This book took me on a wild ride, to say the least. The story of an American spy investigating an unknown object that fell from the sky in E. Berlin during the Cold War. It was a reminder that our actions have consequences - good and bad! I appreciate the lengths the author went to in order to show the humanity of the characters and the true examination of self represented here. 
While I don't normally pick up graphic novels I don't see myself shying away from them in the future. This was a quick read with deep subject matter and I enjoyed reading it.

Trippy and atmospheric tale of an American spy investigated an unknown object that fell from the sky in 1973 East Berlin. There's lots of Cold War posturing going on, with a deep look at truth, lies, and identity- what are they, really? The story is kinda creepy-eerie-huh?, the art is fabulously spooky and disturbing in a way that will give you the shivers, and together it's a good blend.

#StrangeSkiesOverEastBerlin #NetGalley

A strange but lovely graphic novel set in the Cold War and exploring what makes an enemy an enemy. The art wasn't exactly my style but I liked the writing.

A quick but fascinating graphic novel exploring the repercussions of our actions - both as an individual and as a race - set in Cold War East Berlin. This historical fiction tale with a sci-fi twist mostly succeeds at being an unsettling examination of self, though at times it tries a little too hard; some of the weight could have been left for the individual readers to unfurl on their own. While perhaps not exemplary, this is still well worth the read. In fact, the trade is worth the look for the gorgeous cover and cover variants, alone.

'Strange Skies Over East Berlin' by Jeff Loveness with art by Lisandro Estherren is an alien encounter story set in the Cold War in East Berlin.

The story takes place in the shadowy realm of East Berlin in 1973. An American spy encounters a strange being from outer space. The being is very powerful and the spy has to make strange alliances to survive.

I love the moody art and the idea of the story. I felt let down by the execution of the story. It had potential, but just wallowed in sameness.

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

This is marvellous. Strange Skies Over East Berlin is an exceedingly delightful genre mash-up. It is Harry Palmer meets The Thing. Weirdly, it reminds of Robocop in that almost perfectly does what it sets out to do. It is not the best comic ever written, but this is a book I think that I’ll probably end up reading again and again. There is something comforting about reading a story that cranks up the tension. The stakes are high, and I relished that battle of words between characters trying to outwit each other under terrible pressure. 

Set in the cold war, our hero Herring must find out what the Russians know about an object that has fallen from space. It all goes downhill from there. 

The art here is fantastic, Lessandro Estherren work as the lead artist shows a mastery of storytelling that intelligent and engaging. Patricio Depleche’s colouring is particularly notable for the moody atmosphere it establishes. I read this in one sitting, eagerly turning the pages as the story zips along at a quick pace.

This could have been much messier and hokier. It could have been b-movie style shlock. Loveness’s script manages to pull together different genres and hang the tale on characters who you want to survive. The dialogue had me on tenterhooks, and one-liners made me grin.

I could wax lyrical about the characters, art, and, story for several more pages, but I did a podcast explaining why I enjoyed this book so much (See Through Panel episode 10). My recommendation is that you read it. One of my books of the year. Despite being provided with an ARC from NetGalley, I’ll be purchasing a hardcopy to keep.

Haven't read much Cold War spy fiction in a while, so this scratched an itch (especially with the backdrop of an alien discovery) that left me wanting a little more clarity or depth with certain characters/settings.

"Strange Skies Over East Berlin" reads really fast, and it does offer a different look at trauma and making amends. The art is beautiful, as it conveys the reader to experience the main character’s angst while dealing with his own becoming, as well as the becoming of the creature that’s loose in a Soviet bunker.

Aside from that, the book feels like a literary experiment, in a way that one usually does not read comics as a stream of consciousness, you only get it in short stories because of its difficulty. Sometimes we can’t tell who is talking through, the creature or the character, and that took a bit away from the story. 

Not a book for everyone.

For this graphic novel ( a format I don’t usually read) I will be giving a shorter review, as I didn’t really have much to say. This 112 pages collection of the 4 comics in the series read very fast. The whole thing was over in an hour and honestly I wanted more story. The basic premise revolves around an American spy working in East Berlin, who is ordered to investigate a object that falls out of the sky, which is being stored in a bunker. Obviously things start to go wrong when the object turns out to be more dangerous than anyone can imagine

The art style was very bleak and fit perfectly with the setting. The art was my favourite part of the whole collection. There were a few panels that were really disturbing and perfectly fit with the ascetic of the story. The rest were pretty ordinary, just with the style that I enjoyed. The overall story was not one that really fit with the graphical format, and I wish that this was a full novel and the plot was expanded. The story just felt very, very quick and there was backstory that needed to be understood in only a few panels, which didn’t really work for me. I didn’t really feel any emotions reading though the entire book in one sitting.

Overall with a story that is lackluster, characters with very backstory, who do develop but almost artificially, and a art style that was perfect for the setting, I didn’t really enjoy the reading experience that much.

2 stars

** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Copy received through Netgalley

~

Strange Skies Over East Berlin, by Jeff Loveness, Lisandro Estherren
★★★★★
106 Pages


Strange Skies Over East Berlin is an utter masterpiece!
Stunning visuals combine with a twisty, intriguing plot that is so original and clever, I never anticipated a single moment. I was on the edge of my seat from page 1, right through the gritty artwork, the exploration of spies in Berlin, and the evolution of the central character. The storytelling was incredible, something saying little on a page, but having so much impact and meaning. The visionary plot, stunning visuals of the artwork, and the incredible way it all came together to make a flawless sci-fi inspired historical story, about war, identity, truth and lies, left me spellbound.
I'm buying this in paperback, immediately!

~

Favourite Panel

This panel, quite simply, sums up the entire book and it sets you up for everything to follow, while being the moment the story takes a huge shift.

<img src="https://i.pinimg.com/564x/bc/f6/d8/bcf6d8244a886b09c764ce272f43baec.jpg" width="260" height="350" alt="description"/>

Bleh.

I know it's a simple single word, but it is actually the perfect word to define what this graphic novel was. It's art direction? Bleh. It's pacing? Bleh. It's characters? Bleh bleh. It's story? Bleh bleh bleh. 

The premise, even, isn't too special. 1973. East Berlin. The Wall and the Space Race. But this time, something alien came back with us and it's not nice. An American Spy gets caught up in trying to find out what it is and how to stop it. 

Bleh.

I guess it could have been good, it just seemed pretentious with weak dialogue and stand alone words or sentences that were most likely meant to be profound. Instead, I just found it all...

Bleh.

East Berlin, the 1970s. A place so crowded with spies of all sorts that people wonder when was the last time they told the truth. It is the setting of this new supernatural thriller, which aims to make us pause and ponder on some important moral questions.

The main character is an American spy in East Berlin who had witnessed a strange sky and is investigating it, all the while he is hunted by repercussions of this job and other earlier jobs. It might seem strange to say, but the questions on truth, morality and duty were for me the strongest part of the book. The supernatural part was rather bland and a bit formulaic. The art was slightly depressing, which fitted the story well, and I liked that the setting was Berlin for a change.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

2.5

   "It's so easy to lie to yourself."


   TRIGGER WARNING:
   Extreme violence, references to concentration camps.

   Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review of the work via @NetGalley.  💙


   MY OPINION:
   What surprised me most in the book were the illustrations, the line is beautiful and reminded me too much of the art in "101 Dalmatians", Disney's animation.
   The illustrations of the characters (especially those of the villain) are very beautiful.  The choice of colors for each page is well done and made me feel what it was to feel on each page, like melancholy, despair / fear, joy.

   Going through the best part of the work, comes the story.
   From the beginning, a big question of "lies vs truth" is presented, and this had a high potential to be explored in a complex way.  But it was not.  Virtually everything in the story was a bit of a cliché.
   This psychological struggle of the protagonist about "to what extent do we lie?"  it could bring VARIOUS big questions that are not much better, but it was summed up to the same as always (which I can't talk about, because it's spoiler)

   Along with this psychological clash, the story has the clash of spies and also with the alien.
   But I do not understand?  Like, I read everything expecting a great answer to the mystery, but it wasn't.  Again, the enemy's great mystery has been summed up in a cliché.
   The alien had everything to have some differential, his look made it almost explicit that he would have some difference from the ordinary.
   But not.  Instead of the alien doing something innovative in the context of the work, he did the same thing as the usual aliens and there was no difference.

   In return, the character's evolution was interesting, but basic.  Even though it was the formula of "your past is tormenting you, change or die", I liked it.  It was fun to read, but I didn't care much.
   There was only one character that I liked, but she didn't show up very much and wasn't developed.

   The ending was cool, but predictable.  I expected more of that too.


   I think my big problem with the story, was that I expected something super innovative, well developed and megalomaniac.
   But instead I got a basic story, tedious and without major twists.

This story follows an American spy in East Germany who sees something strange in the sky one night. Eventually he ends up at a science lab where all kinds of weird things start going on. All the while, our MC is questioning his life choices and viewing instances from his past.

If you go into this without reading the GoodReads summary, you will probably enjoy this more. This was an interesting, fast read. I liked the art style and thought it felt very dark and fit the overall tone I feel the author was trying to achieve. The summary for this book does not match the plot of  this story and a lot of the points mentioned throughout it are not clear in the dialogue. I did enjoy reading this going into it blind but after reading the summary, I feel like I missed out on a lot of what was happening in the world at the time and during the story itself.

My main issues with this story is that it felt very watered down and almost rushed. I wanted more of a connection with the MC, more from the plot, and more build up to the culminating action sequences. This had a lot of elements of a wonderful story but fell short in the execution. 

All that being said, I still want to continue with this series. I do think it’s enjoyable and I’m curious to see where the story goes from here.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.
The graphic  novel was about the Cold War in East Berlin. The illustrations  were vibrant and sharp. The narratives were interesting. I liked the  way truth and lie were presented in the story. A good starting of the series. Hope to read the rest of it in the future.

Th art in this is beautiful. I love the color palette.
The way it was written was very simple but story it was exploring was lot of more complex. It was very unique. I wish the main character had been fleshed out a little more, maybe with another issue in the beginning. 
I don't know a lot about the Berlin wall but reading this has made me want to learn more. 
I really enjoyed this graphic novel overall. I thought the ending was perfect.

Was able to read a copy of this via NetGalley, but I cannot post my review yet since I am on the Best Graphic Novels for Adults Committee.

Strange Skies Over East Berlin is a very different Cold War spy thriller that blends science fiction to tell a character-focused story. When an American spy embedded in East Berlin witnesses a fantastic light ripping across the sky, he's tasked with discovering what it is. Is it a Soviet weapon? Is it extraterrestrial? What he does find is enough to make him reassess his life choices head-on.

Lies and deception are part and parcel for spies, but they rarely have to face the toll of what they do. When confronting the source of the light, the spy is forced to acknowledge the lies of his past. Strange Skies Over East Berlin dives deep into this theme, exploring the damage and guilt.

Lisandro Estherren is an excellent fit for this story, visualising East Berlin as cold and unwelcoming. His watercolour washes give everything a grimy texture without being excessive and contribute to the tone. When the comic shifts into science fiction there's an element of claustrophobia, with darkness enveloping many of the panels.

Colourist Patricio Delpeche adds to the atmosphere with a muted colour palette. Dark blues, greys, and yellows wash over Estherren's art and do a lot to set the tone and tell the story.

Strange Skies Over East Berlin is a terrific genre-bending read. It has the moody and atmospheric tones that you'd expect from a spy thriller, while the science fiction elements introduce a unique way to tell a character-centric story. If you're looking for something new in your spy stories then you've got to read this.

"Cielos Extraños Sobre Berlin del Este" se situa en Alemania del este, en plena guerra fría cuando un operativo morteamericano infiltrado en los circulos más profundos de la rusia comunista, se entera de que su avance en la carrera espacial ha traído resultados inesperados, que de salir a la luz, amenazaran nuestra existencia.

Jeff Loveness (Judas) toma el marco de la carrera espacial y temas conocidos de la ciencia ficción, para contar una historia que mientras avanza, se siente cada vez más humana, y con la ayuda de Lisandro Estherren y Patricio Delpeche crean una narrativa en la que la acción en los paneles cuenta una cosa, y la del guión introspectivo otra, mostrando que la mente de nuestro prójimo, sus ideales y sueños, pueden ser tan alienígenas, misteriosos y solitarios como el espacio exterior.

On a night in 1973, a mysterious man is trying to help a group of people escape over the Berlin wall. His plan ins thwarted, however, when a huge light appears in the sky.
Later, this same man is sent to infiltrate a secret bunker, only to learn what the light brought with it - a creature from another world that brings with it the worst thing it could ever give to someone like this man: the gift of crystal clear truth.