This is very much an introductory chapter. It mostly focuses on building up the world, meeting the main characters, and starting off the plot, but for an introduction this was incredibly lacklustre. While I was intrigued by the idea, the main issue was that there was hardly any explanation for what was going on, and I think it was to do with the pacing. For a first chapter it felt rushed. It was all hurried explanations and meetings, before something came along to move the story forward, and it didn’t at the expense of some character development. We only just meet them, but I would’ve liked more than the one conversation they had together.

Also, I thought it was going to be more of a retelling of the myth of Icarus, but it was very bare bones. If it wasn’t for the title I never would’ve made the connection.

I do give props to the art. It’s clean and colourful, which fits with the vibrant setting of the world. The imagery is cool and unusual. I got some superhero comic book vibes, and I thought Icarus resembled Angel from X-Men and Jellinek reminded me of Hellboy. I thought they were cool nods to inspiration.

The idea was there, but the first chapter failed to hold much promise. I don’t think I’ll read the second part, but I do wish it success.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."
I am a fan of using graphic novels to retell older stories that can not be appealing to youth. Icarus is a fantastic Greek myth and I think this work captured the essence of the story.

The synopsis of this graphic novel sounded intriguing to me but, unfortunately, it didn’t quite meet my expectations based on that. I liked the art well enough - I thought the backgrounds were great - but the story felt so rushed. There’s promise in it but there was little set up for events and no tension being built around the situations the characters got themselves into because before you knew it they’d just be moving onto something else. I felt like if it just slowed down, the story could have spent more time on making me care about the characters.

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this book in return for an honest review.

Icarus is a comic about how Icarus fell into a volcano, forgetting everything about who he was.
I honestly just found the story boring- it had the premise but there was nothing in it that grabbed me or urged me to keep reading. I have mixed feelings on the art as the colour of the backgrounds is astounding but I found the colours could sometimes clash with the characters which I found quite distracting.

This was sadly not for me.

Rating
2.5⭐

Would I read it again:
No, I wouldn't

Would I recommend it:
Yes but I would say, try and read an excerpt first to see if the art style is for you

Icarus is boldly illustrated, inventive, and enjoyable. I enjoyed this collision of artwork and storyline immensely, and appreciated the otherworldly aesthetic.

Once again, I have mixed emotions. On one hand, can we talk about the gorgeous cover of this graphic novel, and the art style? WOW! It is top notch! But, on the other, I’m not really sure this is my thing. Let me explain briefly:

Whilst the synopsis looked quite promising, the execution didn’t do much for me. The characters are interesting and different from each other, the ambience and the world building did entertain me but since this is only the first volume, we’re only scratching the surface.

Icarus seems to have forgotten his own past and when he falls from the sky, he saves a red-skinned man called Jellinek. Right after that, they get into trouble and somehow, they discover places that wouldn’t even dreamed of. Was this destiny? Was this fate? Only time will tell.

Now, the art style is SUPERB and I’d love to see more works of the artist, but story-wise… it kind of lacked something, at least for me. I really wish we can see the next volume to get some answers.

Icarus has been one of my first graphic novel, and my feeling towards it are a bit of love and hate.

First of all, I thought the title and the cover were a bit misleading: I thought I was going to read a modern take on the Greek mythological story of Icarus, the son of Daedalus, the designer of the minotaur’s labyrinth. After being locked in the labyrinth together with his son by Minos, as punishment for having given the famous ball of string to Ariadne, Daedalus molds wings in wax for him and his son to escape from the island. Unfortunately, Icarus flies to close to the sun, his wings melt and he dies, falling into the sea. Do not despair, I am not spoiling anything here: the only things in common between the protagonist of the graphic novel and the Greek myth are his name, a pair of wings, and a long fall.

Secondly, I thought the story was too short, or at least the plot had not developed much yet by the end of the novel. I do not know if this is something common among graphic novels, because, as I said, I am a bit of a neophyte. The plot, was, however, very promising and it surely got me hooked on the next chapter of The Longest Fall series. I feel like I barely got to know and understand the structure of the society on this weird barren and hot planet where lava pools are a pretty common thing, and now I just want to know more about the actual adventure that Jellinek, Icarus and a the dog/solar Rig are starting together.

Finally, the artwork is simply magnificent. I could stare at some pages for what felt like forever: some amazing watercolor landscape views had almost a cinematic feeling.

I would like to thank Atthis Arts and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for this honest review.

I will publish immediately this review on Goodreads and on Amazon as soon as the book will become available.

Overall this is an interesting ... addition? to the tale of Icarus... I think? It kinda just starts with no prologue or anything saying that it is connected to or just an alternate tale of a completely different dude, coincidentally also with wings and the same name - but set in a hell-like land?

Once you get past the 'Wait... what's going on?' this reads pretty well, and is actually an interesting story. I am curious about what will happen next in the next installment. The plot and characters continue to develop and inform us about the past, little by little. One thing that bugged me a bit was randomly adding a nickname for Icarus, with no reason or story. Also 'Iccy', is a bit too close to 'Icky'...

I have very mixed feelings about this. I think that in concept this story is very interesting but the execution was kind of boring.

Our main characters meet when Icarus falls from the sky. He has no memory of his previous life.
Jellinek is a prospector and has a fun side kick in a dog named Rig. He falls into the grumpy outcast archetype, which I don't mind. The trio come back to Jellinek's home where they encounter some sort of town official. They end up needing to escape and are on the run for the rest of the book. It seemed like there were a number of things to explore in this, especially about Icarus' past and with the tower in Jellinek's town, but the main focal point of this was the escape, which was a bit of a let down in my opinion. I wanted more depth to the characters and a richer world.

The issues I had with this was I felt like there was very little set up explaining the world, which feels very sci-fi, Mars-esqe. I also felt like the story itself was kind of boring. I didn't feel any tension during scenes because I had no connection with the characters. It felt very rushed, like there was too much story, too many plot points, crammed into a short graphic novel.

I also wasn't a huge fan of the art, but that's just my style preference. There were some scenes that I liked, but some looked a little too cheesy for my taste, especially the fire salamanders.

In a flaming hellscape full of volcanoes, flamepetal prospector Jellinek and his two-tailed, lava-resistant not-quite-dog Rig are saved from being killed by a flame demon when a winged young man falls from the sky and crashes straight into it. As they start on a journey to discover the secret of Icarus' identity, their quest may end up saving the world, too...

This truly is an extremely entertaining, gripping and completely original story! The art style is incredible, and the world completely immersive and innovative. If you are looking for a (very) new spin on the original Greek myth, definitely pick this one up!

First, I would like to thank the publisher for accepting my request on Netgalley in exchange of my honest opinion. And honestly, I loved it. It is a bit short and I would have liked it even more if it had been longer but I still had enough time to develop an affection for the three main characters. From almost the beginning, I knew I liked them. The story is nice as well; I was a bit lost at the beginning at its set in a fantasy universe and I didn’t know what a solacycle was (which is a day) for example. Hence, a few more explanations would have been more than welcome. Apart from that, the story was really enjoyable, with a lot of action and suspense and with a lot of interesting characters. It uses the myth of Icarus and gives it a new and completely different life. It is really original. I can’t wait to read the next one. But above the story, what I loved the most were the drawings. The art is absolutely amazing; it is so colourful and so detailed, it’s really breath-taking. So, thank you @athilafabbio for those illustrations that match so well the story.