I enjoyed the story - but would recommend that the cover be changes slightly. Having the woman on the front more closely resemble Nina with her blond hair would be a first step.

There were two potential typos that I noticed.

Pg. 92, 3rd panel, Nina : Current "so we that could" // Should read "so that we could"
Pg 129, 5th panel, Nina: Current "There is and will never be a plan B"// Should read " There isn't and will never be.."

As stated, I enjoyed the story and wonder where Nina and Granger will go and how Nina will deal with the slow discovery that her cousin is a traitor. But it would help if we had back story on Nina and her cousin, how they know each other from childhood to now, and how their lives apart changed them. Nina was a bit quick to just join in, but the second volume could really look into the past to show why these events may have transpired as such in the first volume.

Queen of Kenosha is a riveting unique read from graphic novelist Howard Shapiro. I’m a relative newbie to the format and found myself drawn to the edgy design and compelling story of the young female protagonist in 1960s Greenwich Village, recruited to help an underground group fight Nazism in America. Got a kick, too, out of the suggested musical lists for each chapter. Highly creative, highly recommended!

Thanks to the author, Animal Media Group and NetGalley for the review copy, in exchange for my true opinions.

#QueenOfKenosha #NetGalley

While Queen of Kenosha promises intrigue and an edgy plotline with its description and cover, the story itself falls flat. Most of the comic involves the characters talking about the central ethical conflict, whether it is alright to adopt the tactics of the enemy to defeat the enemy. Or in this case, are civil and human rights violations AOK if you're fighting literal Nazis.

Some attention to that issue should be fine, but with the lack of development of the characters, including the lead (who is the only one with any backstory), the plot and the characters come off very thin. It's less of a thriller and more of a morality play with a very light hint at a potential romance.

That's not to say that the story couldn't be interesting. This is clearly the first in several volumes... I just wasn't particularly hooked. Like others, I think I would've hoped for a little more integration of the musical scene, rather than a playlist at the beginning of every section. (This could be interesting, but obviously, I can't play the playlist, and the songs from Nina haven't been recorded, so the attempt doesn't have the polytextual effect the writer is hoping for.) Not even the big twist really grabbed me. Of course, I was surprised, as most people are when something happens that wasn't even hinted at.

If you enjoy spy stories, you might give it a try. If you're looking for some complexity and depth of character... maybe look elsewhere.

I received a copy of this book for review purposes from Netgalley.

Nina is a musician who wants to have a career, not just playing guitar in her free time. When she moves to New York, she finds the music scene hard to break into, but an unexpected opportunity arises. She's recruited into an organization that is fighting against post-war Nazi organization in the U.S. Can she manage to be a crime fighter and a musician at the same time?

This graphic novel has some high points to it: the artwork is great and I loved that each chapter started with a short playlist to set the mood of what was coming next. However, when the story veered to far away from Nina as a musician, I became bored reading it. I didn't like all of the infighting with the organization, but since this is just part one of a three-part story, I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt that it gets more exciting as you read on.

Nina is in the musical scene, living only for commissions for playing in bars and is run by her cousin, who arranges these works, one night her way intersects with that of Nick Ladd (who did stupid that night in question), and the posture of the young makes a job offered to the young woman in a clandestine agency, but with good intentions.

The graphic novel has colors that resemble the representations of the 60s and a cleaner scene that reminds us of the Cold War, they are more interesting when they are in the bars, and this happens little. There is something about the features of Nina Overstreet that bothers me, it seems that what bothers me the most is the disproportionate chin to the face, and the face of the other female character that appears in the book is much more proportional.

Each chapter has indications of songs to listen to while accompanying the story, including every time has an indication of the repertoire of Nina Ovestreet and I found this very cool, the indications are not only the 60's and this took some of the charm of the idea . Speaking of music, I wanted much more of the music scene in this book than scenes of the boss not fully relying on the work of a woman in the middle of this clandestine organization.

Only in the plot twist in the end of the graphic novel that I discovered that it was a story that would go to more volumes, I just stay in the crowd for more musical moments and a good argument for the character to do that.

I kind of fell in love with this after "Is 27 your age or your IQ?" question. When I read comic books, I have most of the time mood for looong dialogues. In this mood, I don't like when the half of the book is consisted of nothing but artwork without text. And this book gave me exactly what I needed. It took me huge amount of time to come to the end, reading every word almost smiling. Story? Shortly, talented musician is asked by ex-FBI team to help them fight Nazis. You won't find in this book any super-awesome shooting scenes full of blood and violence, neither sweet sugar-making romance as you would maybe expect (as I did) from the beginning. Though, I am not saying it as reprehension! I actually loved it was wrote this way. It was very relaxing reading, full of dialogues, here-and-there funny, most of the time very serious but in my opinion, very well written. Artwork was simple but fit that story. Also, I find very interesting that „recommended listening“ + text to songs at the end.

I liked some parts of this a lot. Every few pages there's a "recommended listening" page with songs on it on a picture of vinyl and for most of the book I listened to them as I read it which was nice, and I just generally liked the way music was linked to the story. I sort of wish that was delved more into though... and also the story is set 60s and some of the music was from way after that so that was a bit weird. I'm pretty sure U2 is on there at one point.

The storyline was ok, not super intriguing- it's about spies and Nazis which aren't things I would usually be interested in reading about.

I didn't like the art style really, the cover is really cool and so are the pages with the vinyl and songs on but apart from that it just wasn't my kind of thing. It was clear enough though what was going on so that was good. Overall, it was fairly enjoyable but I don't think I'll be carrying on with the series.

First of all thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

So I just signed up on Netgalley and while I was looking for some books to request I found this book and without even reading the description I requested it because of the awesome cover!

This book is set in the 60s (which I didn’t know until I finished it and read the back cover :D) and it deals with a young singer that discovers an organization that has to take down the Nazis that escaped to America after WWII.

I love the plot even if don’t like the ending, at all (I nearly cried) and the storyline was so entertaining that I finished it in less than a day without putting it down and got me out of my reading slump! But I have to say it wasn’t really intriguing for me, probably because it’s an historical graphic novel.

To be honest I requested this book because of the amazing cover and its art style… but when i looked inside the book I was disappointed because there is a completely different style. The style inside the pages is similar to the “american comic style” which I’m not a fan of and the colors aren’t as vibrant as the cover. Overall the art is good but pretty minimalistic, as if the authors wanted the readers to concentrate on the plot and not on the art.

The characters where very defined and different from each other. The main character, Nina, is a songwriter which is helped in the music industry by her manager and cousin Christina and Jimmy a mysterious guy she meets at a bar. There is also a great character development.

The writing is simple, which I like when I’m reading comics, even if I didn't like the constant debates between Nina and the organization.

Last but not least the music theme: I really like this costant theme throughout the story and I love the “recommended listening” pages with lists of 3-4 songs to listen (which always had a song by the main character), Nina Overstreet (there is also one green day song :D). At the end of the book there are also the lyrics of Nina’s songs that I really liked, but I’m sad that the songs don’t actually exist.


Specific Ratings

Plot: 4 out ot 5
Cover: 5 out of 5
Writing: 4 out of 5
Interest: 4 out of 5
Diversity: 2 out of 5
Characters: 4.5 out of 5
The Feels and emotions: 2 out of 5


Final thoughts

Overall I enjoyed reading this book and I give it 3.75 out of 5 stars (4 on goodreads). I really liked this book and I’ll definetely read the sequels.
This book is a fast-paced novel with amazing themes such as spies and music. The captivating cover and the great recommended songs definitely make this graphic-novel stand-out.

Small-town musician in Noo Yawk tries to return a wallet and get pistol-whipped for her troubles. It leaves her open to an offer she can’t refuse.
I’ve read this author’s previous works, which took place in the hockey world, and it’s the same format here. The artwork is especially similar, but the story is completely different and much more ambitious, in fact maybe too much. There’s been plenty of Nazi conspiracy stories over the decades, but I can’t remember seeing one where they’re basically dropped into what’s always been a “commie” plot.
Though it’s an overused talking point, the difference between a black-and-white follow-orders-at-all-costs viewpoint and a don’t-have-to-kill-everyone approach is done well here.
Each issue has recommended songs, with one on each playlist by the fictional protagonist, so of course you can’t hear it. Another is “Both Sides Now”; I sure am getting tired of that song, it’s everywhere. And you’d think that since this takes place in the early 60s, songs from that era would be a better choice. I haven’t noticed any connection between the songs and the action, but I was amused by the inclusion of a Pretenders song. But it’s the insertion of a good Dire Straits song that made everything okay.
When on the big mission, they dress all in black but don’t paint their faces, neck, and hands. Worse, her blonde hair is loose. Author fail on the spycraft.
More than anything, there’s a huge plot twist at the end. . . which I’d guessed about halfway. I was hoping I was wrong, thinking it too contrived, too much of a coincidence, but it happened anyway. Actually not that big a deal in this book, but in the sequel it’ll be huge, and it won’t sit right then.
At the end are the lyrics to the made-up songs by the protagonist. Since this is a collection of all the issues, I don’t know if the lyrics were included with the song, but in this volume I would have liked to read them when the title was first unveiled.
There’s a lot of good stuff here, but also much that could have been done better.

This was far from being a failure, but it was too evidently flawed throughout. The story has a wannabe full-time musician in the cafe culture of 60s New York who gets dragged into a shady Nazi-hunting organisation, just as it itself turns from creating "accidents" to doing more heinous crimes against the USA. The problem from then on is a very wordy and circuitous argument within the organisation about following due process, obeying the laws and how far is too far when hunting the Nazi big wigs? Yes, there is action, and the main arc of the book opens the trilogy very well, but it's that dialogue forcing morals into it that needed a serious trim. I'd certainly be back for the rest, but here my fingers are crossed that next time offers more drama, less debate.

The plot of the story seem nuanced atleast from my perspective. Maybe i should have some interest in the music industry to have more interest in continuing the tale. Otherwise, it is a good story and worth recommending.

I liked the feisty female protagonist and the music playlist but something about it didn't work for me. Because of this I found myself skimming a lot of the pages.

This is from an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

This is the third - and last as far as I'm concerned! - in a loose collection of comics telling supposedly positive and life-affirming stories. I was not impressed by any of them and the artwork was a bit odd to say the least, particularly in this one. there really was a Queen of Kenosha - Dorothy J Queen, who died in 2012!

In previous comics this author had depicted male characters who looked quite feminine for no apparent reason, but in this one we get the opposite: the female characters look rather masculine. I don;t know if this is a deliberate gender-bending effort or simply accidental, but it didn't work. I don't mind feminine-looking men or masculine-looking women, but if you're going to put them into a graphic novel and you don't want your reader to be continually distracted by them, then there really ought to be some sort of reason for it. There was none here that I could see.

Nina Overstreet used to be in a duo with her cousin and now her cousin is no longer is part of it, for reasons which go unexplained, but is still Nina's 'manager'. One night, an odd event happens which brings Nina to the attention of a secret government agency and for no real reason whatsoever they recruit her, while still demeaning her as a female.

This is particularly odd because their idea is purportedly that a female can offer distraction and an intro into areas where a man might stand out, but the author drew Nina as very masculine-looking, so it begs the question as to why these guys are hiring her as a female distraction when she looks just like one of the guys! It made zero sense.

Add to this the fact that one of the two guys is a complete jerk, while the other is an obvious love interest, who also acts like a jerk at times, and you have a very predictable story at best and at worst, a disaster in the making. Nina is supposed to be a strong female character, but she really isn't. She wasn't impressive and the story was boring. It was set in 1963 and they're talking about Nazi sympathizers and a network of underground Nazi spies? If it had been Soviets instead of Nazis, I might have maybe bought that, but like this it was a joke and it read like a really bad fifties B movie. I cannot recommend it.

Take a little bit of the Greenwich village folk scene of the 1960s, and the Nazis that escaped to America after WWII, and a folk singer who wants to be as big as Bob Dylan, and you get Queen of Kenosha.

This graphic novel, the first of a trilogy, follows Nina, as she is recruited to join undercover agents who are trying to catch all the Nazis that threaten to destroy the United States. In between missions, she is still playing her music and trying to get ahead with the rest of her career.

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-530" src="http://www.reyes-sinclair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Screen-Shot-2018-05-23-at-3.06.39-PM.png" alt="" />

This touches on the troubles of the 1960s, as well as today, as Nina feels that you don't become a bad guy to to defeat the bad guys. Good discussion and reactions.

Not sure where this is going, but as usual, the author is spinning an interesting story.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

I got an ARC of this book.

The story moves quickly and it stays quick. I'm not a big fan of action or war stuff, but this one enthralled me. I need to know more. I would very easily read multiple volumes of the series in one sitting if they all were paced like this and had this much in them. It is pretty rare when I am able to have my interest held in a story that is so focused on espionage and secrets. 

I was sucked in so hard. I loved this. I have so many questions, but be warned that there are spoilers in the questions: Was Christina doing Nazi stuff at night or was she really going to law school? How did she get involved with them? I can't wait for a sequel especially if there is more back story to that and the organization that Nina works for now.

The moral questions and points that Nina raises are so valid and necessary. They fit with recent events. The book could even be set in the more modern time instead of 1934 with how things are going (it is pretty sad when the current political and social climate allows a Nazi story to continue or be set much later than it should). So the author can very easily play with time lines without running into AU territory. The points focus around women's rights and abilities. There is also a great deal of race politics as well because well Nazis. 

As the story stands, I think it is pretty amazing. I'm not seeing many glaring plot holes or loose ends that aren't based around the cliffhanger ending. My one concern is with Nina and Christina/Agent Quinn's characters. How common was it that a woman was allowed to and encouraged by people to take martial arts in 1963? The time period wasn't the most open towards women and having a woman do something so unladylike wouldn't have been easy, especially since Nina is said to have taught martial arts as a part time job. From what I am aware of the Nazi party and white supremacist movements, women are not held in a high regard. So Christina/Agent Quinn would not be holding a very high position, so that might need to be addressed. I am hoping that the author is able to bring my disbelief back into check for the next book because I will be reading the next book. This would not be the first Nazi focused story that has women in high ranking positions, but usually they are more spoofs and satire, so it will be interesting to see how a more serious story will be able to get me there. 

The art is not overly realistic, but is isn't cartoony either. Instead it straddles a minimalist line that allows the focus to stay on the intense story line instead of on the pretty art. It is an impressive feat considering the skill of the artist really shows through. The characters are easily told apart, even when they are clearly supposed to look similar. Well done book overall!

3.5 Stars. I went into this not knowing much about the plot other than the main character being involved in music. Nina is a musician that grew quite famous in her small town of Kenosha. Her band even had a song that played on the radio. But Nina learned that life is different in NYC. She struggles constantly to make ends meet, depending on her cousin/agent to keep her afloat. When Nina meets Nick, her entire world is turned upside down. Nick wants to recruit her to join the hunt for Nazis in a post WWII world.

I don't want to go deeper into the story because I don't want to ruin it. I will say that I liked Nina as a character and I thought this book being a graphic novel was the perfect formatting. I did receive my copy on my kindle so I didn't get the full experience of a physical graphic novel but nonetheless, it was enjoyable. I did find the plot to be fairly predictable and some of the dialogue to be cheesy. I also didn't really like any of the characters outside of Nina and Nick. The events that happened in the last few pages have me excited about the next installment. I think this is supposed to be a trilogy so this is really just the start of a bigger story. I'm sure I will read the next one when it comes out.

I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for something that is fast-paced, spy/action packed, with a great set of recommended songs at the beginning of each chapter.

I'm a bit undecided whether I liked this one or not. It wasn't bad, but it wasnt greatly thrilling either. Maybe I've watched too many Mission Impossible episodes with a similar plot... I am curious about how the rest of the story will unfold, since this is only part one of three, and that's always a good sign.