This comic had all the potential to be good: a fun scooby-doo-esque mystery gang, an intriguing introduction, and just the right amount of creepy to keep the reader interested but not uneasy. Yet all of that is buried beneath overly-complicated subplots and confusing not-explanations. The reader is thrown headfirst into the story, so much so that it feels like the first few pages of the comic are missing. The phrase "urbex" isn't even explained, despite it's constant use.

The characters are by far the most off-putting aspect, simultaneously playing to every trope there is despite being two-dimensional. The "bad guy" is, of course, a german psychiatrist, because THAT hasn't been to an offensive level before. The "nerdy" boy who sucks at sport has a crush on his pretty best-friend who's "not like other girls" because she's tough and macho, which we can see by her constant teasing whenever the male character admits to having feeling. Toxic masculinity, anyone? Alex's mother are sister are cringe-worthy in their completely unrealistic flatness. Their obsession with how he spends his time just screams "inverse Freud" and it's creepy how they try to follow him (and not in the good kind of creepy that this story is aiming for, either). Julie's parents don't even speak, just sit there silently when their teenage daughter screams at them to act like adults.

Outside of Alex and Julia, everyone else's interactions feel fake and forced, as does the plot. Things conveniently happen just to avoid massive plot holes. The main characters get "supernatural powers" that are genuinely never explained and only appear when there's no other way the author could get the duo out of the mess they've made. Both Alex and Julie know things that no teenager in the world would know, all for the sake of advancing the plot in the easiest and quickest way possible. Even serious and delicate issues such as consent and sexual assault are simply thrown in to add some drama without even being discussed properly or even used in a vaguely respectful way.

The end of the comic leaves dozens of questions unanswered and no answers in sight. This isn't done in an intriguing "I can't wait for the next book!" kind of way, but rather "what did I just read and why did I waste my time finishing it" way. The twin ghosts somehow know who Alex and Julie are, they age up and down without any explanation, Daniel tells two strangers (and children at that) a horrible secret he hasn't even told his parents, Alex's great grandmother's portrait randomly appears in the non-existing-yet-kind-of-existing mansion, Julia just happens to have that exact portrait on the living room table at home, and all of that is only barely scraping the tip of the iceberg in this incredibly cliché and and completely unrealistic comic.

School friends during the day, Alex and Julie meet in secret at night to enjoy a little urban exploration. Deserted villas, forgotten clinics, and derelict factories are their favorite playgrounds. But one night, their exploration becomes a nightmare when they come face to face with the ghosts of two young girls in an abandoned mansion. Alex and Julie are certain about one thing: they can see the dead. But what if they’re also able to heal the wounds of the past…?

This was a very good graphic novel, and I wish I had the rest of it because one volume was not enough. Not nearly enough!
The 2 main characters, Alex and Julie are kids I wish I had known when I was a weird geeky teen. They like the thrill of exploring abandoned buildings, and when they begin to see things that no one else can, instead of running scared...ok they do run scared, but they come back and keep coming back. They want to figure out why they see the scenes they do and what they mean. And is it possible to help those they see? Another way to look at ghosts, not all are of the dead.
Highly recommended and just know you will want to buy each volume as it becomes available. I know I do!
Thanks to @Netgalley, Europe Comics, Dugomier, and Clarke for the chance to read this graphic arc in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

I liked the book up until the end. You have likeable characters, an interesting mystery that starts to unfold, and great artwork. But the book simply ends. The story doesn't and the problem lies in the fact that just as things become more complicated, the book stops. This, seemingly done without rhyme, reason or forethought.

Lots going on here. This starts as a fun urban exploration adventure, that takes on a ghostly air, and then veers into a psychological thriller. Through it all our two heroes grow closer, and become more complex and appealing to the reader. An engaging and rewarding read that promises to stay interesting as it goes on to later volumes.

Urban exploration, ghosts, and mystery...and that in graphic novel form. If that doesn't scream exciting, I'm not sure what does.

Alex and Julie are an odd pair of friends at school, but in the evening, they like nothing better than to explore all sorts of forgotten buildings and such. When they enter an abandoned villa, they are shocked no other urban explorers have beat them to it. As they look around, they run into a pair of twin ghosts, and while frightening, even more things change to create an unexpected mystery.

The graphics are well done and really bring the atmosphere to life with all of the tension, shadows, and chilling moments. The text flows well and balances these out as it should. There were a lot of strange things happening, and each one was impossible to to figure out where it was leading, which keeps tension high. Mystery weaves in among the paranormal thrills, adding interesting twists, especially since it leads in a totally different direction than might be expected. There's a bit of spook, some action, mystery, psychological hints, and difficult themes of abuse and such. So, this is an intriguing mish-mash on the genre end.

Alex and Julie are interesting characters, and I appreciate that the two are just friends. Romance doesn't come into play, nor does it need to. The adventures and paranormal story lines already put enough on their plates. Plus, Julie has some other issues surrounding her home life. Unfortunately, these aren't really fleshed out in this first book, which is too bad, since, at least, a hint would have been helpful. But it is the first book.

There is a lot going on in this tale, and while it keeps the story moving along (although there were a few moments, that it was a bit on the slow end—which surprised me), it was a bit too much on the theme end. The ghost twins, the super abilities, and the secrets surrounding the villa already create a rich plot. By adding visions, a man with sensitive issues that need to be solved (and this entire line wasn't handled well, imo), Julie's family whatevers, and a psychology angle, which I'm not sure where that's going yet, this grew a bit confusing, at times.

But all in all, it's intriguing and definitely offers an original twist, which mixes various genres. It will be interesting to pick up Tome 2 and see where all of this is going. But if tome 2 doesn't smooth over some holes, this won't be one I'll continue after that. I received a complimentary copy through Netgalley.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this graphic novel in exchange for my honest review.

Urbex is a graphic novel telling the story of urban explorers Alex and Julie. One day they find this amazing abandoned villa.... but then creepy and unexplainable things start to happen.

The vibes in this graphic novel were great-- it was very atmospheric and creepy. I wanted to know what would happen next, so this was definitely super readable. But unfortunately that's where my praise for this graphic novel ends. The story didn't really make much sense, the characters were flat, and the writing was nothing special. While the story was readable, it was largely set up with little to no pay-off. I will not be reading the next volume.

This short graphic novel is an interesting concept. The was a little telling, not showing to speed things up, but I was intrigued all the way through - especially by the twist at the end.

Part ghost-story, part first romance, and part examination of human relationships, this graphic novel has it all, along with excellent illustrations that support the full range of emotions experienced by the characters. My only quibble is that the dialog is a bit stilted in some parts, but overall, it's an excellent read.

Book One of a teen fantasy graphic novel that's virtually good enough for any age audience, secondary school up. Julie and Alex are trying to be urban explorers, but when they enter one abandoned villa, they're both scared witless by two spectral characters – who do the "The Shining" stilted girls shtick and then some – and then discover the whole villa only exists at night. And gives them super-powered athleticism, for the night. And then they discover the skill of seeing ghostly scenes of other people bickering. And then...

With this being far too early to judge the whole intended series, the book does have a little too much of the "wacky case of the month" feel, with the teens able to be completely naive about their own situation and relationship yet able to spout cod psychology that gets them to the core of the mystery. I certainly appreciated the platonic love involved more than the pat use of a Gross coursebook. And what also lets the book down is how much ammunition it feeds those who want to say it over-eggs things. What the heck is that for a relationship between Julie and the people she lives with?! Are there not just too many genre tricks and ideas crammed into proceedings? I think the answers to that and more rely on future books, but for now this was entertaining stuff. Four stars might flatter, but it reflects both (a) the potential of the series, and (b) it being read at Christmas.

2.5 stars
Man, the premise and the art style are just great! The execution... yikes.
It's a short graphic novel about these two friends Alex and Julie who love to go exploring old and bonded buildings, urbexing. But then at night, they find this old giant mansion, that is freaky, there are these two twins, this giant dog, and they see visions like a ghost and oh, also apparently they get there are superpowers. But they're the only ones who can see the mansion, the ghost, or anything, and at daytime they can't see it either. I feel like it should have been a little longer, and telling us more on how that haunted mansion worked, what was the deal with the twins (view spoiler) and just it felt harsh at times. The part where Alex and Julie get teased by their friends was so overdone it was annoying. Also, the nosy mom and sister were too, also they never really have a talk or anything, yikes. Also, it felt pretty psychological at times, especially with that mansion being owned by this psychiatrist who did weird experiments. The red-headed guy they saw in visions the most... well it made me feel bad for him and his life, his trauma and all. It's just a heavy book, and I guess it can be good, but they don't really tackle it in a good and empathetic brave way. I wish some things were edited and also, what the heck was that ending? I guess in volume 2 we'll learn what is happening. but I'm not sure I'll be up for it... sorry.

the story is easy and cute with the adolescent will they/won't they vibe and also two nice arcs and a ghost story.
it let you with a need to read more

This short graphic novel was so cool! Going into it I wasn't too sure about it but wanted to give it a shot and I loved the artwork, it looked so cool and made it much worth the read! This is something i'd highly recommend for someone who wants a short read and loves some books with mysteries.

Official title: Urbex
My title: Abandoned Voices
Creators: Vincent Dugomier + Clarke
Publisher: @europecomics
Fav character: Julie
Type: Graphic Novel
4.1/5

🌱THE EXCELLENT
~ An intriguing beginning to a series of mysteries held by a creepy and haunted abandoned house
~ Excellent pacing kept through well-written and staged ‘revelations’
~ I am actually curious about what is going on with the house
~ Julie and Alex are really likable
~ Makes me curious about exploring abandoned houses myself *coughs at the house next door*

Alex and Julie are school friends who do a little urban exploring during the nights. They enter abandoned buildings, walk lonely halls and touch forsaken walls, until one day the building isn’t empty. Forced to face the fact that they may be seeing ghosts, and that the villa has some supernatural powers of its own, the two children will investigate these occurrences, avoid any attraction they may have to each other and hang out with other dangerous explory friends. ;)

✨Give it a read.

🌱THE MEH
~ It is a slow burn, so may not be the thing if you like quick action in your GNs
~ The story was somewhat short 🤔, I believe we could have seen a bit more of Julie’s family
~ The conclusions they came to seemed a tad ‘fast’/‘advanced’? 💁

♡🌱 But that’s just me ;)

Urban explorers meet two ghosts in an old psychiatric hospital with lots of mysteries. (Basic premise)

Ehh, not for me. I personally love watching urbex videos on YouTube so thought a graphic novel would be fun but this wasn’t for me. I liked the way this started but I don’t really feel like it gave many answers and I don’t plan on reading any further volumes.

This was an interesting graphic novel in terms of the theme and I liked the artwork too! However, it was too fast-paced with unrealistic jumps to conclusions so quickly from the characters, and I did not think that the way sexual assault was handled was appropriate.

I didn’t really understand what was happening in this graphic novel. The storyline was confusing and I didn’t really get the ending.

I loved the illustrations and characters though. Wish the storyline was as good as they were.

I received a copy of this graphic novel through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I didn’t know anything about Urbex before reading this graphic novel, even the word was unfamiliar to me. Now I’m smarter and know that it is defined as urban exploration and basically means exploring empty buildings. Perfect setting for a ghost story. 😁👻
The story was indeed quite creepy and not at all bad. The characters had weird family lives and thus they could just wander around in the dark…I could use a bit more about their backgrounds and history. There’s still so much unanswered questions that I would love to read the next volumes as well.😊

I thought the general idea of this book was very interesting, but the delivery fell flat. The story seemed rushed and like it was missing details. This made the book hard to follow at times. I loved the illustrations, but the text needed more development.

While I thought the concept was fascinating, I thought that the storyline was rushed. The idea of Julie and Alex having to solve some sort of interpersonal problem through finding ghostly projections in abandoned buildings was interesting, but felt forced. It also seemed formulaic- they just had to go into any random building to find more plot. And the way Daniel just told his deepest trauma to two random kids who approached him at work was unrealistic, even in a story full of magic.
Despite this, I did enjoy the graphic novel. It was full of humor and I felt compelled by the storyline. The art style fit very well with the vibe of the story and the street art/graffiti throughout the abandoned buildings they explored. I look forward to seeing where the authors take this in future editions, especially since they left us with many unanswered questions.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an E-Arc of this book, sadly I DNF'ed it about 20 pages in

I found the writing to be repetitive in some parts, the ways the panels were drawn made it a bit hard to follow the flow of the story. In one page, it went from the end of a conversation to the middle of separate conversation at night that held the same wording.

The story was also very fast-paced, which I didn’t mind because I have been having trouble with paying attention to books lately but I did mind that a lot of the character interactions seemed rushed and hard to really connect with. I had hoped to make it to the end of this volume but it just didn’t work out for me.