal, but the second (and titular) volume Stonebreaker is perhaps an even stronger work. With Stonebreaker, it seems as though Wartman's narrative has found its true start point, positioning Over the Wall as more of a prequel. Stonebreaker takes place several years after Over the Wall. While the comic continues to follow the story of Anya and Toris, it also introduces new characters and perspectives as well as additional dimensions and depth to the comic's worldbuilding. The series has also evolved visually, Hartman using different color scheme to reflect different time periods, settings, and points of view to great effect. Stonebreaker is an immensely enjoyable, engaging, and satisfying read; I look forward to seeing how Wartman develops the series further in future volumesm½

My first ever graphic novel to review and I absolutely loved it!! I may have a new found love. So well written, the graphics are amazing, I am 100% impressed

Enjoyable read, and the art is the real hero here. I received this through the Early reviewer program and was not able to read Over the Wall beforehand - I’ll have to pick that up, and the third when I’m able to!

So for a bit of history, a long time ago, this was the very first webcomic I actually read, all the way through (to what was posted). I than promptly forgot the site existed, as well as the story - so when I saw that the second volume was on early reviewers - it brought back a lot of memories, and I had to have it. Of course, I needed to reread the first volume, and since I now have money, I bought a physical copy.

Onto the actual review - this is such a lovely book. We have a story of a girl looking for her brother. He didn't return from the trip to the city with the rest of his group during an initiating ceremony. Whats even more bizarre, is that Anya is the only person to remember him.

The book is loving illustrated, with a great style in tones of purple and black. The city is a great mystery, filled with interesting characters, both scary and not. Unfortunately, its not a stand alone series - which can be seriously annoying since this is a series that grabs you, leaving you to want more.½

I received this book as part of LibraryThing's Early reviewer program.
I enjoyed both this graphic novel and it's prequel Over the Wall. Interesting world and mythology as portrayed through the eyes of the protagonist Anya. Good artwork, not a lot of dialogue, made for a really quick read. Hope there will be more to come.

Stone Breaker is the second book in a series titled the Stonebreaker Chronicles by Peter Wartman following the book Over the Wall. This story continues following the journeys of girl named Anya, her brother, and her friend Toris (a friendly Demon). This adventurous tail weaves together back story from the main characters while introducing two new mysterious travelers. The artwork in this graphic novel is beautifully done. The story captures your imaginations and leaves the reader craving both more detail about this mysterious town and what will follow the dramatic cliffhanger.