'Natty Vol. 1' by Eric Corbeyran with art by Melvil is a fresh take on a princess fantasy story, yet feels familiar.

Natty is a princess who tends a palace garden. She is bored with her life and wants others around. The only people her age live outside the palace and are 'untouchables' who are able to steal Natty's beauty with a touch or glance. When Natty's parents decide to have an arranged marriage and invite two very different candidates, Natty must choose between two equally offensive choices. Natty makes a different choice.

I liked the artwork in this graphic novel. The characters seem to be based on animals. The fantasy setting seems to be based on maybe the Hindu religion.

One warning. The title seems to be aimed at younger readers, but a character introduced later in the story sells drugs to get by. This might be something you want to speak with your younger readers about first.

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

This one wasnt for me but it is a lovely story with bright illustrations which should appeal to younger readers. The story is very Disneyish and could be set to music! I hope the series will not be spread iver too many books.

Wonderfuly funny and gorgeous art! I cant wait till book two and I loved how kind Sami was to Natty.
I think this is defenetly a five star book!

Natty is a princess from Orchidhali, who is arranged to pick a husband from two suitors. But when she refuses both, her life is threatened...

Natty is a somewhat fiesty and slightly spoilt main character. Perhaps in time her character will develop

It has a good pace and gorgeous illustration!

I give it three star

Natty is a different sort of coming of age story with heavy roots in Indian culture and lots of fantastical elements melded together by colorful pages. This is the tale of a 15 year old Princess named Natty who hates that her duties consist of studying ancient rules and sitting in isolation all day. When her mother declares it time for her to wed, she decides that married life just is not for her. This not only offends her would-be-grooms but causes the royal council to call for her death via suicide. When confronted with her sentence, Natty makes a run for it and descends into the depths of the city’s lower levels where her real trials begin.

Volume #1 is a light read with images that are fun, beautiful and translate well for the story. The not-so-subtle nod to the still present caste system in real life is very noticeable as well. When you get into the bits about the Untouchables, nothing is shocking though it is still very enjoyable. Again, this is one reviewer’s opinion, so do not take my word as gospel. I would have no problem recommending this story to readers age 9 and up. I think the adult crowd will find it cute but ultimately flat. That being said, not everything needs to keep you up at night peeling away layers upon layers of subtext. Readers of all ages can respect the story for what it is.

I will admit that the suicide verdict caught me off guard for several reasons. I thought this was a children’s’ graphic novel so, I definitely did not expect a bunch of yoga-posing council members to sentence the princess to death by a ceremonial blade. I did not expect the nonchalant conversation surrounding death by suicide either. The people in this world live by archaic rules that have been woven into their society and unchanged for thousands of years. Relatable considering there are many who live in gender-biased societies where laws were made by old, violent men who went unchallenged.

The characters, as of this volume, also come in flat and relatively one dimensional. Again, this is only volume one but with 90 pages of reading material and artwork, I expected something to stick out more to me than the Queen’s regret. As of this issue, we do not get a glimpse into why the Queen set her daughter up for failure in the first place. We do not see much of anything related to the King and Queen of this fantasy land. We really only know that the Princess dislikes the way things are and that she was willing to plummet to her doom suddenly to avoid marriage. There was no wind up for that. In fact, we know more about the Aladdin-esque Sami than we do the royal family.

Sami as a character that confused me. He is heroic, saving her from other Untouchables when she first arrived in the lower city but behaves in such a creepy way that is never questioned. This is a children’s story so, it makes sense to not address the things one would normally take a pause for. It is simply odd that his constant compliments of the princess never once strike her as questionable. Then again, when you are used to being called beautiful by your staff every day then a stranger saying it does not seem so strange. He is also oddly okay with her dismissal of things he does to survive. Because of this story overall, I write his sort of airy way off as him just normalizing his situation (the strange fruit, mushroom dealing, and dealing with her royal highness).

At the conclusion of this volume, I was, of course, left with questions but, I do not think this graphic novel is for me. I would, however, recommend it to my 12-year-old nieces who are just getting into comics. This is a nice introduction to comic and graphic novel structure for newer readers and there is definite value in that.

Natty is written by Éric Corbeyran with art by Melvil and colors by Kness.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy for an honest review

A spoilt princess with very disproportionate boobs finds it a surprise that she's about to be married off. Stuck with only one hobby – landscape gardening, a solitary friend, who's a cow, and with an urge to know what else is out there, even in her own city, she is given a huge choice of two bigoted numpties to choose from. So of course her idea is to ignore her destiny and make her escape.

It's a very awkward book, at once stuffed with Arabic/Indian cultural references, and at the same time taking the piss out of them and their people and place names. The suitors might have their looks based on traditional Indian gods and devotional statues, but they're not designed to flatter. And as for the council of advisors being yogic contortionists… Our titular heroine is supposed to be a new broom to sweep clean, someone who ignores the written rules and habits of centuries, but when the book is also as disrespectful as this you really wonder how it got made. And don't get me started on how the untouchables she has always been warned about all have to have vitiligo and come on like inhabitants of the Radlands. Yes, there's a kind of twist to proceedings that makes it more interesting towards the ending, but I don't care if I see the second half of this story or not.

One and a half stars.

Interesting. Fairytale fantasy setting with heavy indian (as in from India, not Native-American) influences. Nice drawing style.

By all accounts, this series is a loosely thin commentary and inspiration tale of India when the caste is at its most strict. Naturally people can get behind the themes of class division. Although unlike most fantasy settings which focus on making outsiders other species, this one reveals division is between your own kind. As for the title character, she wants to know more about the people in her kingdom but is constrained by the laws of honor. As such, a lack of interest or experience forces her out of her comfort zone.

There are two sides of the consequences of defiling her marriage. On the negative side, a war is about to break out. On the other side, she learns that the lower cast are suffering because the upper castes hogs all of the important resources. Her would-be suitors even show more of the ugly sides of continuing these traditions. The warmongering tribes can barely feed themselves due to lacking agriculture; the agricultural tribes meanwhile practically make slaves out of the non-royals by distracting them with hard labor. <spoiler>As for Natty's kingdom advisors, despite their so called adherence to the law, they themselves break it for escapist drugs.</spoiler>

All of this in consideration, it's no wonder this series wins a silver award for foreign manga. The art by Melvil certainly drives the point home. His ideas and inspirations with collaboration Eric Corbeyran bring this series to the eyes of many.

Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley

Natty is a princess who really likes flowers and who has a cow the size of a dog.

I want the cow.

Natty is also a princess who perhaps is a bit spoiled but is also very curious and asks questions. When forced to chose between two suitors, neither of whom is well suited to her. When she refuses, she sets in motion a series of events that will expand her knowledge and challenge the status quo.

The series seems to draw upon Indian ideas of caste as well as worship. Natty discovers that while she may live in a wonderful palace what lies below is far from wonderful and might be a result of the behavior of the rich. Natty is actually an extremely self-aware girl, who knows her weaknesses and is able to take when someone pokes gentle fun at her. She also has a brain.

The artwork is wonderful. Natty is not sexualize (and in fact she wears underwear, some touch, but important).

It is a wonderful comic.

Firstly, this has some beautiful artwork! The story is exciting, and the world building has potential. It is clear, though, that this is targeted for an audience a bit younger than myself. It could've been more detailed, more drawn out, but all in all I liked it! 3,5 stars.

High fantasy, ornate images, and folk lore storytelling combine in this lovely graphic novel. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful story.

100% a cute an fun read.
The art style ties in nicely with the story and I thought they were beautiful (if inconsistent at times).

The plot fell a bit flat at times, but the art and the fact that graphic novels read super quickly made up for that.

I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

*Disclaimer: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This graphic novel takes the betrothed princess story line and adds an interesting tiered class system and some fantasy elements, along with a companion in the form of a cow which I loved. 

The artwork is beautiful; the illustrations were not always entirely consistent but it didn't impact my enjoyment of the book and the colours are gorgeous. 

Overall this was a great start to the story. The plot itself was a little flat for me but I think if you are a fan of fairytales in general, this would definitely be something you would enjoy.

Definitely not the artwork I usually go for; the illustrations are terribly childish, although the plot had a lot of potential.