Mae is a graphic novel about two sisters, one of whom has been missing for seven years. I like the art style for the series, it’s bright and blunt and unafraid of itself, as odd as that may sound. It reminded me of a mash-up between Alice in Wonderland and Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series, though the former was definitely an intentional reference on the writer’s part.
However I had trouble getting into the plot, and I did find the dialogue to be more than a little bit jarring at times – it’s very blunt and to the point, leaving little room for nuances and softness. This is a little odd, as results with the family hardly reacting when their missing daughter/sister finally returns. That just didn’t feel realistic to me. But I could be in the minority here.
Because of this I never really ended up feeling attached to any of the characters, and thus never felt concerned for their safety or really even compelled to care about the circumstances they were dealing with. I feel bad saying that, because I really did want to care. I like the core of this story, and hated that I couldn’t get more into it. Maybe the next project I’ll like more?

This graphic novel left me feeling torn. On the one hand, I did like some things about it, but there’s one aspect of the story that didn’t work for me at all.

I’ve always liked portal fantasies, and the story here is typical of the genre. Mae’s older sister Abbie disappeared years ago, and now she’s returned, claiming to have been off having adventures in another world. Mae doesn’t believe her at first, but then some weird-looking beings show up and attack them both. Their father also goes missing, and the two of them travel to the other world to try to find and rescue him.

So, I liked the basics of the plot, and I liked Mae as a character. She’s caring and smart, the kind of person you’d want to have in your corner on a trip to a strange world. I also loved that she’s basically a geek. The Dr. Who references (including the striped scarf she wears on their trip) were an especially nice touch, in my opinion.

However, I didn’t like Mae’s sister Abbie (or Ani, as she’s called in the alternate world) very much at all. Characters who have a “ready, fire, aim” mentality get old for me fast, but what really irked me was that didn’t seem to see anything wrong with abandoning Mae and their father. Mae lets her off the hook way too easily in my opinion. (Also, what’s up with Abbie’s super strength? She’s drawn like a little twig, but she can arm wrestle guys into submission, even in the “real” world. With no explanation given, I just thought it was odd.) I found Abbie so annoying that I had a hard time enjoying the parts of the story where she’s center stage.

I don’t regret reading Mae, but I’m not sure whether I’m interested in reading more of Mae’s story if it means more Abbie, too.

A copy of this book was provided through NetGalley for review; all opinions expressed are my own.

Loved this! It was so quirky, the artwork was a bit rough looking but it kinda grew on me after awhile. The intro seems like a good start to this sci-fi world that I’m eager to read more of. It has a bad ass girl power vibe in a way since both characters are a duel leading lady role. They make it seem as though is Mae is the main character but I felt each had a tug line role of back and forth. It has lovely color themes throughout and lots of oddity characters for fantasy fans.

Mae is a beautifully realised fantasy story that takes a unique turn around the 'long lost sibling returns' trope. Mae's sister Abbie has been missing for years, suddenly, out of the blue Abbie returns and with her brings a whole lot of trouble. Right out of a vicious wonderland meets Oz. And Mae suddenly finds herself on an adventure she never thought possible. 

The story is definitely a unique and refreshing take on female fandom and on the hero's journey, taking the two sisters on a rollercoaster style adventure. However, there were certain aspects that felt rushed. Mae accepts Abbie's presence back in her life very quickly. There is no indication that there was a search for Abbie when she disappeared or that police were involved, despite it implying she was very young. 

On top of this  the dialogue is slightly stilted, references to shows and fandom culture are frequent but often can feel forced. In some cases the supporting characters feel a little like NPCs from a role playing game rather than fleshed out people. 

That being said, both story and premise are highly compelling and Abbie is an extremely likeable character and a believable heroine. I found myself wanting to see more flashbacks, more insight into her life as a hero in this world, that her adventures would have made an excellent prequel. 

I'd be recommending to RPG fans and to die hard fantasists.

DNF'd after 13%.  This is bad.  Bad artwork.  Bad story.  Flashback to 90's art.  Bad bad bad.  How do I write more about how bad this is?

This fully colored novel, has its roots in what has to be some of the Author/Artists fandoms, while still being its own book. Its' hints at Dr Who, Oz, Narnia and others make it a comfortable book to get into. The artists rendering is beautiful and its no wonder way hes won awards for previous work. I feel like Gene Ha is in a unique position because of his many talents, to be able to match the text to the illustrations and vice versa. The pictures and text play well together, and enhance your journey with Mae and Abbie.

With the semi fast pace, you kind of feel rushed to take everything in, but it wasn't a deterrent to keep reading. If anything it made me want to keep reading.

It has come to my attention as I was grabbing the Amazon link for my blog, that this is a new printing/ new artistic rendering?? of Gene Has' comic released February 2017 (or earlier?)

I enjoyed the premise of this book, if not the execution. Abbie goes missing as a child when she finds a secret door to another dimension. The story begins with her returning to our world and encountering her sister Mae after 7 years, and claiming that she has been ruling as a Queen in another realm. Quickly it becomes apparent to Mae that Abbie is telling the truth as they are attacked by creatures that certainly have no place in reality.   I really appreciated the many references to pop culture, however, the art style was often disruptive and made it difficult for me to stay engaged in the story. Far away action scenes were incredibly well done, but close-ups of the girls face looked too computer generated. The art style and images at the back of the comic are stunning, and I almost would have preferred a black and white version of this comic.

I received a copy of this for a fair and honest review. Mae's sister has been missing for seven years and sudden returns to tell a fanciful tale about how she went to a world that was very Oz-like. Mae did not believe any of this. That is until the creatures of that world starting to appear in this world. The artwork was good and the story flowed well enough for me. I would like to read volume 2 just to see what happens next.

The comic graphics are great.  I can see why he is winning awards for his work.  But, again, I just cannot get into comics, which is why (if you love comics) I'd still say get this one.  The ideas are there and the story is also great.  I just get so distracted by the pictures, that I cannot focus on the story.  Guess this might be because I haven't ever really read picture books since I was an 8 year old.

It follows this young girl whose sister goes missing, then shows up years later, only to bring so many weird things with her return.  Their dad gets kidnapped, they go to a different 'universe' to find him and save him.  Then the adventure begins...

There is still so much room for the story to be developed, and the characters kinda fell flat for me.  There is so much overlap in the sisters' personalities that distinguishing between them gets hard at times.

Also, these characters accept so many things so easily, that introducing new ideas gets 'under-appreciated' by both the characters and the reader.

There's lots of room for improvement.

Some of us amateur reviewers don't get to pick the cherry off the top. Once in a while we get lucky, but often, we're reduced to going after the Read Now offers on Net Galley, and this was one of those. It's always a bit 'potluck' in the Read Now bleachers, but every once in a while a gem comes along and this is what I found here. Although it seemed to borrow a bit (there were elements of CS Lewis (the portal to another world), Doctor Who (the many headed robot and the arachnid girl) and even Star Wars (some of the creatures were rather reminiscent of the appalling Ewoks), but that aside it was a fun and original story with a kick-ass female times two, and I typically enjoy that kind of story.

As the blurb has it, Mae is missing her older sister who disappeared several years ago and all Abbie has is memories. Now Abbie's back, from inner space, she's just standing there with that ferocious look upon her face! She is telling fairy tales, and she is making poor Mae wail, but it turns out that Abbie isn't lying as Mae learns, up close and personal, when some of these creatures come over from the parallel work and start going after Mae.

Inevitably the sisters travel back to the other side where everything Abbie told her sister is confirmed, and Mae in turn confirms that she's just as awesome as her sister when it comes to being a strong, decisive, inventive, and imaginative young woman despite the odds. The artwork was really intriguing to me because it had elements of computer-generation and hand painting, so I am not sure how it was done, but I really liked it. I also like the script which was snappy and kept the story moving, but wasn't overly wise-ass or juvenile, and the female characters were portrayed as real females, not as pneumatic adolescent male fantasies, which was a big plus for me. This is a great fantasy, I enjoyed it very much and I look forward to the next volume.

My rating:5 of 5 stars

"Mae Vol. 1" is a wonderful new graphic novel about two sisters, Mae and Abbie. The story begins on the night that Abbie disappears. Several years later, as Mae and one of her friends is eating dinner, some strange characters show up and then BAM! Abbie is back!

I'll leave the story telling to the author, because I truly enjoyed learning about the sisters and the magical world that they end up exploring.

The artistry here is fabulous. I like the color scheme, because I'm partial to anything purple or blue. The people feel realistic, the settings enticing, and the various types of creatures/people are believably drawn.

I have high standards when it comes to graphic novels. I don't like it when the art interferes with the story telling, or when I feel like I have to guess where to read next or where to look next. I also don't like when graphic novels use weird fonts that I have to decipher. Happily, "Mae" does none of these bad behaviors, which allows a reader to get sucked into the story and the novel. 

Frankly, I finished the book without realizing how much time I'd spent.

I received an ARC of this from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I originally chose this graphic novel because I really liked the artwork on the cover. While the artwork certainly disappoint, the story fell a bit flat for me. There was just far too much information and action happening far too fast and I don't think the story/characters actually had any time to really develop. I came away feeling somewhat indifferent about it. However, I do appreciate the Doctor Who references and the fact that Mae's outfit looks a bit like one of the Doctor's (4th?) outfits.
I would likely read the second installment if it were to become available just to see where this storyline goes and like I said, the artwork is great.

This was... interesting. Not sure if I am going to continue with the series, but it was different from what I have read. I thought the concept was pretty cool, it was just not for me and I think perhaps this book would be better if it was an actual written novel and not a graphic novel.

A BIG Thank You to Netgalley and Diamond Book Distributors for providing me a copy of “Mae Vol. 1” by Gene Ha in exchange for my review.

This graphic novel started off well. The two main characters Mae and Abby really complement each other with their distinguished personalities. I liked the bond between the two sisters. In fact, more than Mae, I liked Abby’s character a lot. She seems to be concerned for her sister, is energetic and spunky and awesome fight moves. I also enjoyed Kvido’s character, as he reminded me a lot of Snarf from the Thundercats. It was fun to read how the world and the new characters are revealed to Mae and the readers. The whole concept of the plot had a whimsical Doctor Who feeling to it.

In terms of the plot, the first half of the book was just amazing and I was glued to the pages. It starts off in this mysterious way where you really don’t know what to expect. Even when the new world is introduced to us, it is filled with interesting and dynamic characters. However, the second half of the novel was confusing and really didn’t hold my interest. For one thing, the story breaks into sub plots and moves between the flashbacks and the present. The present story-line tends to move too fast, and I had trouble keeping up with what was happening. There are many new terms and characters thrown out there, and not enough time to digest them. There’s a nice appendix with all the terms mentioned in the back to help the readers, but again, it felt tedious referring to it like a dictionary.

Furthermore, each of the sub stories and flashbacks have a different style of illustration to them. While some might enjoy this, it didn’t really suit me. I loved the style of art that’s shown in the first half, and felt the illustrations in the last two episodes were childish in comparison. It was frustrating seeing a different style of artwork in each chapter. However, I did like the standalone illustrations inserted in the end by different artists, depicting the main characters. The author has also included few prototype sketches and designs that were interesting to view.

Overall, “Mae” is one of those graphic novels that has a great concept but really needs to improve on the pacing. They can easily slow down on the adventure themes and focus more on character development instead. Having said that, it is an interesting series and I am keen on picking up the next volume to see how it turns out.

I am not a huge fan of graphic novels and I have been trying to get into them more lately and when I saw this, I thought it would help me enjoy them more. Unfortunately, I did not care for this story to much. I felt the characters and the plot were pretty basic, and the world wasn’t all that unique. I did however enjoy the style and illustrations in this which really helped me get through this.

This was a promising start to a fantasy graphic novel series. The world in which this novel takes place seemed particularly promising and while I wasn't super interested in the characters, theres' definitely opportunity for growth. I did like the references scattered throughout the story and that the focus of the story was between the two sisters,. If able, I would be intrigued to continue the series though I am by no means desperate to do so.

I did not finish Mae Volume 1 because it was too convoluted. I got about a quarter of the way in, and was too difficult to follow. I'd much rather have read about Abbie's adventures in finding the "gateway" and then her adventures in the other "dimension(s)". 

The artwork was also weird. It felt The Sims-like: the backgrounds and objects are two-dimensional but the characters are three-dimensional. Not a fan.

Loved this!  Mae's big sister Abbie disappeared nine years ago without a trace.  Now in the present day, Mae is trying to live her life and take care of her sick father when a phone call from the police changes everything.  Abbie is back and in jail for beating up some of the locals at a bar.  Mae doesn't believe her sister found a new world through a mysterious portal-just found a new favorite drink at the bar.  When Mae and Abbie's father goes missing, all clues point to the House of Zemetrasi from the other side of the portal. With no other options left, Mae and Abbie set out for the portal to find their missing father.  Mae enters a world far different than her own where her sister is a famed warrior and chocolate is worth it's weight in silver.  
This is an action packed ride full of humor and heart.  Amazing artwork and a compelling story that draws you in until the last page.

Whilst I thought this graphic novel had a lot of potential and I did ultimately enjoy it, it felt like I'd started with a later volume in the series. You are immediately thrust in to a confusing world, with so many unexplained terms and it draws you out of enjoying the series. I understand that this mirrors how Mae herself feels, but sometimes its okay to have a little bit more exposition. The basic plot and characters were easy enough to follow, but I was easily confused and confess I don't remember many of the character or place names past our leads. 

It's clear that a lot of love and care went in to this and I can definitely appreciate that. (I really enjoyed the extras, sketches, and commentary included at the back!) However, the art style wasn't really my cup of tea (in fact, I much preferred the style of some of the additional scenes and panels included in the extras). I know this is more a question of personal preference but I didn't like the computer-generated, cartoonish quality of the faces. It felt dated, and again, pulled me out of the narrative a bit. I did really like the detail and colour palette of some of the landscape and non-peopled panels, but the rendering of the characters did really put me off. 

I am intrigued to see where the story goes, and think that later volumes could get really interesting. I just don't think the creators approached this story from the most interesting angle and (so far) haven't allowed the reader to fully grasp the world they are building.

A solid 3.. It was a good start, but I haven't seen a mention of volume 2 yet.  I hope that there is one because without it I think the rating would be much lower because it feels like there is build up, but no REAL conclusion.  Just making way for more epic stuff to happen in another volume.

The art style took me a minute to get used to and sometimes the fictional language threw me off, but other than that I don't really have anything negative to say and I enjoyed reading it for the most part.