Set during the Civil War at a small community that is trying to create a perfect utopia. Factions arise as it starts to fall apart and a creature appears. This had some potential but too many subplots. The monster angle felt a bit out of place with everything else also going on. I loved the art. It reminded me of the old Disney version of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

The premise of this graphic novel had great potential. It has a big introduction before the art starts. The talent is very visible. I am just a bit put of by religious overtones. The story was all over the place. It was not bad. I wouldve just liked a little more explanation through the art. I am not clear as to what the punchline was in the end.

Being a fan of Canales' <i>Blacksad</i> graphic novels, I was quite interested in reading <i>Fraternity</i> and the cover also drew my interest. That being said, I was a bit confused by the pacing of the story. This historical inspired graphic novel is about an independent community that has essentially withdrawn from the government (along with the Civil War) to become a self-supporting Utopian society. Unfortunately, there are complications as supplies are running low and division rises between the wealthier contributors and the field-working farmers, allowing "human nature" to be the slow downfall of the society.

While I was interested, I spent a lot of time in confusion as to why certain elements were even placed in the story. With the inclusion of these additional plot devices, including the arrival of Civil War deserters, the feral child, and his forest guardian (which most believed to be a demon from Hell), I suppose it sped up the dissolution of the society which also resulted in quite a few deaths not to mention the burning of part of the commune. There were so many things going on in the story, I became quite turned around by the end of it all.

It's not really horror more speculative-historical fiction, but I think if some things had been either been omitted or more developed, the story might not have been quite as confusing. But then again, that might have been the desired result of both Canales and Munuera. I would recommend this graphic novel to readers who enjoy illustrations with a mysterious air and a story that will keep them guessing.

Fraternity reminded me of Shyamalan's The Village a lot and it was as confusing. It tells the story of the settlers, who wanted to create their own Utopia in the 19th century. It's set in Indiana, USA. The settlers find a feral boy they name Emile, who has something to do with this monster everyone is trying to find and kill. Not only that but the lack of food and loss of Utopian dreams and values makes people turn to monsters themselves. Killing seems easy and justified, who even needs solidarity? Fraternity is a good example of how people cannot really function together and make a perfect society. The lack of trust and the need to value yourself more than others is always present and the dark and grim atmosphere is very fascinating. The plot doesn't really go anywhere though and the characters feel paper-thin, which is a shame, since Canales knows better (just look at Blacksad). The comic felt sporadic and the focus was nowhere to be seen, so basically the atmosphere had to pull everything together and it couldn't.

The art is great, brutal and still fine with scratches. The dark color world fits very well and the monster looks just awesome. Points for facial expressions and overall art quality, which makes this look wonderful. The art and atmosphere alone just couldn't save this enough, although Fraternity isn't a bad comic. It depends on what you are after whether this rocks your boat or not. For me Fraternity fell flat, but I could still enjoy the parts that worked.

The dark texture of the past is sometimes overtaken by the wanton romanticism of what could have been. This has been talked in many ways in reference to the Old West whereas in fact it was a dirty and murderous place as was the pioneer trade. Life was very hard. People made mistakes. But life went on. This aspect is taken into account in the graphic novel “Fraternity” [Juan Diaz Canales/Lion Forge/128pgs] which speaks to many of the utopian societies who after The Civil War tried to take the aspect of equality and fairness into effect. However the sociological structure which it shows paints back the idea that many are still grappling with today which is the aspect of classicism and more prominently racism. At the core comes a creature that shows both tenderness and vicious violence, not unlike the human reflections that occupy New Fraternity. McGowan, the old elder, has tried to shelter the people from violence even going so far as to hide weapons that could be used to subjugate each other deep in catacombs outside their domiciles. Like many forebearing Messiah myths, the truth comes in the form of a child who grows into a man who speaks the truth. Emile is that boy, mute in his progression but pure in his beliefs. It is he who finds the devil, more specifically dictated in the form of a minotaur. This creature in many ways is reflective of the people’s behavior which is balanced on the idea of what utopia is an how the inherent nature of its power and instability makes it fall apart, both because of class difference but who the governing body should be. The drawing of the characters in many ways with exaggerated noses and specific eye structure brings to mind the 40s animation of Disney. But like those ideas where the most severest of creatures usually have a benevolent side, the notion of unity with Emile and the creature which is ripped apart in ways by the village’s fear illustrates a bigger problem. Like any community, betrayal carries a harsh consequence and “Fraternity”allows for the idea that no story is clean cut and all are treated differently. There are always strands of life that continue to grow forth.

C

By Tim Wassberg

This was an interesting read and definitely good for October, but almost every person in it is just awful and it's a little bit more depressing than I would have liked. Even so, I did like the ending and thought it was very fitting. The art was good and the color palette matched the mood very well but I think it could have maybe been just a touch less cartoonish and really leaned into the dark nature of the whole thing.

In 1863, a colony in US founded upon utopian ideas of equality (with socialism and atheism basis) is depicted with struggles between their members to survive . The founder , Robert McCorman is old, and soon is just witness to the turbulent times of war does nothing to help if not rather to emphatized differences of classes and race.

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A wild child found in the forest and a strange creature with whom he has connection, pushes the story into a fabled context, where innocence finds naked violence and a labyrinth that perhaps or does not represent how many ideas remain in nothing or as in the end you can only hope to reach the center without finding the solution that is expected.

Realistic and violent. And there is a hint of ciclical recurrence.

story - 3
art - 4

No character is blameless and there is not a clean conclussion.

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I really enjoyed the style and overall look of this graphic novel but felt just the storyline was a little bit loose and the characters a little bit shallow, so unfortunately I didn't engage with the storyline as much as I wanted to. Love the cover, just wish there had been a bit more to it.

3.5/5 Stars

*I was provided with an ARC of this book through Netgalley, in exchange for my honest opinion.

I think that this is one of the most sombre graphic novels that I’ve read, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just different. The opening letter intrigued me and had some thought provoking ideas in it, but I was a bit nervous that the novel would continue in this manner. Therefore you can imagine my excitement when I turned the page and was greeted with stunning artwork, that captured the tone of the book perfectly. The artwork had this raw, almost primitive look to it that I enjoyed tremendously. To further this effect, the artist stuck to very earthy, dark tones to capture this story and it definitely set the mood. It created such a sense of foreboding from the very start, which continued throughout. The images were very clear in the scenes that they were trying to depict and I loved the use of the landscapes, as almost an extra character in the book.

Fraternity looked at how the idea of Utopia sounds idealistic on paper, but is also extremely far from becoming a functioning reality. The towns people are constantly bickering amongst themselves and it’s very clear that they all had different ideas of what a Utopia should look like, and they can’t find their version reflected in their current situation. Like the letter foreshadowed at the start, you can have this so called ‘Utopia’ perfectly planned out and agreed upon by all, and yet human nature is bound to run it’s course and throw a spanner in the works. People ended up quarreling about Religion, whether to extend hospitality to outsiders and what to do with the local monster.

As it is set in 1863 there is reference to the war and also racism. There are some black soldiers who show up in the town, with a sketchy story about why they are there and are suspected to be deserters. Most of the towns folk aren’t happy about them hanging around, supposedly because they are outsiders. However, there are probably more racist undertones to their complaints, which some of them are more vocal about. One man says “Negroes” on a couple of occasions, and I’m not too sure how I feel about it. I personally just don’t think that it’s necessary, as I was able to decipher that the character was being racist without the use of that unpleasant word. This is just my personal opinion, and it may not bother other POC, but like I said, I just don’t think it’s necessary. The novel did hint at the type of abuse that these black soldiers faced in the army though, which I think is very important to highlight.

Although there wasn’t really much explanation why, there seemed to be a connection between the once feral boy, Emile, and the monster. I quite liked this odd little pair and it was probably one of my favourite things about the book. And I’m hoping that in the next installment we will be able to see more of this. I enjoyed Fraternity, as it was like nothing I’ve read or seen before and so I would recommend it.

The art was interesting, but the story was so depressing. All the people are horrible, except one woman. The feral child doesn't seem to be actually evil, but his smile at the end doesn't bode well for his new community. We don't actually know these people, all the old people are dead and gone, so it seems pretty dark.

Hmmm… Bigots, drop-outs, and those with the steely determination to form their own atheist, socialist society in the US of the Civil War are at loggerheads, partly because their little community is failing. Meanwhile a mute boy, apparently found in the nearby woods, is finding something of his own – a huge monster. Yes, if you felt a lack of a book about a fantasy monster being a demon for a dodgy community, where the mute boy becomes the blind girl and race becomes an issue, then this is it. But it's still not great. There's a lot of artistry in the gloom, the crepuscular interiors and doom-laden environment, but it's also hard to tell one hairy bloke's face from the next, and the bickering between all the characters don't make for great drama. Also, the whole point of the hodge-podged idea is kind of lost. A lot more clarity, both visually and as regards ultimate purpose, was needed here, but this still might be worth a dip.

That was really good. I love the artworks. The story and the atmosphere are very dark. Story is a bit slow going. But i loved the ending.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for granting me an ARC of this book. This book deals with a small town following the civil war, conflicts between the Town's residents, and a Beowulf style monster. The art is quite good with crisp lines and colors.



I am going to come out and say my major issue with the book: it certainly wasn't the artwork and it wasn't the plot of the story. It was the PDF file that could only be viewed in Aldiko Book Reader. Every time I needed to zoom in to view text the page had to refresh and every time I had to zoom out the page had to refresh. The app also does not allow for viewing with the screen rotated. Many pages were also just blanks in the viewer. I'd say 20 percent of the content was missing.

An interesting tale of communes, war, and American mythology, all wrapped under some thinly veiled racial tensions. Lots of layers!

Dreams of a utopian community that espouses equality and freedom are all well and good. Actually building and maintaining one is another story because someone, somewhere will always fuck it up. The people of Fraternity learned this the hard way as power hungry, small minded individuals cling to their rotten ways and thus bring discord to the already struggling town .

Fraternity is a serious, thought-provoking comic that tried its best to talk about serious, thought-provoking topics but well, I was feeling the drag. While I like McCorman's idea of mental freedom, the delivery of the theme felt kind of dull and I think the whole thing could use a bit of humor even a dark humor or especially dark humor just to break the heavy atmosphere. Except for Emile and Fanny Zoetrope, the characters were somewhat uninteresting and I wished the other women there had spoken up for equality and not just Miss Fanny holding up the banner of feminism all by her lonesome.

However, Fraternity did a good job with the suspense and action in the climax. I also liked the artwork and how the colors matches the mood of the story. I actually expected something reminiscent of the Jungle Book when I first saw the cover. It was, very vaguely, something like that and I am curious about the mystery of Emile and his connection to the monster. This part was what hooked me to the story.

I would still consider this is good start to a series. Although there were elements that need some work, overall, the good parts still shine through. I am eager to find out more about Emile , the beast (Munuera & Canales should give it a name) and if Miss Fanny gets a happy ending. That Laffite fellow better get his act together. I hope we get a sequel.

P.S.

I received a copy of Fraternity from Diamond Book Distributors via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

SOUNDTRACK
Utopia
Bjork
Utopia

"Fraternity" has several story arcs to follow - a boy with a monster friend, a town in turmoil over change and necessity during wartime, and racial tension between soldiers - and I felt that these first two volumes did a fair job of introducing characters and plot. I do wish, though, that some of the characters had been more developed already (which may happen in future volumes as tends to happen in graphic novels) - I did not feel myself strongly connected to any one character at this point.

With that being said, I think the artistic format/illustration was lovely. The color palettes and use of frames was well done (I especially enjoyed that sometimes multiple frames were used to create one image) and they provided good sequence while creating very different atmospheres for different settings.

I'd be curious to see where this story line goes beyond these first two parts - there's a lot of potential here!

The text and images did not come through in the download, but I would be glad to review the full copy. Please consider updating the file for access.

Interesting story about a colony which is founded based on equality. As the town's founder gets older and frailer other pressures are placed on the towns people who are struggling to survive.

As rations get smaller minor conflicts between the townspeople become major conflicts, coupled with the appearance of a mysterious creature, the town is set to errupt into violence. In the midst of this a young child who was found in the forest becomes the creature's friend.

This was interesting with great artwork. The end of the story leaves so many questions unanswered. Who is the mysterious feral child and what connection does he have to the monster? In any case it is still a good story to read despite the unanswered questions.

Copy provided via Nethalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

An interesting graphic novel for young adults. The main story is simple, but interesting and the artwork is very cool.

I was really excited to check out this book, but all the pictures just show up as static so it's impossible to read. There may be a file error, I use adobe digital editions to read it but maybe a pdf would be a better choice? Either way it sucks because this seemed like something that would be really interesting.