Thank you to Netgalley and Mad Cave Studios for The ARC!

I'm not fully sure how I feel about this one. on one hand, I loved the art. It gives 80's pop vibes and everything Neon lights and glam. However, some of the panels feel overcrowded with panels or dialogue, or even the flow of how the story needs to be read. The pacing of the story feel a bit imbalanced at times, likely due to the overcrowding of panels in some pages. There was also issues with the file itself. I do think the premise does feel interesting and was the reason I wanted to know more about Xero. Overall I felt like it has potential to be good if it just had a i more polishing to make the story flow better.

Mall culture or is it more than that? Xero is just a teen, missing his pregnant girlfriend, but has no idea where she is and honestly hasn’t made much of an effort to find her. He’s given a videotape and learns the truth about his entire existence. Will he take the initiative to leave his safe haven and follow his heart?
Unfortunately, there were issues with the download file, and I was unable to read more than 62 pages of the graphic novel (which explains my semi-low rating of this book). It left me wanting more.

#ThxNetGalley #Vaho #Xero

— 2.5 ✷

It just wasn't a story for me unfortunately. I wasn't invested in the main character enough to care about where he ended up. So this is just a very personal rating.

LOVED LOVED the art though. It was so funky retro-pop that elevated and was a perfect for the post-apolocalyptic retro future vibes the story was going with.


Thank you to Mad Cave Studios and Netgalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Whoa! What a wild ride.

This comic is funky, weird, and wild. Set in a post-apocalyptic future through the lense of the 80's. The world building is truly original and engaging.

And the illustrations really bring the world to life. The graphics in this book are colorful and pop-y both in the sense that they pop of the page and also in the pop-art a la Andy Warhol.

The background of each scene brings out a new color palate and yet it's still all really cohesive. The angles and perspectives of the panels and pages are also unique and interesting and really add to the movement of the story.

My only real complaint is the pacing of the story itself. It started off great but about half way through, it felt like things escalated a little too quickly. Too much was revealed in a short time and it felt like it was revealed in bursts. Like there were a few pages with so much happening, and then a handful of pages bordering on the surreal and then jumping back into a lot of story all at once.

Perhaps this was an intentional choice and the creators of this comic were truly aiming for expressing the word "pop" in every possible way.

Regardless of that small complaint, I found this comic to be really cool and I would love to read a bit more.

I'd recommend this to comic lovers with a penchant for the 80's, for post-apocalyptic worlds and definitely for funky stories with unusual premises.

Thanks Netgalley and publisher for giving me this interesting wacky graphic novel!

Honestly I wish there was more than just 70 chapters available because I was literally hooked from page 1 of how absurdly wicked it looks. I liked the funky colours and I really did find the whole mystery of the main characters pregnant girlfriend disappearing without a trace just so binge worthy. You just want to have a happy ending because our boi Xero is going through a lot here. Again, such a shame there’s not much in the sample like I want to read the whole thing, it’s so rare to find a decent read these days seriously!

I don’t know, it wasn’t for me. The story is about Xero, a guy that lives in a bunker called The Mall. There aren’t any children. He goes looking for his missing pregnant girlfriend. He later figures out that The Mall incubates the babies. I could not get into the story. It was a little too trippy for me. If you’re into trippy comics, this one’s for you!