This reminded me of Assassin's Creed. It's about a man and his brother who are the last hippocrats. They are memory eaters meaning that no one can remember their faces. The main character is sneaking into a besieged city to rescue a family before Sulieman can sack it. There is one little element that seems way out of place at the moment. There's a few panels with mermen under the sea that didn't seem to fit with the rest of the story at all. Maybe they get explained in part two, but seem too fantastical for the rest of the story.

'Jakob Kayne 1: La Isabela' by Sylvain Runberg with art by Mateo Guerrero is a graphic novel adventure story.

Jakob and his blind brother Samuel are Hippocrats. They are also memory eaters. People who see their faces can't remember them. They go to where they are needed. This time it's the Archipelagos and a city named La Isabela that is under siege.

I liked this story well enough, but it didn't fully engage me. Maybe because I wanted a little more historical background.

I wasn't sure if I was going to like this or not when I started reading it. But I was pleasantly surprised! I really enjoyed the story and the artwork was very nicely done as well. I will definitely be reading more of this series.

Honestly, I thought this would be about something completely different (the cover gave me kind of piratey vibes). I didn't love the art style and the story felt a bit too uneventful for me, until the last couple of pages. Not sure if I'm going to pick up the sequel, though I am intrigued what will happen..

This started of right in the action, which was kinda of confusing for me. It was difficult for me get oriented to the world and figure out what going on and who the players were. The art was done nicely but overall I was not interested in continuing.

Jakob Kayne is why we need more historical comics. I was impressed, by the sheer visual scale of the artwork that this comic has taken. I love the alternate take of this fantasy Europe and a fantasy resurgent Ottoman Empire. The artwork is fantastic, especially with the depiction of the Ottoman troops, their army, and their navy. It also brings you the horrors of war as well. And I was surprised to see that Jakob was seen as an spy for the Omeykhims.

Torquemada's character needed a bit more development, for example I wished to see his resolve fighting the Omeykhims. I do understand that as Cardinal of the city he is protecting, he can't do much. He's not a solider. But this is exactly the sort of world that Assassin Creed would be in. I don't know why but it does. Jakob's character is well rounded, well written, and you are never left feeling inadequate about his past or his background. I didn't want Isabella's father and son to pass away when they are that close to the Omeykhim flagship. La Isabella is a beautiful city.

I loved the scenes of parkour, and the fact the soliders of the city weren't foolish everytime Jakob entered the city. They were smart enough to figure this out. However whenever Jakob adopted a new disguise, I would have preferred him to put in a fake beard etc. There is also a big power struggle going on. The Sultan wants the city to get the treasures of the inqusition, which Torquemada, being the terrible master of the Inqusition will not allow. And Jakob is a healer, and whenever he is called to heal people, it's a sort of duty for him. Although I was a little hesistant to see Victoria suddenly developing emotions too quick for Jakob, I do feel there should have been more of a distance. But it's a comic and stories are fantasy in some sense.

That is also not forgetting the fact that Jakob and his brother are Hippocrats and the last of them. I wonder if the Omeykhims, the Inqusition, and other interested powers are also interested in them. I can't wait to read and this left me wanting more!

8/10

The good: absolutely GORGEOUS art and a pretty cool premise. Jakob is one of only two healer alchemists left in the known world. This means he is basically a doctor - except he also has magical gifts. Namely, he is a memory eater, a man who has the power to make everyone he meets instantly forget what he looks like, which is handy when your livelihood depends on stealth. His mission is to save the life of a young woman afflicted with the plague, and get her and her family out of La Isabella, a small island protected by the Catholic inquisition but wanted by a Muslim armada.

The bad: the very abrupt cliffhanger ending, and the lack of character development. Two major characters are not introduced until the last couple of pages, and even Jakob is underdeveloped. It has promise, but this is too brief to know for sure.

This is the first chapter of Jakob Kayne and I think it was an okay read. The artstyle is really good but as for the story, it was mediocre.

The setting for this first chapter is during the time Ottomans tried to take over Constantinople but I'm not sure why the author bothered to change the name of the countries when the events were similar as to how it panned out.

As for the main character, Jakob is a healer and a memory eater. A memory eater has the power to make people forget how they look like when people look away afterwards. Everytime people would assume the memory eater to be a stranger even if they were talking for a long while face to face. I found this power to be really interesting but he was somewhat of a Mary Sue (definitely and totally a Mary Sue).

Overall, the story was mediocre but the artstyle was amazing. Jakob's background story and how everyone of his people died besides him and his brother was interesting and I'd be interested to read more about it but it's obvious it won't be of much focus. I'm not sure whether to continue or not with how cliche it can be.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with the digital copy for an honest review.

Blogger at Momotips

Thanks to Netgalley and Europe Comics for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review. It has not influenced my opinions.

Lately, I am reading often graphic novels and the first thing that came to my mind as soon as I start reading Jakob Kayne was the excellent quality of this comic. The details, the quality of images, the colors, and so on. Even if it’s a digital edition is extremely good quality! The lights and shadows are melting into each other so well that some illustrations look like we are watching a movie. I felt I could jump into the graphic novel and live the adventure together with Jakob and his brother Samuel. I will not tell you much about the story because that’s what’s amazing in this comic. A mix between history and legend, no one really knows if the Hippocrates known also as healer alchemists exist for real until they meet one. Jakob and his brothers are the last two survivors of the Hippocrates and they swore to heal who needs help and deserve it. The first part of the graphic novel is a kind of introduction on the story, the authors explains mostly where we are and what is happening in the island of La Isabela, only later they introduce the main character Jakob and part of his story. The story itself it’s a bit in hurry in the final part of the book and obviously it doesn’t finish as this is only the first volume. In conclusion, I particularly enjoyed this story and cannot wait to read the second volume.

This graphic novel follows a young man who is a memory-eater, someone whose face cannot be recognized the moment someone looks away. His quest is to help a family get out of the middle of a conflict between two destructive forces. The premise and the world are very interesting, but I felt there wasn't a whole lot of build up and foundation for stakes. Some of the exposition was confusing. The romance was lack-luster. The art was nice, though! It is only a first book in a series, so I might pick up the next book just to appease my curiosity.

This was a kind of interesting graphic novel. The artwork was cool, the cover is really neat and detailed. But the story, for how little dialogue there is, is overkill. Too much background talk, mostly Jakob talking to the reader. It was okay, I'd be interested in the next one.

With a nice script very well done, and a veery nice art we have the tale of Jakob and his brother as they try and help a family to save their daughter and escape the city.

With a character that as a power such as have a face that no one can recall after looking away such as the Silence of Doctor Who, do you think I would let go? Especially with everything going on with his healer brother. The city they are infiltrating and all.

Adventure packed, fun packed, happiness packed. For my reading at least. I can't wait for the next volumes as this one seemed to be more of a introduction to the full meal course!

<i>La Isabela </i>or<i> Jakob Kayne</i> is a graphic novel written by Sylvian Runberg and illustrated by Mateo Guerrero had a fascinating premise, following the quests of two brothers who set out to improve upon the world as a result of their own experiences. With one brother a healer and blind, Jakob himself is a memory-eater, which basically equates to having a face that no one can recall ever seeing once they've looked away from it. The story takes place in the time of war and Jakob sets out to save a family by first curing the daughter of a dreadful illness and then safely leading them from within the walls of a city under siege, an incredible task as he first must sneak into the city in order to find them.

I really enjoyed reading this graphic novel, though I will admit that it felt as though it ended too quickly. Imagine an episode of a brand new show that really only introduces you to the world and a few characters, briefly touching on the bigger picture but not much else and leaves you with a massive cliffhanger at the end that, while a cliffhanger, makes whatever is going to happen next within the tale fairly obvious. That's pretty much how I feel about this story. And, to be completely fair, I think a lot of graphic novels can fall into this trap as it can sometimes be difficult to tell an entire story within the confines of a novel like this. That said, I've seen graphic novels do it incredibly well and I left <i>La Isabela; Jakob Kayne </i>feeling as though I'd been cheated out of the whole story, despite the fact that I did deeply enjoy the bit of story that I was given.

I imagine I'll probably pick up the next volume when it arrives, though I have no real indication as to when that may be, especially as this was originally written in French. I do wish that there had been more to it, but I did enjoy what was there.  The premise and ideas behind the tale were quite intriguing and definitely enough to keep my attention for a long time, and so what I think it really comes down to is that I didn't feel that there was enough story within the graphic novel. Hopefully the next one will come sooner than I picture it will.

<i>I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

A rum bit of hokum, but a good bit of rum hokum. The creators have clearly looked at some history books, found the Islamist Janissaries, and the Spanish Inquisition, and the black plague, and thrown everything together into a piratical siege-based drama. Oh, and they looked at the Knights Hospitaller of Mediterranean renown and decided that they were healer-alchemists, both of them. One's blind, while the other – and here's where the fantasy side really comes to play – the other is a memory-eater, where nobody can recall any of his facial features if they so much as blink away. He's our title character, and his brother is his go-getter for errands, such as healing a handily attractive woman in the city the Sultan is trying to besiege. Oh, and now and again some mer-creatures will swim into view, foretelling even more magical wonders to come. It's tosh, but played this straight, with this level of artistic endeavour and just the right amount of the implausible, you get a decent read. It's set at a time when religious fervour, and slavery to the cause and oath, are played to the fore, and if you're on board for such heightened emotions and motives the drama could be right up your street.

Great ideas on an appealing plot! This first chapter was a bit confusing in the beginning but caught my attention right away. Jakob and his brother are characters I'm eager to follow!

Full review MAY 10: https://tintanocturna.blogspot.com/2019/05/comic-jakob-kayne-1-la-isabela.html

Unfortunately, this just isn't for me. I'm extremely new to graphic novels and I'm still trying to figure out if this is a genre that I would want to continue exploring. By no means is this to do with this particular novel, just my personal preference.

I was honored with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
I NEED TO READ MORE OF JACOB KAYNE'S ADVENTURES. ITS A NEED.
The illustrations are alive with details and the story is so addictive. The whole novel is a new experience.
The descriptions of characters and world-built were enough not too much to bore the reader and not too little to confuse them.
I totally am looking forward to read next volume.

I did not love this. I often find that graphic novels don't explain enough about what's going on for me, but in this case the opposite was true; some elements of this story were just way too repetitive. I think this could have been shortened from 50+ pages to around 30 without losing a lot of the story.

The concept here is interesting, and I liked the art well enough. But the pacing is just too slow for me. I won't be looking for more in this series.

Thanks to NetGalley and Europe Comics for providing me with a DRC of this book.

A great start and left me wanting more. Illustrations are fantastic. What an ending! Will be looking out for the next volume. Hope I don’t have to wait for long.

An absolute treat! The art style paired with the compelling storyline kept me glued to the pages. I can't wait to see what happens to Jakob Kayne next!

I appreciate that the author has chosen not to locked down this copy, making the reader truly feel appreciated.

I plan to review this on my blog at a later date and will update the review accordingly.