On the surface, Daphne Byrne sounded great and I wanted to love this story. What I got instead was a mess of convoluted ideas, many of which never went anywhere - they did absolutely nothing to advance the story. At best this was dirivative of Rosemary's Baby and honestly, it was barely passable as a cohesive narrative. Unless you are a series completist, I can't think of any reason to recommend this title.

A solid read, story and illustrations. Hill House Comics is putting out quality reads every time and I'm down for everything.

I really enjoyed the creepiness of it all. I thought I would read just a bit of it to get a feel for it then come back later. But I couldn't put it down!

A haunting tale, and definitely a fantastic horror comic for readers interested in getting into the genre. The imagery is fantastic and the horrors in it are fantastic. Definitely recommend.

I really enjoyed this title from the Hill House Comics collection. Check out my review for Monster Librarian: https://www.monsterlibrarian.com/TheCirculationDesk/graphic-novel-review-daphne-byrne-by-laura-marks-art-by-kelley-jones/

I love horror graphic novels. When they are done good. This was not one of those graphic novels. The artwork just threw everything off right from the start. The harsh shadowing made Daphne look like she was in her 50s instead of being a school girl. I think I'll be taking a break from Hill House Comics since they seem to keep disappointing me.

I typically enjoy books by Joe Hill, although this isn't my most favorite it's still a good one. The artwork matches the dark tone of the story, would make for a good spooky evening of reading.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley.

The cover is great and the title is good and that's pretty much it, folks. This is a Victorian haunting/possession story, and it's by far the weakest of Joe Hill's new DC comics imprint. Give it a miss and go read Plunge or Basketful of Heads or The Low, Low Woods.

I thought this graphic novel was okay. The artwork was pretty good and not what I was expecting. The story as a whole was also just okay--middlenof the road for me.

I could see how this would be scary for people but for me, I found myself a little bored at times.

This book feels very much in the tradition of Edgar Allan Poe. Joe Hill’s new affair with DC Comics sets the stage for new and mature readers of fantastic or horror literature, to find a niche in graphic narrative. It is highly recommended.

Daphne Byrne didn't end up being my favorite of the Hill House comics, but there was still enough great horror elements in it to make it an enjoyable read!

I am a big fan of Horror so I was very intrigued in checking this one out. The art is just great. I thought that the art of the comic was drawn very nicely and I absolutely admire the cover art for the story. The cover art reminded me of that one scene in Insidious where the demon pops up behind one of the lead characters with mouth agape.

I was a little bit disappointed with the story. It was very lackluster and it really took me a long time to try and get into the story. Unfortunately, this was more of a chore to get through than actually enjoying the story.

This was so promising, but it fell a bit short. The story started well- moody, odd teenage girl meets intriguing demon guy whom she calls "Brother," widowed mother getting taken advantage of by a charlatan medium, and all kinds of creepiness going on. As things continue, a Rosemary's Baby vibe gets going, which isn't a bad thing, but it's not exactly unexpected. The story is good, but could be better. I did enjoy the Gothic pulpiness. The art is both great and not great. The mood of the art throughout is wonderfully creepy, dark and moody with mysterious shadows and demonic creatures lurking in the background. Everything looks great- except for the people. The teenage girls look like the actors from Grease, too old to be believable in the parts they're playing (I can forgive it in Grease; here it's just jarring). Daphne's face changes from panel to panel, and it can be difficult to tell if it really is her or her mother at times. The art shown between chapters is awesome, though.
tl/dr: good, not great, worth reading, but uneven.

#DaphneByrneHillHouseComics #NetGalley

I don’t have much to say about this. It’s kind of similar to the other books in this loose series for me. I don’t personally love the art style, although the artists are certainly talented. I like the spooky vibes of the series. However this was just ok. Not fantastic. Not memorable. I barely remember what happened and I just finished it recently. It’s not a story that sticks in your head. The creators clearly have talent but this seems like another cool idea with not the best execution to me.

This is the first of the Hill House Comics that I did not enjoy. The art was satisfactorily creepy, but the story just didn't do anything for me.

This Gothic story is an interesting mix of Rosemary’s Baby meets The Omen!

Set in New York City in 1886, fourteen-year-old Daphne has just lost her father, and her mother is being bamboozled by a spiritualist who has a sinister plan in store for her. A ghostly young man appears to Daphne- and we are never sure of his intents or origins, but his shadowy specter convinces her to explore her inner darkness. Are some of her underworld experiences real or the delusions of a grieving daughter? But she takes her new-found power to help her mother when she is kidnapped by a nefarious cult-like group who wishes her to bear them a child of the Devil.

The art is a mixed bag. Drawn in a pulp-fiction style, the art veers between cartoony and realistic. There can be detailed panels with cool imagery (look for creepy surprises drawn into some of the backgrounds), but then the faces can be distorted and showed incorrectly. Despite Daphne and some classmates being teens, some shadowing and lines were added to make them look old and haggard. Closeups were nobody’s friend in this book. A late scene of nudity made me chuckle, as I enjoyed seeing how they would draw the bodies to have something always blocking their private parts. The chapter breaks included cover art drawn in a different style that was striking- with the one of Daphne sitting at a graveside being my absolute favorite.

This story appealed to me more than I thought it would- in one way it was campy, yet I liked the way Daphne gave into her inner demons to utilize them to her benefit. Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an advance online copy of this fourth entry in the Hill House label!

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

I came across Daphne Byrne (Hill House Comics) by Laura Marks on a whim while looking for new comics. Once I saw it was available on NetGalley, I decided to try my luck with getting an eARC. I was pleasantly surprised when my request was accepted, and I was super excited to delve into the story.

The premise of this horror comic completely pulled me in. It follows Daphne Byrne, a young girl who is dealing with the loss of her father. One day she meets Brother, a mysterious demon. The two spend more time together, but Daphne cannot help but wonder if she is imagining him. While dealing with her own problems and grief, Daphne’s mother is dealing with a spiritualistic group who seem to be helping her communicate with her dead husband. However, things soon take a turn for both Daphne and her mother as things are not what they seem.

I went into this comic really intrigued by the plot overview, but in reality, it kind of fell flat. Certain parts were choppy or boring at times. I also would have like more background on Brother. The illustrations by Kelley Jones match the dark tone of the comic, but it was not my favorite style. At times, characters blended together. Daphne’s character was also portrayed in ways that made her seem way too old to be a child. However, I did like Daphne’s character and how the story touched the surface of grief from losing a loved one.

While I did not love Daphne Byrne, there were still some cool elements that I enjoyed. It was a quick and somewhat entertaining read for me. The idea for this comic is really intriguing, but I wish the execution of it stood out to me a little more. However, I do see why some people would really enjoy it. If this seems like something you would enjoy, I would still recommend picking up a copy.

Thank you to the publisher, DC Comics, and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this comic before its release on November 3rd, 2020.

*Content warning: death (loss of a parent), grief, violence, attempted rape*

Unfortunately this was not well executed in my opinion. I was confused a majority of the time by the panel angles. The story did not seem to flow and I could not tell when there was a time jump. Characters reactions did not make sense to me. Although there was an attempt to build up suspense I don't think enough time was given to develop that suspense. The relation to this "brother" character was lost on me.

A positive was that the chapter art work was well crafted. It was eerie and beautiful. The comic would have benefited in my opinion from a more monochromatic color scheme during the real world and more full color spreads when in the dream scapes. Because everything was treated similarly I could not tell when we were awake or asleep.

The ending did not make any sense to me. The plot of the story was one that usually would be ideal for my taste but simple needed to be flushed out further.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Daphne Byrne is an interesting and creepy graphic novel from Hill House Comics. If you liked any of the other HH Comic series, you will most likely enjoy this one. Also the art matches the creepy atmosphere of the story. It's a great graphic novel to read around Halloween time.

The description for Daphne Byrne is 100% my bag. Turn of the century, mysticism, women not taking other people’s gaslighting. I really wanted to love this one, but in the end, I was kind of whelmed. While the concept of the story, Daphne’s father dies, her mother is being pulled in by groups of spiritualists out to con her and Daphne isn’t having any of it, is absolutely great, but often feels like it is lacking in depth. It often felt like all the parts of the book I wanted to expand and go deeper were instead truncated or choppy. I’m curious if that is an effect of writing for the, shorter, serialized, single issues of it’s initial release instead of as a longer flowing piece that is this collection. Either way, as creepy and forbidding as the book has the potential to be, choppy feeling of things pulls you out of those immersive moments.

The art is really great. I have loved Kelley Jones since I first saw his work in Sandman, and artistically he has not lost a single step. That said, there is something up with the inks, colors, flats, or something else, but like with the story, I’m just not getting the creepy vibes I was expected, or what the story really needed to shine. Again, it is is a shame, I really wanted to love this one, and of all the Hill House books was the one I was looking forward to the most.

Thanks to Netgalley and DC Comics for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.