I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I laughed out loud many times.

Allen is not the typical son of a hero. He’s nerdy and weak. He’s not like Thor, who is just as strong as his father, and able to complete his father’s tasks. This story takes that typical father-son heroic story and flips it.

There were many strange creatures along the way, that were just so weird and funny. They met horse-donkeys, animals with the head of a horse and body of a donkey. Everyone was freaked out by these creatures, even though they look pretty ordinary. There were also owls wearing hats and three foot tall “giants.”

There was a point when the creators of the book appeared in the story. I love when this meta technique is used, drawing attention to the fact that this is a graphic novel.

There were some graphic parts of the story (i.e. A head being ripped off a body) and lots of sexual innuendo, so this book is for a mature audience.

This was a really funny story. You should read it if you want to read something a little different from the typical heroic graphic novel.

'Allen: Son of Hellcock' by Gabe Koplowitz and Will Tracy with art by Miguel Porto and Kendra Wells was a title I was a bit skeptical about when I read the synopsis.

Hellcock and his band of heroes have had their day, but those days ended when Hellcock was eaten by a dragon (it happens early on, so consider this a non-spoiler). Years later, his son Allen is being badgered by the ghost of his dad, but Allen is not cut from the same cloth. Hellcock's old nemesis, Lord Krong, has the same problem with his son, Kaarl, except Kaarl seems bent on stirring up trouble. So Allen gets his dad's old gang together, and hits the adventuring trail. Can this fatherly disappointment save the day and make his ghost dad proud?

It could have gone either way, but, surprisingly, I thought it worked. The art is fairly clever too. The joke runs a bit thin, but the authors bring in some things that break the fourth wall and give the story some new angles. I found Allen a likeable character, even in his clumsy ineptness. Perhaps I could relate.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Z2 Comics, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

Alvin, sorry Allen: Son of Hellcock is a hack and slash fantasy story with heroes and villains, dragons and wizards, quests and taverns... And it's also a meta-comedy poking fun at both fantasy stories and comic books. The humour is pretty random, almost surreal in a couple of places, and can be a little hit and miss. But, when it misses it's not bad so you don't have to endure cringing, and when it hits the jokes are funny enough that you forget you just read the previous punchline with a straight face.

The core plot/running joke of Allen and Kaarl being pale imitations of their fathers Hellcock and Krong is pretty clever. The fathers are throwbacks and the sons are modern people. It's a joke that could easily be a trainwreck but it works rather well.

All in all it's a fun and easy read. It's not got the depth to make it truly compulsive, but it's quirky and fun, and if you know the genres you can join the authors in affectionately chuckling at the cliches and tropes that you know and love.

Allen, Son of Hellcock is the story of two sons trying to live up to their legendary fathers. Hellcock is legendary for his exploits but has recently been killed in battle. In Hellcock's absence, his rival, Lord Krong, has taken control of the region. Hellcock's ghost is egging Allen on to avenge his death. Meanwhile, Lord Krong's son, Kaarl, is spoiling for a chance to prove he is as evil as his father. Unfortunately, neither son have any innate talent for fighting.

I had high expectations for Allen, Son of Hellcock. The author writes for the Onion and Last Week Tonight. I was expecting laugh-out-loud moments. Unfortunately, there are only a few vaguely humorous scenes. My favorite part was when the authors broke through the fourth wall and appeared as themselves. They had a few good lines satirizing the book's plot as too derivative. Basically, that was my issue with Allen, Son of Hellcock as well. However, the comic was a pleasant way to spend a few hours so 3 stars.

Thanks to the publisher, Z2 Comics, and netgalley for an advance review copy in exchange for my honest review. Allen, Son of Hellcock will be published January 9, 2018.

I knew this was either gonna be hilarious or just really really bad, unfortunately it was the later. Look, satire/parody isn't just "we're going to use all the standard fantasy tropes and the story is going to progress and end the exact same way it normally would but we're gonna throw a few jokes in and also a page where we break the fourth wall to say that's what we're doing" and replacing your main muscle-head guy with a tiny nerdy guy might have been ~groundbreaking~ twenty years ago but it's nothing new now. All I see is a standard fantasy story with ONE female character who is waaaaay more competent than any of the male characters but gets none of the credit [also not groundbreaking by the way] and at the end falls in love with the 'hero' for literally no reason and with no build up other than "oh it's a fantasy story and the guy has to win the girl when he wins everything else!" even though she mostly found him annoying for the entire story. I was seriously going to bump this up to 3 stars if only they didn't end up together at the end but no such luck. It got 2 stars instead of 1 because they are some genuinely funny parts but overall it just fell flat.

A very interesting graphic novel. Lots to love in this one. Looking forward to more.