Absolutely enjoyed the art direction, aesthetics and the whole atmosphere of the comic. Writing dragged in the beginning (started on the wrong foot with unnecessary explanations and info-dumping) but towards the end it hooked me. Looking forward to the future installments.

I'm giving this graphic novel a 2.5/5 stars. The art style was simplistic and the story wasnt nearly long enough. It felt very rushed and not flushed out. It could have been really good if there was more plot.

A brief introduction into what could be a fascinating story. I liked the artwork and characters, and what little there was of the story, but it really was just an introduction. I am also slightly confused by the disparity between the apparent setting of the story and the design of the dragons.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Most of the comics I read are superhero based by either Marvel or DC so it was a refreshing change to read something a bit different.

The artwork is sublime, especially the scenery and landscape panels and the characters are easily recognisable which helps with the flow of the narrative.

The story flows well and doesn't get bogged down with extraneous exposition. I like that certain panels are used to convey story points without dialog .

This is well worth a read and I look forward to seeing how the story develops

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy for an honest review.

I liked the illustrations and I liked the story line but I feel like there could have been more risk. I liked that there was dragons in this I haven’t read many things with dragons but want to read more. I feel like this should have been longer and had a more plots and details. I gave this a three out of five stars.

There's little I liked about this graphic novel. The writing is poor, characters lack charisma, setting feels generic. Even the art doesn't save it as it's overloaded with details and difficult to appreciate.

I can't reccomend it.

Picked this up because of the cover illustration but everything felt like it stayed on the surface. Nothing about the characters grabbed me or made me invested in the story. I see it says volume 1 but honestly, this could easily be a standalone.

Illustration is nice at least.

I thought the art complemented the story. Wished the characters had a little more depth. I was most curious about the interaction with the dragons, but there wasn't as much as I would've liked in that regard.

This is a really cool graphic novel. The artwork is beautiful and telling. The story is also a lot of fun. I'll definitely recommend this one.

Not bad, but I didn't like the illustrations so much, plus it is a series and this is just the first number....

Non male, ma i disegni non mi hanno fatto impazzire, inoltre é una serie e questo é solo il primo numero....

THANKS NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW!

While I typically enjoy the idea of a graphic novel having a fantasy setting that isn't based on European lore, I kind of have to take points off here for several reasons. First, we have European dragons rather than Asian dragons - it's incongruous and feels sloppy in a tale set in a Chinese-like culture. Second, the story doesn't really have a protagonist and we're not given a lot of reason to follow any of the supposed leads. Third, not much happens here to give us a pay off by the end of this first volume. There's just no world building at all - it's dumped into our lap.

Story: Taho the poacher gets by on life by pretending to be something he isn't. When he bests a Queen Dragon, she places a geas on his to protect her last egg and bring it to her brethren. Meanwhile, in a nearby land where the king has been murdered, warrior woman White Claw helps the bereaved queen with decisions on what to do next. In the background, an evil warlord looks to take over all the clans - White Claw and Taho will become problematic in that quest in different ways.

There wasn't a lot of reason to care for any of the characters. Taho the poacher is a braggart and liar - and we don't get a lot of motivation for what he does. White Claw, similarly, just shows up, has a bird, and gets annoyed at being called a servant girl. There's not a lot of personality to be had and there is not a lot of world building here. It feels very generic other than the ancient Chinese setting.

The art is serviceable but kind of scruffy as well. It's a relief to get away from the 'soft porn' characterizations that permeate the comics industry. But at the same time, I always hope for more than just "let's take Chinese culture wholesale but then slap European stuff on them just because" type of mentality. It feels lazy. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

Flat characters and predictable plot. The art style is nice but it didn't blow me away either. Still, I think it has potential and I intend to read the second volume.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
***
The White Claw is a good, quick, fun read, but it’s not amazing. The story moves super quick and is somewhat less epic than I’d suspected it would be going off the summary of the story. There is very little character development, and there seems to be multiple things going on at once that may or may not tie back into each other by the end. I did enjoy the art style employed in the comic.
I’m hopeful for book 2 though, to see if the focus will continue to be just plot, or character development, or plot and character development. Due to the violent nature of the comic I wouldn’t really suggest it for younger readers but teenagers could probably handle it no problem.