This was a great read! Awesome narrative and rad artwork. I dug this book a lot.

Thank you for the opportunity.

I had fun with this. It's set in a world where the fey can visit Earth. Two enforcers are sent to take a package across country but have no idea what's in the package. Turns out it's something that could start a war between fey and humanity. So you've got one of those stories where everyone is on the lookout for this car, both fey and human. The story is action packed. Good stuff.

Slightly clumsy caper of a bloke trying to take a package across country as a One Last Job kind of thing, not knowing the package is actually a princess of the fae, and not knowing quite how many other characters – human and otherwise – are interested in relieving him of said box. It's not bad, but the multiple twists and crosses, and the multiple time lines, all seemed a bit too much for my tastes.

An atmospheric visual story and another wonderful example of the range of work Mad Cave is publishing. Perfect for comics fans.

I want to read the Vol 2 to give a better opinion. This happens to me a lot, I always hope so much of this kind of stories and then I remember that it's a series so no-- I have to wait. But, If you're like me, give it a chance! It's a pretty good story.

Read this if you like: Urban fantasy, engaging world-building, car chases.

Noir meets fantasy meets classic action chase scenes. A well crafted introduction to an exciting new series.

DAHLIA IN THE DARK, VOL 1. follows Donny Dahlia, a washed-up hitman in the process of doing one last job. You don't exactly have a 401k in the line of work Donny has been in for most of his life, but this last job should set him up just fine. Maybe even enough that he could reconcile with his daughter and thus save the most important relationship in his life. Is there any undoing the damage, though? That's the question that really haunts him.

This last mission is the delivery of a mysterious package. You don't really get paid enough to know what's in the package, but unfortunately Donny soon finds out. The package is carrying the daughter of a banished Fae King, and Donny is now embroiled in the complex Faerie Civil War.

The artwork for this volume is uniformly fantastic. The color palette is dark, which suits the tone of this urban fantasy just fine. There's some gore, rollicking action, and so many threads of plot to follow that I wish this had been a TV series rather than a single comic book.

I found myself really enjoying the first third of the book, and increasingly confused by the latter two thirds. The plot was difficult to follow, and although I cared about Donny I had difficulty understanding who the other characters were and what their motivations were. The story was crowded, and would have benefited from a slightly slower pace so that the big reveals and action sequences had room to breathe and have real impact.

Nevertheless, I'd be curious to read more by the author as the bones of the story were solid and there was a lot of heart in the relationship between Donny and his daughter, and his attempt to redeem his failures with his daughter through aiding the Faerie Princess.

Thank you, Netgalley, for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The art was intriguing and added a lot to the story. The story idea is great and full of action, I'd like to see where this goes in volume 2, volume 1 is, as always, set up, but a little confusing to what set up we're getting for the rest of the story.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Mad Cave Studios for an advanced copy of this graphic novel that features a professional shooter crossing the country,being pursued by creatures both supernatural and human.

When the job that you are good at, the only thing frankly that you are good at is death, sometimes you have to pick a side. Good or bad, let the many bodies answer that. Respect versus working with an untrustworthy mob boss, well the boss pays so that's a bit easier. Living alone, probably dying alone, or seeing your family again, even if it puts them at risk, well that is a lot harder, but family is family. Picking sides in a war between faerie folk that could decide the fate of mankind, I'll get back to you on that. These are some of the decisions facing our hero (?) Donny Dahlia in the urban fantasy, crime story, shoot-em-up Dahlia in the Dark Volume 1. Written by Eisner nominated writer Joe Corello and illustrated by Andrea Milana, the story is filled with magic, blood, betrayals, and lots of weapons.

Donny Dahlia has seen better days with a reputation that is sinking fast, with not a lot of options to make things better. Once Dahlia was a premier shooter, the best at what he did, but threats to his family and his own self doubts have set him back. Dahlia is given a job to be co-driver in a cannonball cross country trip delivering a package somewhere west. This works as Dahlia's family lives out there, and this will give Dahlia the chance to maybe see them, and make good. However there are a lot of problems. A dedicated FBI agent is close on their heels. A warrior on a motorcycle just keeps coming for them, and his boss might be suppling information to all sides, even ones Dahlia doesn't know. For there is a war, a war between the Faeries, and Dahlia is carrying something each side wants, and Dahlia is caught in the middle.

An urban fantasy stories with a bit of the Transporter movies and a lot more ammunition. The story is good, starts with a bang and keeps moving. There are some flashbacks, but the story is easy to follow, though some of the faerie politics might be a bit hard to follow. Donny Dahlia is a bit of a jerk, but he does get better as the story goes on, not a hero yet, but not the zero he appears to be in the story's opening. The art is very good, with nice details on the cars, and the background, and giving each character a unique looks that makes them easy to follow in the story.

There is a little Stray Bullets influence, along with Jim Butcher especially the faerie politics. The story holds up and seems to be going to some interesting places, and I do want to see what the story goes next.

The artwork in Dahlia in the Dark Vol. 1 is great. However, the plot is confusing. While the idea of a fairy world living side-by-side with humans is intriguing, the execution is choppy, and the characters are paper thin. It’s a shame. 3 stars.

Thanks to Mad Cave Studios and NetGalley for a digital review copy of the book.

I loved the art and the story was a lot of fun. So much action. It does start to get a bit slower by the end, but the art was beautiful and I look forward to seeing the story in print.

"Dahlia in the Dark Vol. 1" is fast paced urban fantasy story about a hitman who accidentally gets caught up in a Faerie civil war. The protagonist, Donny Dahlia, is a seemingly washed up thug who is more interested in reestablishing contact with his daughter than meaningfully committing crimes. Instead, he winds up on the road trip from Hell riding shotgun to a partner who might just shoot him while dodging law enforcement and assassination attempts by paranormal assailants.

As the story develops Donny winds up saving and then aiding a Faerie princess as she attempts to overthrow an unjust monarch and restore order to her people. The relationship that develops is clearly juxtaposed against Donny's failed relationship with his daughter and hints at his eventual redemption.

The story does get confusing in places and the Faerie political scene can be a bit hard to follow. The villains are all strongly written and convincing, but sometimes their motives for villainy are a bit opaque and I actually found myself wanting more monologues. Finally, the resolution of the story was predictable and not very imaginative.

All the above quibbles aside, this is a fun fast read with a few twists and a surprisingly likeable protagonist.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Mad Cave Studios, for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

If you want fantasy, thorough world building, action, mystery, and a little bit of everything in between, then Joe Corallo’s graphic novel ’Dahlia in the Dark: Vol. 1’ is for you! I was surprised by how extensive the world building was despite the limited amount of time there as to do so. Andrea Milana pulls out all the stops on the illustrations! The colours and details of each scene were mesmerizing and played a huge part in making this graphic novel stand out.

‘Dahlia in the Dark’ follows a hitman who takes one final job of transporting a mysterious package. Like many action adventures, there are various people who want this package for themselves, forcing this tired hitman to take matters into his own hands. The character development was fleshed out while still maintaining an element of mystery that keeps you wanting to know more about them; which hopefully happens in future volumes (fingers crossed). I do wish that the climax was a little more drawn out because it wrapped up almost too neatly for all the action that happened leading up to that moment. Regardless, this graphic novel is definitely on my future re-read list.

4.0 out of 5.0
Dahlia in the Dark Vol 1 by Joe Corallo is a graphic novel that tells the story of a supernatural hitman on a mission to deliver a package. It seems that he is on his way out of the business and on the outs with his daughter. The story is weaves a story of bleak redemption and is very gritty.

The art work brings the story to life with its willingness to display the written violence and gore.

Highly recommend for those who like dark urban fanatsay.

This wasn’t a favourite of mine. The story was hard to follow because all of a sudden it launched into a high speed chase and I don’t think it gave sufficient time to understand the world building and the different characters and their back stories. There were too many flashbacks for me. I do think some of this might be due to the fact that this is the first volume so it is an introduction to the series. Not a good one for me but many thanks to the author and publishers for letting me have a review copy.

Dahlia in the Dark is a fun fast-paced graphic novel about a delivery gone wrong. The art style is what originally drew me to this book and it did not disappoint. This book is beautiful!

The story brings you into a fantasy world with other species and worlds. There are several factions in this book, and as the reader, there is a lot to get caught up on to understand why everyone is going after the package that Donny is trying to deliver. This book does a good job of giving you all this information in a manner that is easy to understand in a way that doesn't feel boring. The characters are compelling, (visually and conceptually) and are the biggest driver in making the story interesting.

While I would say that the plot is not anything revolutionary, I don't think every book needs to be that. This book has enough unique elements–in both the characters and the world-building–that you still get a fresh feeling while reading it.

Overall this is a wonderful quick read that is definitely worth picking up!

The illustrations here are really great. They were interesting and held my attention but unfortunately the story didn't. It felt very generic and despite the high action I just lost interest.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

3.5 Stars
I don't know how to feel about this one. The art style I absolutely adored. It looked great, and the character designs looked wonderful too. The action scenes, and trust me there were plenty, were wonderfully done. The plot, however... felt way too rushed. I feel like I watched a movie on fast forward with how quickly it went by. There were several scenes that I think were meant to be big emotional payoffs, but instead, I felt nothing. The plot gives you no time to breathe and to get to know the characters. You know some basic key facts about them, but nothing else. You don't get to have any big emotions over them because the story never lets you know them. The plot pacing was also just weird. The beginning of the novel made me think that I had somehow accidentally started reading a second volume in a series, not the first. But no, this novel just dumps you into the world with barely any information. The world itself seems like it's a very interesting one, but you barely see it. And what I did see, I didn't really understand, because it flew by so quickly. It's a pity because what little I saw of the main protagonists and the world, seemed like it had a lot of potential. There are also way too many characters shoved into only about a hundred pages worth of story. Another reason you don't really get to know any of the characters is that there are so many of them. I also really disliked the ending. That's a personal dislike however, others may like it. The last thing I'll mention is that this world gave me a lot of the same vibes that the movie Bright did. They're both urban fantasy set in the modern day, so it's understandable. But seriously, I felt like I was reading what could have been an alternative setting to Bright.

Dahlia in the Dark centers around a man with a sad past tasked with transporting a package. Lots of action, and good artwork, it was overall fairly predictable, but a fun quick read.

Had a very promising start but unfortunately doesn’t live up to it. My interest started to dawdle towards the middle and was almost completely extinguished by the end. There were so many “emotional” moments but they didn’t really pack a punch or make me feel anything because I felt no connection to any of the characters. The entire concept and premise was actually very interesting but should have been executed better. Really love the art style tho.