Why do men always have to ruin a good premise with unneccessary weird sexual shit and edgy behavior? I PROMISE you, you want combust if you don't include rapey and sexualized themes in your dark story. Don't get me wrong, I know that behavior depicted is the reality, but why bother making up a FANTASY story if you just include all the bad things that happen to primarly women (though this book was at least "equal" because something skeevy happened to a young man too. Lovely /s.) I just wish men would stop including themes they don't know anything about and which doesn't affect them in their daily life, just to make their story more edgy and dark. I think the detailed depictions of headshots make the story edgy enough :) Aside from that, this graphic novel does have interesting things about it. The core premise with the keys is incredibly intriguing and unique. Big plus points for that and honestly it would've been a four or five star review if it weren't for the mentioned themes above. The themes of grieving and trauma are also mooostly handled well. Tyler is much more complex and sympathetic in this graphic novel than in the TV show. Kinsey was great in the TV show but the trauma of hiding on the roof with Bode was a powerful scene in my opinion. Also I think the artstyle is mostly eh... I don't want to say ugly, but there are better things to look at. To be fair this graphic novel is the quintessential "american comic artstyle", I've definitely seen worse in marvel comics. Dodge looks great, but she always does. This artstyle also makes the ages very confusing. The mother looks as young as Kinsey, uncle Duncan looks like he's 17 years old and Tyler looks like he's 30 years old. I guess it's just too hard to draw women above 30 lol. The fully illustrated pages at the end were quite nice though. I'm not dissing the technique, but rather the aesthetic and appeal of it. All in all I would say watch the TV show if you like your tone more whimsical, it was a great adaption and improved on many things and left out what wasn't necessary. Basically: The TV show is for all ages, you can show it to your child, but the graphic novel is for mature adult audiences only.
Nov 6, 2025
Why do men always have to ruin a good premise with unneccessary weird sexual shit and edgy behavior? I PROMISE you, you want combust if you don't include rapey and sexualized themes in your dark story. Don't get me wrong, I know that behavior depicted is the reality, but why bother making up a FANTASY story if you just include all the bad things that happen to primarly women (though this book was at least "equal" because something skeevy happened to a young man too. Lovely /s.) I just wish men would stop including themes they don't know anything about and which doesn't affect them in their daily life, just to make their story more edgy and dark. I think the detailed depictions of headshots make the story edgy enough :) Aside from that, this graphic novel does have interesting things about it. The core premise with the keys is incredibly intriguing and unique. Big plus points for that and honestly it would've been a four or five star review if it weren't for the mentioned themes above. The themes of grieving and trauma are also mooostly handled well. Tyler is much more complex and sympathetic in this graphic novel than in the TV show. Kinsey was great in the TV show but the trauma of hiding on the roof with Bode was a powerful scene in my opinion. Also I think the artstyle is mostly eh... I don't want to say ugly, but there are better things to look at. To be fair this graphic novel is the quintessential "american comic artstyle", I've definitely seen worse in marvel comics. Dodge looks great, but she always does. This artstyle also makes the ages very confusing. The mother looks as young as Kinsey, uncle Duncan looks like he's 17 years old and Tyler looks like he's 30 years old. I guess it's just too hard to draw women above 30 lol. The fully illustrated pages at the end were quite nice though. I'm not dissing the technique, but rather the aesthetic and appeal of it. All in all I would say watch the TV show if you like your tone more whimsical, it was a great adaption and improved on many things and left out what wasn't necessary. Basically: The TV show is for all ages, you can show it to your child, but the graphic novel is for mature adult audiences only.
Nov 6, 2025
