This is a cute little graphic novel. I liked how Jordan's design and initial scenario set up the things we'd need to know about him going in -- he's gay (rainbow pin), he's into dungeons & dragons (d20 t-shirt), and he's tired of being parentified instead of being treated as one of his parents' children at age 17. So when he randomly gets sucked into another world where he saves the life of a beautiful elf prince, I could believe he'd want to stick with it.

That said, I often found his reactions unbelievable throughout the story. He felt like he was being roleplayed in a D&D game rather than a real character -- there was no point where he seemed to realize what he'd got himself into (which I figured would happen when he saw someone actually stabbed and dying, and had to fight the person who'd done it), and his emotional reactions felt muted in general, his decisions arbitrary. I can see the emotional beats the story's going for, but they don't always land.

I also found the ending a bit of a let down -- the decision he made at the end, I mean. There was already a sense that events weren't having the emotional impact that they should, and that underscored it for me.

But the art was cute, and I'm always here for a gay & nerdy fantasy adventure.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Questo fumetto aveva molto potenziale, sopratutto dato che è autoconclusivo e la storia non era poi cosi male.
Purtroppo è tutto ancora molto acerbo.
Sia i disegni che lo svolgimento della storia hanno parecchi problemi.
Dal punto di vista artistico c'è molto da migliorare: molte prospettive sono sbagliate, i punti di vista son un po' strani alle volte e sia i personaggi che gli sfondi potrebbero essere fatti meglio.
La storia invece ha molti più difetti, sopratutto per quanto riguarda l'evoluzione del protagonista. Posso capire che non sopporti la sua famiglia, ma che in mezza giornata sia diventato tutt'uno con il nuovo mondo (ad esempio il "Thanks the gods"...mi pare un po' troppo per chi è li da un giorno soltanto, passare agli usi religiosi di un altro mondo) e che abbia espresso il desiderio di diventare un cavaliere senza nemmeno provare a cercare un modo per tornare a casa, dimostra come sia tremendamente superficiale la costruzione del personaggio.
Ho trovato molte scene alquanto improbabili e per quanto riguarda le ultime scene tra i due protagonisti...le ho trovate superflue, ma non fastidiose.

Quindi si è una buona lettura, ma c'è molto da migliorare!

---------------

This comic had a lot of potential, especially since it's autoconclusive and the story wasn't too bad.
Unfortunately, everything is still very immature.
Both the drawings and the unfolding of the story have several problems.
From an artistic point of view there is a lot to improve: many perspectives are wrong, the points of view are a bit strange at times and both the characters and the backgrounds could be done better.
The story, on the other hand, has many more flaws, especially as regards the evolution of the protagonist. I can understand that he can't stand his family, but that in half a day he has become one with the new world (for example "Thanks the gods" ... it seems a bit too much for one who have only been there for one day, to pass to the religious customs of another world) and that he expressed a desire to become a knight without even trying to find a way to return home. That demonstrates how tremendously superficial the construction of the character is.
I found many scenes quite unlikely and as for the last scenes between the two protagonists ... I found them unnecessary, but not annoying.

So yes it's a good read, but there is a lot to improve!