Plot is a pretty straightforward hero's journey, though well executed. What makes this stand out is the art, design/page layout, and color. Definitely worth reading for that. Sometimes ease of reading was sacrificed in favor of those; the contrast wasn't always high enough between foreground, background, speech bubbles, and even different characters. (Several characters have more than one head, which doesn't make it easier to tell when you're supposed to be looking at a group scene vs. some kind of monster. ...you could make an argument for that being an intentional choice in a couple places, tho.) ( )

I dig the art style, the mechas, and the elaborate, beautiful flat coloring. I even like the idea of a robot underclass, “builder bots,” rebelling against the higher caste robots, and the basic premise of the story.

But I think the execution was confusing. There was the evil Serpent, then the gods who gifted a weapon to Pyx(?), robots getting corrupted, and so on... The trio got close too fast. The MC was amazed that a character was being nice to her, and I was like you just met them. You don’t know her enough to know if she’s always surly or not. Maybe time was passing quickly, but I didn’t see that distinction.

Overall, I was a little lost with the story, and it was difficult, at times, to decipher whether Sagitta or Pyx was talking. The lore seemed interesting, and it may have worked with better pacing. Like, over two volumes? The artwork was endearing though. Just visually-appealing. ( )

I received this eARC from Image Comics via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of this book in any way.

“It’s pretty simple. A world built on genocide and slavery isn’t a world worth existing!”

The Art

THE COLORS!!!!

This was beautiful!!!! The color palate was so so so lovely, and even thematically significant, which I haven’t really seen a comic do before (despite the obviousness of it all; it’s a visual medium, the images ought to mean something). It goes from deep, dark blues to creamy pinks and I absolutely adored it. The character designs were excellent as well, lending itself to an Adventure Time meets Steven Universe style that was both cute and awe-inspiring.

The Story

It is my understanding that this was originally published as a webcomic. I guess that means I need to read more webcomics, because this was great!

It had a wonderful message and a lot of very cool lore. The worldbuilding definitely could have been done a little better, but I was able to figure out some stuff on my own and it didn’t bother me too much.

As far as characters go, I really liked them! Our MC was great, as was Sagitta, but honestly, Pyx was my absolute favorite. He was so cute and helpful and just such a cinnamon roll!

The plot progressed well, the visual medium and it’s shifting colors aiding that progression nicely. I really liked the villain and the symbolism behind it. It was very biblical while also relevant to modern issues.

TL;DR & Conclusion

I really enjoyed this and I’m so happy I got the chance to read it! It’s a very emotionally moving tale excellent for any age. And it’s just plain pretty to look at! ( )