I really enjoy graphic novels, and I was so drawn in by the story premise, that I was wildly disappointed with how disjointed and incoherent the storyline was. Even for a graphic novel, it needs more exposition and explanation; I think the setting needs to be a little more established and that more captions would have been helpful. I also found more than one panel to be hard to understand the action happening in the art. For instance, the scenes where Lupa is dreaming about that other girl were not clear at all until she finally says that she was dreaming.

I do like the story and would like to know what ultimately happens, but I don’t see myself buying the sequels.

Well... Sadly, not convinced at all by this book. The artwork is okay, although not my favorite at all. I found this book super dark but also extremely violent (even though it's not something that bothers me in a novel, but here with all the drawings, it's something else). There's not enough dialogue here, which makes me wonder what makes Lupa so special. Everything happens suddenly without explication, so I was confused more than once. But also, the MC Lupa is supposed to be 4, but with the events in the book, she doesn't seem to be that age, but way older

With complete another honesty I just couldn’t get into it. And believe me I tried but the more I read the more I just didn’t want to continue

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for allowing me to read this!

STUNNING!!!. The art was amazing! This author did amazing. I loved the story and the plot of this graphic novel! I highly recommend.

This was an interesting start to the graphic novel series and it will be interesting to see where the next book takes this story. I did like the addition of a new colour(s) with each phase of the book and that those colours may tie into the aspects of Lupina. It helps that there is an explanation of the 8 aspects of Lupina at the end of the book.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel! The artwork is beautiful! The story was confusing at times but I'm sure it'll make more sense in the upcoming volumes. I'm intrigued enough for the next one.

Recommended: sure
For an intro into a series that promises to give more (next time), for an interesting art concept (that you might have to squint at), for characters well-portrayed even in their silence

I've come out of this book feeling like I'm more interested in the next installment. This one was a lot of setup and not much actually happening. I know the summary is all like, "she's out for revenge with a badass wolf by her side" but that is more of a future thing it seems. Definitely no vengeance here.

I kept going because there were some interesting elements worked into the story and world lore, and the art intrigued me. It's a little bit of a love / hate with the art though, because there were an unfortunately large amount of scenes where I truly could not decipher what was occurring. It was difficult to distinguish the amount of greys, blacks, and shadows to figure out what the scene was showing, which really took me out of the moment. On the bright side, it made me focus a lot on the art?

This first section is mostly art, by which I mean there's little dialogue or plot progression beyond the initial events. It's more of the "getting to know them" portion. Introducing new colors in each chapter as time went by was awesome as a mirror of the growth of Lupa both physically and mentally. Her relationship with the wolf was conveyed quite strongly, considering they can't communicate verbally. A behind-the-scenes at the end shone a little light on some of the decisions they made, and what was discussed was absolutely spot on for how it had come across. In that way, this was really successful.

Overall this first volume on its own is somewhat tepid, but it's also only the first chapter. There's enough promise here to make me want to see what else is coming.

Thank you to NetGalley and Legendary Comics for a free advanced copy. This is my honest review.

I got an ARC of this book.

I don’t really know what I expected from this. I liked the name so I gave it a shot.

The art is sometimes hard to figure out what is going on, but that added some style to it that I appreciated. There characters are distinct, though they weren’t always introduced in a way that made any sense. If you catch every little detail and are great at names, this will be less of an issue for you.

The plot itself was ok. I wasn’t really invested. There was some violence early on, some emotional trauma. Then cute wolves appeared. So I liked the wolves, but it didn’t make any sense why the wolf actually came to help. Maybe that is revealed in the next book, but based on book one it just felt an easy explanation to how the girl lived. It is also an example of why I don’t like fantasy, everything is a little too easy with magic and magical creatures coming to save the day.

This doesn’t really stand out for me. I don’t really have strong feelings either way on it. It is not outstanding in plot, characters, art, or really anything. It isn’t bad, but it doesn’t really do anything. So I am left trying to write a review on something that took me ten minutes to read and made me go “eh, guess I finished that”.

The best part was probably learning that all the people involved are queer. That warmed my heart.

When I started this I wasn't sure I was going to like it. But surprisingly I did! It is an interesting start, you are thrown into the action very early. It was a little gory considering the main character starts off as 4... But the trauma makes sense as it puts her on her path. I liked the connection between the goddess aspects and her growth. I also loved the pairing of the main character and the wolf. It definitely left me intrigued for the next part of the story.

I loved the artwork in this one, and enjoyed that with each phase of the moon an extra colour was added to the graphics. There wasn't a lot of dialogue to give explanations for what makes Lupa special but there was enough to intrigue me to pick up the second where I hope there will be more explanations.

Would recommend this one and love the darker artwork, it gives a really atmospheric feel to the story.

I received an eARC of this title through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I liked this graphic novel. The story was interesting. Lupa is young and learns the horrors of the world early. The goddesses of her culture guide her on her journey along with a lone wolf.

I think the artwork was well done. I liked how each chapter incorporated a different color which correlated to each of the goddesses.

I think the concept is really cool. I also would like to understand more of what is going on. I hope more is explained in the next book.

Lupina Book One: Wax with cover and interior art by Li Buszka and written by James Wright, is a graphic novel currently scheduled for release on September 14 2021. In the coastal town of Kote, recently brought under the yoke of the Addalian Empire, four-year-old Lupa spends her days getting bullied by her older sister and hiding behind her mother's skirts. But when tragedy strikes, Lupa finds herself alone in a new world, alone until she's found by the she-wolf, Coras, and sets off on a journey of discovery and revenge.

Lupina Book One: Wax is a good graphic novel. I loved the art style, the details and colors used were my favorite part of the book as a whole. I simply enjoyed the style and could see how much effort and talent was involved in the work. I liked Lupa and the general premise of the book. I often had questions about details that were mentioned once or twice in passing but never returned to or further explained. Since it is the first book in the series, I think it fell into the common trap of book one being the set up for stories to come, rather than a story in its own right. There was adventure and growth for Lupa, but it felt like just as things were about to ramp up and things will get really interesting the book was over. This happens all the time, and some people find that they need to read the next volume because of it. Sadly, there was not enough of a hook here to have me looking to continue the series.

Lupina Book One: Wax is a good series starter that will appeal to many.

3.5 stars from me. Great artwork for sure. Not enough dialogue though. Not sure what makes Lupa so special. Hopefully the 2nd book in the series comes out soon.

Lupa was named after the goddess Lupina. It seemed like a cute story over all. However there weren't many words so half the time I was very confused on what was really happening. The illustrations very ver beautiful. I also liked hoe it started dark in colors and by the end of the book it was very colorful.

Lupa witnesses her mother death during a brutal attack on their home town. Lupa is left alone until she is found by the she-wold, Coras, and sets off on a journey.

There really isn’t a lot to say about this comic. The art style is very nice and the use of colour is beautiful. Beyond that there really isn’t much. It’s very short, just over 100 pages in this volume and it took me less than ten minutes to read it cover to cover. It didn’t grip me really at all, and I found myself reaching the end and thinking, is this it?

Other than the artwork there isn’t anything in this comic for me. It just wasn’t that interesting. I was invested up to Coras arriving and then nothing really seemed to happen between then and the end of the book, which makes up most of it. The first section of this book seemed interesting and then the pace was so quick I never really got a sense of what the story was actually about and it then it was over.

I won’t be reading book two of this series. The first one has nice artwork but little else. I didn’t care about any of it once I’d finished and I’ll probably forget all about before the end of the day.

Lupina by James Wright is a fantastic graphic novel for lovers of classic comic books. Built on a solid story, Lupina is filled with beautiful art and is an absolute emotional ride.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Lupina Book One: Wax by James Wright is a fantasy adventure featuring a young girl as a hero. The story revolves Lupa, a young child living in a fantasy world. One day, the unthinkable happens, and Lupa is left without a family. She's adopted by Coras, a wolf, which evokes the phrase "a girl raised by wolves." They set on a bloody, violent adventure in order for Lupa to avenge what has been done to her. The story itself reminded me of a DC Comics hero origin story, such as the Batgirl or Wonder Woman graphic novels, and I'm sure that it will appeal to readers who enjoyed those books. I was also reminded of a character in Game of Thrones who sets on a quest for revenge after an unthinkable tragedy occurs.

Overall, Lupina Book One: Wax is an exciting graphic novel with a female protagonist that reminded me of a Studio Ghibli movie, specifically Princess Mononoke. Just like when I watched that movie, I was on the edge of my seat reading this graphic novel, wondering what was going to happen next. I took off 2 stars, because the graphic novel has its moments of blood and gore. Although it is categorized as "Teens and YA," I would probably suggest it for upper YA. While some young teens may be OK with the amount of violence, I was surprised by how much there is, and I don't think it was necessary to the story. If you're intrigued by the synopsis, or if you're a fan of fantasy graphic novels, you can check out this book when it comes out in October!

I couldn't connect with the characters and didn't really pay much attention to who's who because the storyline alone was so confusing to me. Loved the artwork though it's so dark and cool.

I received an e-book copy of Lupina through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This graphic novel made me highly confused. The art was very dark and things kept happening suddenly and without detailed depiction, sometimes even in time-lapses. Most of the time I just didn’t understand it nor care much for the characters. Perhaps it’s only because it is a first volume and there will be more hopefully with better explanations. 🤔

3,5/5⭐️

To be honest, I understood exactly nothing. All I know is that it was gorgeous, very weird, and that I want to read whatever comes next.