I'm delighted to share my thoughts on this. The artwork is really beautiful, and I found it easy to navigate through the panels, particularly during the action scenes —which is something I typically struggle with when reading action-packed comic books. The world-building is extensive and leaves room for the story to grow. However, the book uses a bit of info-dumping to explain the lore. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this experience, and it concludes with a thrilling cliffhanger that leaves me eager for more.

Absolutely loved the art and story I was sucked in ... probably shouldn't have started it before bed but that's my only complaint

Oh the art is gorgeous. Super rushed story maybe an extra 20 pages would have helped it. I did like that the humans and non-humans were not just sworn enemies.

Great artwork and the colouring is excellent but the story just wasn’t for me. I think this one will be a favourite with readers who enjoy high fantasy.

I absolutely LOVED the content art of this one. It took a smidge time to read only for the fact my nephew hung over my shoulder and we both discussed and read it together. Which surprising was kinda fun cause we voiced theories or he’d point out something I might’ve missed in haste to read all the words. Both agreeing that art is probably our fave of the year so far for graphic novel, the story line holds a lot of promises and we cannot wait to delve more into this world the author has created

4/5

🌱THE EXCELLENT
~ Reds are used beautifully for the images
~ Expressions in the art are gorgeous
~ Gorgeous dragons and background scenes
~ A story with room for growth

Betrayal is afoot in the beginning of the final stance to take back the captured city of Vestalis?!? Vesper & her bastard prince lover, Crimson Nyx (😏) are doing the naughty carnal relations & engaging in activities they shouldn’t as she is a ‘disgusting chimera’. The conflicting forces of the kingdom are intent on keeping the bloodlines pure, free from witches of darkness, their magic & all of that UNSAVORY deliciousness we know they all just envy. But there is more to Vesper than meets the eye & her background is shrouded in mystery. When her prince is kidnapped and placed on a farce of a trial and she is grievously wounded, beings will come to her rescue, but will she be able to save her lover before his impurities are removed?

✨Give it a read.

🌱THE MEH
~ Typical female torture and almost rape for the male gaze 🙄
~ Beautiful although you are a vixen evil being narrative for the females 🙄

♡🌱 But that’s just me ;)

I WAS UNABLE TO FULLY READ THIS TITLE BEFORE IT WAS ARCHIVED. Quite bummed - for some reason, this and another title from Europa Comics gave me download issues, but because the series looks right up my alley, I will just purchase the title and read on my own. Thank you for approving me for Vesper and I can't wait to actually have the chance to read it. It looks amazing!

[Obligatory Net Galley provided me with a free copy for an honest review in return, this does not effect my rating or opinions in any way shape or form and I wouldn't represent a work of fiction I didn't personally like or enjoy]

Admittedly, graphic novels and comics aren't really my thing. When it comes to storytelling I tend to lean FAR into preferring prose. But Vesper caught my eye.
They always say never to judge a book by its cover.
In this case, judging it by its cover is apt as it is BRILLIANT.
When reading it I found it so easy to lose myself in the visuals presented (which are drop-dead gorgeous) and in the sounds of the battlefield that the art captured beautifully. Not to mention the top-notch character design, particularly on Vesper herself. (though Crimson is also pretty hot).

Whilst this is more of a me problem since I'm more attuned to prose, I DID find the story a bit hard to follow (but coming from someone who barely understands the order in which to read the panels, that's hardly a shock).
If this were to be adapted to TV, however, which it ABSOLUTELY should be, I can see myself bingeing this! Someone needs to get on adapting this immediately.
All in all, if you're a fan of comics and such and enjoy seeing some BEAUTIFUL art, Vesper is definitely a read for you.

The story is very brutal but the Artwork is absolutely amazing. I liked it a lot. I can't wait for the continuation.

Sehr schöner Stil und gute Geschichte, die mich zwar nicht ganz umhauen konnte, aber doch trotzdem sehr unterhaltend und spannend war!

Allerdings war es auf dem mobilen Gerät sehr schwer zu lesen, es ist als Print sicher um Längen besser.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved VESPER, it was an amazing read, I loved every page and the art was so good, I read it in one go and I just wanted more, so why was it so short?! I'll be waiting for the next volume that's for sure, I want to know what will happen to the characters. I loved the world and all the characters are so interesting even the villains, I just liked it!

I read Vesper in one sitting. It’s 62 pages long and has some of the most breathtaking art. The first page looks like it should be a painting in an art gallery.

I'm intrigued by the art and the story. Most of the characters look like half monsters, and yet they're condemning Vesper for her magic. She also has an interesting relationship with her mother, who was definitely hard on her.

I was also really taken aback by the ending. I mean everyone expects stepmothers to do awful things, but the punishment meted out to the prince was just insane. I had to read that twice just to be sure that this had happened!

I will probably get volume 2 whenever it comes out!

Thank you, NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book!

A very intriguing start to a new fantasy comic series which promises to fill panels with mystical magic and huge wars!

This review copy was given to me in exchange for an honest review

Set in a fantastical world, Vesper fights alongside Crimson Nix to protect their people. But they face grace betrayal that could cost them their lives.

This is an amazing debut for this series. The panels are beautiful, the characters are layered and it's exciting to see how they unfold in subsequent volumes.

I love the drawings of the characters, and the scenery, it transports you into Vesper's world as a reader.
This was a beautiful read and I can't wait for the next volume.

The plot was paced well and the characters evolved with it.

The art and story were so good that I finished this in one sitting at 1am and I am not mad about it. The art is so good that I thought it could be put in a museum and shown to fancy people. At first I could not understand what exactly was going on and I felt like I was missing something, but there were context clues, and a summary at the beginning that helped me understand the storyline, I love the mix of humans and other creatures. It was nice to see them all fighting together instead of humans versus other creatures. I think the want for freedom is a great theme and shows how the past has affected the present. It ended on a cliffhanger, and I tried to see if there were more graphic novels in the series but could not find more. I am hoping to continue this story.

Omg this is literally one of the best graphic novels I've ever read. Vesper is a warhead, she's a strong female character who is half-human, half-chimera and also a magic wielder. She fights alongside her lover- Crimson- to save their country and in the end the country turned its back against them and proclaimed her a witch.
This was such an amazing read, the art was so good and Vesper is hot!! I screamed because the volume two isn't out yet, can't wait to see how she fucks them up.

When it comes to fantasy worlds, everyone is living in the shadows of Tolkien and other literary greats that managed to create deep back stories and rich worlds to tell their stories. It is incredibly hard to catch the attention of readers and fans with new worlds and characters. Often, as it is with Vesper, the author is acutely aware of the rich back story that they have created. Instead of unraveling it over the course of the story they instead blurt it out like an excited child who cannot wait to share their creation. The constant mention of the past and exposition dumps provided by each character as they are introduced becomes the biggest hindrance to the story.

You need not look any further than the first page to get a lovely “here’s what you missed” type introduction. The attempt is to give the reader insight into the world, but none of it feels important to what is presented on the pages after and frankly was forgettable. For all it’s worth, the page could have been blank, it’s that useless. As for exposition dumps, our main character meets with her mother later in the story and it comes across like a daytime talk show summing up all their drama for the audience to quickly soak up. “I know you can read my mind” said no one to a person they know can read minds. At one-point dear mum states how difficult Vesper was to raise and that she had to send her off to be raised by someone else. It is clearly being used to establish this character at a later time in the story, but in its current form it’s clumsy. They speak in unrealistic ways either by saying things the other character would know or assuming the audience knows something they couldn’t possibly know at this point in the story.

“Well, you know Vesper, she was a wild child and ended up running away from home! It is okay though, Mepaw Thunderfists took her in and taught her how to tame the beast inside. Now I will vaguely explain what the beast insider her is even though we all know and have zero reason to repeat this out loud.”

As for the plot, it can sadly be boiled down to a simple revenge story. Vesper’s motivation is having her tongue cut off and the man she loves imprisoned. Fair enough I suppose, but her dedication level is scorched earth. Even the author knew they needed more and by the end the story gives the reader a peek at what Vesper will discover and propel her to seek further revenge. It is no better or worse than most revenge plot lines, but the strange “give her more motivation” could have been her only motivation.

How do we get to the point of tongues cut out (just the tip by the way) and lover’s being pulled away to face trial at a kangaroo court? It all starts with a holy war or something resembling the fantasy crusades. Vesper and the men she is fighting next to are making a final push to capture a city. If this city falls then the war is over or something to that nature again the story assumes you know this information. There was never really a sense of how long the war had been going on and the final battle was incredibly easy for Vesper to finish on her own. She uses witchcraft and destroys everything, but the rest of the soldiers look at her and go, “You shouldn’t use witchcraft Vesper, you know the church we’re fighting for will be mad!” Well, that rascal Vesper does it anyway and kills a bunch of dwarf-looking people in the process. Hooray, the church of definitely not evil people has won the war and claimed this very inhabited city for their own.

At this point the story has phoned in a battle which means we need to let the characters take the night off and let their hair down. At the same time, the not so evil church exposes itself as being evil. What a twist to an otherwise ordinary beginning! The Inquisitor and evil Cardinal… Bishop? You know what he is not technically either of those, but he looks like one of the two. Anyway, they decide they want to get rid of the Bastard Prince that Vesper is banging in the only clean bathtub. They need evidence though, a thousand witnesses to Vesper using witchcraft won’t cut it even if they are completely loyal to the evil church. They send a creepy three-eyed dude to peep on them and this guy does not even care that they’re getting it on in the only clean bathtub with hot water, instead he is more interested in the demon shit that is inhabiting Vesper’s body. A Chimera actually, but even though it is said a million times it is never explained what it is, why it is bad or what it can do. Are we supposed to look up the word and go by the definition we find on the web? If so, check a box for making this story interactive!

This all leads to the Inquisitor and the army that the Bastard Prince and Vesper just fought alongside, arresting them first thing in the morning. These events lead to the kangaroo court and Vesper being rescued by her mother before pig men can rape her. Yeah, what is a revenge story without a pointless addition of rape to the story? They do not succeed, and I am sure the author would say that this moment was here to show her strength and independence… which is total crap. It was not needed, and it could have easily been a brawl and nothing more.

Vesper ends in such a way that it thinks you will want to come back and continue Vesper’s journey of revenge. In truth, there’s very little reason to come back. Vesper as a character is fairly one-dimensional. She does magic, she was a wild child, she is in love with a pure hearted prince. The constant lines alluding to a richer and deeper past fail to create a world that is interesting. Rich backstories succeed once interesting characters are developed and unfortunately, you are left with a bit of whiplash with this story constantly swinging back and forth between the present and the dull exposition about the past.

The art is the one saving grace, but all the painted detail in the book can’t save the choppy pacing of the story. Battle scenes are finished in a mere few pages, but dinner conversations take several pages to complete. The beast men are awkward and out of place with the rest of fantasy world until the latter half of the story when don’t have as many humans in the story. Overall, the artwork is nice, pleasant to look at and well crafted. From a storytelling standpoint there are too many wide illustrations that are full of detail but feel zoomed out on the page in order to make it fit a standard comic formatting. There is a great deal of love when it comes to the characters, but detailed facial expressions and ripped bodies do not take the place of developed characters. Vesper can look as cool as possible, but she’s still a boring character.

Vesper is an easy read. A familiar read at times and while there is plenty to say about it, ultimately, it’s not a bad comic. It is not an inspiring comic and very forgettable, but you will not be tearing out your eyes or wondering if it is worth finishing. The point being, you could read a lot worse, but with Vesper you can tell that the creator is putting in a lot of passion and excitement. They just need more guidance and support on the story. You’ll know within a few short pages if Vesper is a story for you or if you should move on to something else.

Last note:

Upon finishing this review I discovered that Vesper may be based on a game or have a game based on the comic. Frankly, I didn’t care enough to figure out which was which. I’m sure that someone will correct me, but even with that information it doesn’t change my thoughts or experience while reading the comic. If the game came first, it does explain why the author believes everyone knows the backstory, but I would also take metaphorical points away from the story for writing based on the assumption that the audience knows already. Every comic has the potential to be someone’s first experience with not only comics, but the story in general.

Outstanding artwork with a great sense of style, gives me 80s fantasy cover vibes but with a modern sleek to it. The character designs, fighting, vistas, and spells all look fantastic. The story itself gives a little to be desired but the art and how exciting and inspired it is more than makes up for it..

This graphic novel follows bad ass amazon Vesper and you're immediately thrown right in to battle with her. The world building in this is pretty intense and in your face which I didn't mind much because its a graphic novel so you can immediately get a sense of the world. If this were just a novel I would have been super confused.

The art in this is absolutely gorgeous and holds nothing back in terms of detail (I really had to zoom in at some points to get a good look since I was reading on my phone)

The story did feel a bit rush its about 54 pages and I do feel like it could have been longer, at least I wouldn't have minded.

and also that ending?? ouch?! Im not sure where this story is going but it hurt my feelings pretty quickly lol

Beautiful art and interesting world, but I was not prepared for the amount of graphic violence in this book. Vesper is an interesting character - a powerful warrior with magical powers, that is able to win a war for a country that wants to get rid of her and her lover, the bastard prince. While the story has a lot of promise, this is a bit too violent for my taste.