I love stories where the characters are more nuanced than the typical "good vs. evil" dynamic. However, the cast of characters was large and the story on the shorter side, making it difficult to get to know any of the characters well. I think this would benefit from slowing down the pace of the story and developing the characters mroe before just throwing them into action. Beautiful art.

The second I saw the cover for Villainous I knew I wanted to read it. But, I was expecting more.

I really love all the concept around the story. We ask to ourselves, if the good guys are really good or not. But, the characters are really lacking depth.

This is a world with superheroes, with humanoid races, all living, work together. I really like this, remainds me of the manga Boku no Hero.

i think it’s a very good story, but i think you guys like more if you don't go with high expectations :)

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of Villainous in exchange for an honest review!

I'm obsessed with morally grey stories so I was really excited to read Villainous, but since it never takes the time to develop any of its characters, what could have been a really great, grey superhero story fell really, really flat. Because of that, nothing that happened here felt at all unique and there was nothing really left for me to connect to or latch onto. I also wasn't a super big fan of the art style so there just wasn't any appeal here for me.

Villainous is pretty typical of the superhero graphic novel genre. It's kind of a PG version of The Boys but also reminds me of "Not Your Sidekick" by C.B. Lee. I really like the art style and the design of the characters. Especially Miss Nemesis and December (i'm a simple girl, i enjoy my badass goth-coded ladies). I can imagine some pretty A+ cosplays of these characters so hopefully this gets big because I want to see cosplays. Overall pretty good, I'd rate 3.5/5

This was such a romp! I loved the new take on heroes and villains, and the questionable morales of both sides. I got X Men and Birds of Prey vibes from the story and would happily read more from this world. The art is bold and colourful, and accessible to a variety of audiences.

Not all “heroes” are good, not all “villains” are bad. This was a fairly quick read. A good portion of this graphic novel was just introducing characters. Some of the bolded words were a little bit confusing... the majority were characters names, others were emphasized words, and the rest seemed at random. The art style was nice and one thing I loved was that not all of it was “pretty” (i.e not everyone looks good sitting down and this illustrator showed that). This was a start in the right direction, hopefully future volumes improve.

A huge thank you to this book’s publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this book early in exchange for an honest review.

After reading the graphic novel Villainous, I had mixed feelings. The story itself had all the tropes of a new superhero team/character coming together, but it felt rushed. I would’ve loved to get a bit more about Matilda’s relationship with her parents, to set the tone of her obligations to succeed. Also, every character from the Coalition or Villains felt one-sided or lacked depth, superficial. I understand this is hard to accomplish in comics or graphic novels, but a page or two on each character might have just provided motivations, personalities and some foundations for their character arcs. Like Showdown seemed to be a womanizer. It might have been a better read to see it in action (more than a frame or two), so we hate him as much as Matilda does early on. Also, some characters’ powers weren’t clear in the little time we spent with them, therefore when big action occurred, it was hard to understand the stakes in between them.

One area I liked about the story was the initial twist of the good guys/bad guys; how our main character Re-Tilly/Matilda was introduced as the sidekick who quickly realized the corruption inside of The Coalition of Heroes. However, this plot twist wasn’t enough to sustain my interest through the rest of the story. The character designs, the layouts, coloring and pencil work was good and reminded me of a style that was popular back in the 90s.

In the end, the missing elements of the story quickly turned me down on “caring” for the characters and felt like I was going through the motions of the events in Villainous.

This was a short graphic novel about heroes and...villains? Or is it.
Matilda is recruited by the Coalition of Heroes to train as a sidekick to their #! hero, Showdown. Her first day isn't all it's cracked up to be when Showdown gives her a long list of chores to do. As she's leaving HQ at night, she overhears something she shouldn't and her life gets turned upside down.
This reminded me a lot of The Boys (on Amazon).
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC to review.

As the title suggests, this graphic novel supposedly focuses on villains. But this book turns out to be another "good guys are actually bad and bad guys are actually good" trope. Which I honestly have no problem with, if the characters actually have, you know, a slightly grey morals. Both the bad and good guys. But no, we didn't get that.

I blame the pacing. It leaves a lot to be desired. And if it was slightly better paced, I feel like the book can give us better characters developments, more layers to the villains' motives and gives more depth to the characters.

The art is fine, though sometimes the characters' expressions didn't quite capture the emotions the conveyed. But that's the only complaint I have regarding the art.

Tilly is one of the newest interns at the Coalition of Heroes where she is mentored by one of the most popular heroes. This is an experience she has been striving for her whole life, so it comes as quite a surprise when the heroes of the Coalition are not what they seem - in fact, they seem more like the villains.

Villainous is an action-packed graphic novel that pits the heroes against the villains. The artwork is decent, but the graphic novel suffers from a played-out story and a lack of background on the characters. Villainous was also shorter than I anticipated and appears to wrap up far too quickly. Overall, Villanous was okay, but there's not enough to separate it from other graphic novels.

Villainous follows Tilly, who is starting her internship at the Coalition of Heroes. Tilly is incredibly excited, and can't wait to start training and become one of their sidekicks. However, Tilly finds out that the heroes she's been looking up to her entire life, might not be as good as they pretend to be. Does that mean that the villains aren't as bad as they're made out to be?

This is a PERFECT graphic novel if you're just starting reading them. I don't often read graphic novels, but when I do, I often struggle with following the story. This was most definitely not the case with Villainous. The story was easy to follow, and some facial expressions of characters are EXQUISITE (not to mention the art itself, which is stunning).

I do wish that the story was a bit longer, so more attention could be given to the backstory of the 'villains'. I'm not sure if there will be other graphic novels about these characters. If that's the case, I'd love a little more character development! But maybe that's the novel reader in me. ;)

I was super excited to read this, the blurb seemed right up my alley. Unfortunately I feel like the book needed a little more work, structure to the plot and a little more depth to the characters.

This is bright and action packed.
The story is a little cliche, but most superhero ones are.
I really enjoyed it and can see how my tweenagers would love the colourful illustrations and action packed scenes.

While I was reading this all I could think of was how similar it was to "The Boys". This is definitely more appropriate for teens than "The Boys" is. The main character, Tilly, is recruited as a sidekick for the Coalition of Heroes and she learns quickly that not everything is what it seems in the world of superheroes. She questions what's going on and is targeted by the main hero and she has to run and is taken in the group that is seen as the bad guys. Turns out they really aren't bad guys but were also targeted by the heroes. Tilly did a few unexpected things but overall this was predictable considering the parallels with 'The Boys". It's not bad but it's not really good either. If you know of a teen that likes or is interested in "The Boys" or "Kick-Ass" this would be great for them.

I was ready to love this graphic novel. The plot description sounds so good! I’m all about turning hero and villain tropes on their heads. I also like the main character Tilly.

However, all of that gets overshadowed by racism. One of the characters is named Two-Spirit. The character appears to be a POC, but I didn’t notice it addressed if he (that is the pronoun used) is Native American or is two-spirit. Even worse, is the thought that he may not be. Also, everyone else gets badass names, but he’s Two-Spirit. Let’s call Sedition, one of the white main men characters, Cis instead, eh? Also, a black hero has hair that is described as “wild.” Additionally, there are two detectives. One is a white man and one is a black man. Of course, it’s the white man who is starting to actually figure out how things work regarding who is really a villain.

Onto the misogyny. Out of the heroes (re: villains), there are two men and two women once Tilly joins them. By the end of the first graphic novel, the other main woman characters dies. It’s a throwback to the trope where you can only have one girl in the group. Also, as she dies, she tells Tilly to look after the boys.

I checked, and it’s no surprise to me that the writer is a white man. I just wish he had gotten some input from others in this. Also, several characters were just reminiscent of other superheroes that already exist, and I was hoping for more originality. I won’t be looking to read any future volumes.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Tilly, a young reptilian superhero-in-training gets pulled into the twisted world of the Coalition of Heroes. She realizes quickly that those painted out to be Villains by the Coalition may not be as harmful as they seen, with the Coalition not as innocent. Will Tilly find he way in the Coalition, or see herself become something more....Villainous

This was a great read! I really enjoyed the characters and the story as it picked up steam. While this only compiles the first five issues, one could easily read this as a completed work if they so chose. I, personally, look forward to seeing how the story plays out for Tilly and how her family adapts to the new world. The artwork was stunning and the layout was very simple to follow.

I highly recommend this to anyone 12+ who is looking for something similar to Renegades by Marissa Meyer or a much toned down version of Amazon's The Boys. Five exploding stars from me, what a fun ride!

Before we jump into the review, I want to say a quick thank you to NetGalley and the publishers at Diamond Book Distributions for letting me read this one in exchange for an honest review. Villainous is a bind up of the first 5 volumes of the comics of the same name. Tilly starts her internship in the Coalition of Heroes excited to work with the people she’s looked up to forever. But what happens when she finds out there’s a dark side to the organization? Will she stand with her heroes? Or become something more...villainous. The bind up comes out on May 4th.

I’ll try to keep this short and sweet since the comics are so short. I always love the premise of stories like this. If you want to read a novel form of a similar plot structure, you can read the Renegades series by Marissa Meyer. I enjoyed the plot and where it went and I thoroughly enjoyed the art style. They also do a god job of making sure there’s representation for a bunch of different people, but also different types of superheroes and mutations.

I thought that the art style got a little muddied when the action picked up. And I always struggle with comics because I prefer long form content when it comes to reading. Hell, there are times when I read a 500 page book and wish it were longer. So, that’s probably just a me thing. I wish we could have dived deeper into both of these organizations.

It was such a fun and quick read. Definitely worth the time I invested. I would recommend it for anyone who truly loves anti-heroes and morally grey characters.

Thank you to NetGalley, Diamond Book Distributors, Mad Cave Studios, Stonie Williams, and Jef Sadzinski for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I requested Villainous for its claim to being for fans of "The Boys," among other things. It certainly had that vibe. Tilly is a lizard-girl who has just been assigned as a sidekick to one of the top-ranking heroes of the Coalition of Heroes, or COH. When Tilly overhears that her lead hero plans on murdering someone, she questions everything the COH stands for. Going to the head hero only causes more problems, leading Tilly to join the side of the villains.

It turns out the ones seen as villains by society are actually the ones trying to do good, while those who society deems as heroes have dastardly villainous plans.

I enjoyed the premise and the art, though I would have liked the story to revolve around Tilly a bit more. She was very important and has a great amount to put forth, but there were some scenes that I just did not care about. The detectives seemed unnecessary and the use of media on heroes and villains could have kept the conflict between themselves. A decent read that comes to a wholesome conclusion, though there is certainly potential for more in this universe.

i received this ebook for free from netgallery in exchange for an honest review!

lets start off with the story!
the story is actually quite a good concept and very entertaining on its own but it’s the characters that are really lacking depth in my opinion.
characters!
this is a world of superheroes, one with humanoid races that arent human yet the amount of people of color and queer are extremely lacking. we meet a hero called ‘two spirit’ but unlike what that would have us presume, the gender identity of indigenous people is completely ignored and just used for the aesthetic from what i could tell. the characters movements and body language jumps around so often it’s impossible for you to establish a solid character and when you start to piece together a person they jump into diction that seems so chunky and out of character for them.
now to the plot!
stories are just a concept, there’s a clear story here, but the plots pacing make it a bore to read through. the ‘villainous’ characters are mentioned to do evil things but, once again going back to the characters, never seem to establish the sort of dominance on their own character that allows them to hold their own mentally and physically with the conflict.

i think it’s a very good story in all honesty, the execution is what’s lacking here and unfortunately that’s all it takes to make a book unenjoyable.

the concept wasn't bad but the execution just wasn't subpar. This could have been a whole long series instead of just one short story. I didn't care for the main character at all and don't have any feelings towards the ending.