*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free graphic novel.*

Brzrkr is about an immortal berserker (surprise!) on a quest of violence, modelled after Keanu Reeves. Think John Wick + Castlevania + Hellsing + Chthullu. Sadly the graphic novel just perpetuates stereotypes: women are evil, toxic masculinity, violence and some more violence. I didn't really enjoy this one. Not sure if the adaptation is going to give this some more depth but this was pretty shallow... Meh. 2.5 stars

Poetry of Madness-2⭐️
A simple meet-cute story of a violent warrior immortal and a Lovecraftian creature from the deep.

Honestly, I couldn’t get past the feeling of there being an element of misogyny present with the only named female character being obviously sexualized window dressing who makes a crack about sleeping with Unute within the first scene. And the only other time any women show up in this story after that they are naked and in an orgy. I’m just so tired and so past this flavor of toxic male shit, it just feels lazy to me at this point.

Fallen Empire- 4⭐️
Gladiators and carnage.

This story was a significantly stronger showing than the first. I thought that this story had a lot of potential in its bones but that its short length really meant that none of the story, emotions or characters had an opportunity to develop and breathe to allow for some investment.

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Firstly, reading this has made me realised that manga has spoiled me for story and quality of art work. This was fine but I wasn’t blown away and it certainly didn’t break any molds. I feel like it’s good quality for traditional style western comics.

Secondly, I love Keanu and will support anything that ray of sunshine wants to give a crack at. That being said this really does just feel like a storyboard draft for his next action movie blockbuster series.

You can really tell that there are no women in the writing team. I would say that this doesn’t pass the Bechdel test, but there’s never more than one female character in a story for a conversation to occur.

I would say that I’m not the target audience for this and maybe I just don’t get it, but honestly, even the target audience of young dudes out for blood and gore should probably demand more depth.

Thank you NetGalley and BOOM! Studios for the ARC. These thoughts are my own

Writing stories about immortals is hard, because.. well, they're immortal, so the stakes sort of drop away. And what tends to happen then is that authors don't write stories that actually deal with the immortals as characters themselves, but they write stories surrounding the immortals. The immortal as tool, as weapon. And that's what happens here. Twice.

The first story is very violent, and silly. Nothing surprising happens. The only thing we learn about BRZRKRman himself is that he's a bit dim.

The second story fares better. It's basically about how BRZRKRman is a nuclear weapon. Use him, everyone loses. And also, he's a bit dim.

You'd think being immortal gives you a special kind of wisdom, some unique view on the human condition. Not in these stories, and not in the main series. And that's a bit dim.

I would like to thank NetGalley and BOOM! Studios for letting me read this advanced copy!

I really enjoyed this graphic novel! The story was intriguing and the artwork was beautifully done. The two blended well together to create a story that was action packed and left the reader wanting to know more about the main character, and the journeys that await him. Definitely going to be checking out Volume 2 of this series! Highly recommend if you are a fan of action packed, and brutally bloody stories!

Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy of BRZRKR: Bloodlines by Keanu Reeves; Mattson Tomlin in exchange for an honest review. This was a beautifully gory graphic novel. I enjoyed the storyline.

BRXRKR: Bloodlines is a good time. I have read the other 3 volumes in the BRZRKR series so am now happy to continue by seeing Unute's journey prior to working with the government. The storylines are awesome and endears me more to him. He is a protector, lover, and a good bloody time. The illustrations are also hilarious; the expressions are very wild and grab the attention. I loved them. I enjoyed this book probably more that the original series. Can't wait for more.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher BOOM! Studios for an advance copy of this graphic novel adventure about a man fated to fight and fight, for all of eternity, and those who are caught in his wake of violence.

The idea of an immortal warrior is not a new one, however there is much that can be done with this idea. A warrior whose sole purpose is to fight, to bleed, to lose, suffer loss of friends, comrades through battle or old age, and who is there at the rise of villages, and the fall of empires, that's a lot of storytelling possibility. One can have a warrior uniting caves, fighting for or against Rome, climbing the cliffs of Normandy, or even battling on Jupiter's moons. One can mix in historical fact, other fictions and of course lots and lots of blood. BRZRKR: Bloodlines is a compilation of two stories, Poetry of Madness and Dead Empire, which tell of the character known as Berzerker's adventures in the distant past among a city spoken of in legend, and a vast empire erased from time. The stories are written by Keanu Reeves and Mattson Tomlin with art by Steve Skroce and Rebekah Isaacs.

The city of Atlants still exists at the beginning of the story Poetry of Madness, though barbarian hordes have arrived to lay seige to the city and take its wealth for their own. Berzerker deals with them in his own way, and rides into the city to the cries of the people to meet with the leader he rescued as a child. The king though is weak and listens to his advisors, a group of priests who like the eldritch ways, and the Elder Gods, who have stolen forbidden knowledge from the Berzerker's home during his battle. And soon there is a Shadow over Atlantis. The next story the Dead Empire, a scarred narrator crosses what seems like endless wastes to arrive at a temple, a temple that records great events and actions. The narrator begins a tale of a great empire, a mad god of vengence and a request to remember the empire. However something is also coming across the wastes, one that erases all that it sees.

Fantasy stories for those that think that John Wick is too Disney like, or want their Conan turned up to 11. The stories are good, but are excuses for Berzerker to engage in a lot of the old ultraviolence. And boy howdy does he. Guts are ripped out, and put back inside, faces smashed, teeth sent flying. The art is quite good, though the look of Berzerker does change in the two volumes, even though they still look like a certain Hollywood actor and comic writer. The first book he is very John Wick, the second he is more Ted. However the rest of the art in both books is really good. The cities are wonderful, big fantasy landscapes, with lots of people, animals, buildings Old Ones and blood. The second the desert wastes really stand out, along with the priests. And again the fighitng.
Fans will enjoy the stories, as will most comic fantasy readers. I don't know if I am alone in this but I kept humming the lines Berzerker, Berzerker from the Kevin Smith Clerks movie, but again I am old. I am interested in seeing where else Berzerker finds himself, and what other tales he might draw on.

Loved this new one from the series. Artwork is superb and the story really sucks you in. I read it in about 45 minutes because I couldn’t put it down.

Two words totally awesome I read the first Ark of this story now going into the Bloodlines it's such an action-packed and brutal bloody story I can expect nothing less from Keanu Reeves himself I will buy this with available awesome story

"God had returned home. He didn't seem happy with what we'd done to the place."

Bloody, brutal, and (in the case of Poetry of Madness at least) surprisingly funny, BRZRKR: Bloodlines is a great intro to the series.

Striking artwork, engaging storylines, and gory as hell!

Keanu Is Back!

As a reader of the original BRZRKR series (BRZRKR, Volume 1), I am so happy to be able to read more.

I still can't get over how well the drawings are. Really has a way of drawing light and detail.
Reminds me in a way of Chainsaw Man, Vol. 1: Dog and Chainsaw.

Definitely check this one out if you are a fan of the series, or if you want to read a modern Berserk, Vol. 1.

Check it out!

4.1/5

I thoroughly enjoyed Keanu Reeves's BRZRKR: BLOODLINES, VOLUME 1. Yes, THAT Keanu Reeves. Not only is he everyone's favourite and only Keanu, but he's also the creator and co-writer of the BRZRKR series, which I've only discovered late last year. There are two stories in this volume: POETRY OF MADNESS and FALLEN EMPIRE and I loved them both. There's a lot of blood and gore, which, to me, still look pretty tame in graphic novel form. Each story is pretty short and feature a "hero" of sorts, who suspiciously resembles our Keanu a lot, but I guess that's what makes it more alluring. Definitely worth getting if you enjoy graphic novels and love Keanu.

Two short BRZRKR stories, none of which were written by Keanu Reeves, yet his name is the first on the cover. Hey, the guy sells, and I heard he’s a nice person, so why not.

1. “Poetry of Madness” (Skroce/Stewart/Dukeshire)
Carnage. Pure, unadulterated, seas of blood and beaches of crushed bones carnage. If you want to see Keanu ripping a guy’s skin off his face with his teeth, you’ve come to the right place. Oh, wait, that’s not Keanu, but Unute the Berserker. Yeah, right :) The art looks like a poor man’s Geoff Darrow ripoff, but it’s fun. The story starts with a caricature of a villain that bites more than he can chew (all that while spouting funny quips) and summons Cthulhu. Then continues with more carnage (and Keanu putting his guts back where they belong). And ends with a famous mythological destruction :) Crazy, fun, and no morals whatsoever.

2. “Fallen Empire” (Tomlin/Isaacs/Cunniffe/Carey)
The last survivor of a doomed empire begs the Acastan monks to keep his people alive - if only in the history books. It’s a story of an immortal gladiator that refuses to fight for his captors, of a merciless curse, and of a queen with her life tattooed on her back. The art is squeaky clean for such an evil story, and the complete opposite of what Skroce tried to do - it’s a bipolar book, but you could like both stories. I did, although “Fallen Empire” is clearly superior storytelling. (And less fun.)

Disclaimer: I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. This didn't influence my opinion in any way.

Nice stories (2) and nice drawings, also because the main character, Unute, looks a lot like Keanu Reaves, and I can only be happy about that. The first one tells a bit about Atlantis and the second one about a betrayed love, very sad by the way, while the first story looks a lot like a Conan story I read a long time ago.

Belle storie (2) e bei disegni, anche perché il personaggio principale, Unute, assomiglia molto a Keanu Reaves e io non posso che esserne felice. La prima racconta un po' di Atlantide e la seconda di un amore tradito, tristissima tra l'altro, mentre il primo racconto assomiglia molto ad una storia di Conan che ho letto tanto tempo fa.

I received from the Publisher a complimentary digital advanced review copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.

This is a super interesting story, and I find the characters all pretty compelling. I did read all of it and heard Keanu Reeves' voice the entire time.

Fair warning: parts of this are very graphic and violent and bloody, and tbh made my stomach queasy at parts

Wow. Great art and a great story. Beautiful writing. This is a hero we didn’t know we needed. Cannot wait for more.

Somehow this won’t work on my device.
I believe it’s down to my phones not updating or something but for whatever reason I can’t read it.

I haven't read any graphic novels before so thought I'd give this one a go. I started to understand more of this storyline about half way into it and really enjoyed it. I liked the couple of plot twists at the end although I had a feeling who that character was telling the story to be written. Looking forward to reading more.

As a spin-off detailing highlights of B's history, this worked really well. Self contained stories that conclude perfectly. You don't have to have read the mainline series either to appreciate this. It's been a while since I read the original series but Cthulu was definitely a suprise but not an unwelcome one!

Thanks to Netgalley & Boom! Studios for the arc.

Harsh! This book was really ultra violent. And what an intriguing story. I loved the art, and it was a great way to tell these two stories. I especially liked the second story, where someone learns the real price of peace.
Thanks so much to NetGalley for letting me read this graphic novel.