REVIEW: Tooth & Claw, #1

[Scott M Davis]

If this was a normal 22pg comic, it would have been a failure. BTW, i think the Champion is probably a spoilers:

Monkey.

end of spoilers

[Agent John Bishop]

I just got done with this. I loved it. I do not think it was quite as meritorious of 5/5, but it was really good. The art was amazing and the world building was really good. I am definitely onboard for this one.

[quinnzel]

I felt the same way you did. This issue really blew me away, it wasn't on my 'must get' list when I first saw it solicited but now I can't wait for the next issue. Blew away all my expectations. I still can't get over how beautiful every single panel was, it was so majestic. This might be one of the most ambitious first issue I have ever read. Beautiful world, charming characters, I can't gush about this series enough.

Another well deserved 5 star rating from me as well. Anyone who hasn't picked this up yet needs to do so now.

I was exactly the same way. It wasn't on my normal pull-list and I actually read up on it last minute the day before I went to my LCS to grab my new stuff. Boy am I glad I did! That's also how I ended up picking up titles like The Fade Out and Copperhead. I find it funny that I tend to do this with Image titles when, at this point, because they're killing it so much, I should just automatically place every new Image title on my pull-list

Like you, I also still can't get over how gorgeous the book is. It really is phenomenal, I mean, to the point where some of those panels should be framed on a wall somewhere. When this comes out in a collected edition, it'll be a crime not to release it in a fancy sleek hardcover to properly showcase that amazing art!

[wwise03]

I agree...it was very good. But I'm still curious to see how it is with 24 pages. It this book was divided down into two different books, I likely wouldn't have ever read issue 2.

Hope the books maintain this quality level in half the amount of space though!

[FanboyStranger]

I agree...it was very good. But I'm still curious to see how it is with 24 pages. It this book was divided down into two different books, I likely wouldn't have ever read issue 2.

Hope the books maintain this quality level in half the amount of space though!

I have no doubt it will. Much of issue 1 was establishing the world, but the story is in full swing now.

[matt levin]

I always have difficulty with 2nd person narration; distracts me with questions outside the story. Only time it really worked for me was Shang-Chi’s evolving voice-over in Master of Kung Fu, and Steve Gerber’s Manthing, where the ‘you’ being addressed was clearly the monster. My first response always is not so much, “who’s talking,” as “who’re they talking TO?” Always hope it isn’t to me; as I say, it raises too many distracting questions (e.g., how do they know I’m here?).

Ah, must be Emris Dellahan, or someone reading his book to oneself; but no, it’s apparently this Dunstan. How did he know all said and done inside the convention? Likely a story in itself, later. And who IS he talking to?!

I find myself now a recent convert of Dilidi-I and Tofar. --What a great bit, these 'new gods!'

Wish we’d seen more of this Dunstan; seems barely introduced, a strict, rich-guy’s son, impulsive, naive, yet his narration seems more adult-ly philosophical, as if he’s speaking from a time long after. The character of most immediate interest to me is the magician, Gharta, whom I hear speak, I don’t know why, as Whoopi Goldberg’s Guinan.

And with next issue, the story gets into gear-- What a long introduction this first issue is! But a most generous package 48 pages, no ads, @ the 32pg price. And a strong promise for engaging reading in the future. I don’t mention the artwork, because it’s obviously high caliber, 'as any fool can plainly see.'

[Groo Odyssey]

10/10 rating from newsarama http://www.newsarama.com/22657-best-...an-9-more.html
Congrats Kurt

[Trilipush]

One of the best debut issues I've read in a long time. World-building is exemplary, the plot is dense but feels organic, the character interactions have a charming quality that creates\ a balance amidst the plot's more serious overtones. And man, the art is just plain gorgeous and beautifully detailed. The colors are fantastic. The rendering of the facial expressions and the body language is right on-point, which is very difficult to do considering that the characters are anthropomorphic animals. I can't wait to get my hands on the second issue!

[shamus]

This sounds very promising. A new comic book that I am going to seek out with anticipation. (As a side note remember the old DC 100 page Super-Spectaculars? I believe the page count also included the cover. Perhaps they are not story pages but they are pages.)

[Jim Purcell]

If this was a normal 22pg comic, it would have been a failure. BTW, i think the Champion is probably a spoilers:

Monkey.

end of spoilers

I'd be okay with that.

[King's_Gambit]

I'd be okay with that.

Really solid book. It's not a GREAT FIRST ISSUE in the sense of a first issue that sinks big hooks into you or leaves you on a cliffhanger or some-such....but there's also a huge benefit to that - I pretty much know that the quality of the series is going to live up to this issue with the second and third issue. It seems pretty common for a series with a killer, 9.5 first issue to have 8.5-ish second issues.

Also, special shout-out to comicraft. The lettering is fantastic.

I was also pleasantly surprised in that the comic wasn't at all overwritten as I feared it might be, what with all the world-building. The page of straight-up prose was a little much, and some of the magic-speak was a bit out there, but I generally didn't find it wordy or overly expository at all. That's a pretty easy trap to fall into for a book, and a first issue, like this one and Busiek avoided it deftly, and showed his massive experience as a writer in so doing.

[Kevin Street]

THIS COMIC IS AWESOME!!!!

Ah, must be Emris Dellahan, or someone reading his book to oneself; but no, it’s apparently this Dunstan. How did he know all said and done inside the convention? Likely a story in itself, later. And who IS he talking to?!

I think the narration is from the book by Emris, and that Emris is probably Enna, the little owlet that's hanging with Dunstan. So out of all of them she probably survives, but no idea about the others.

There are so many cool characters in this story I'll probably have a new favorite every issue. Right now it's either the walrus sorcerer Pelobos ("Shall we starve ourselves?") or Seven-Scars, who looks like the toughest buffalo man that ever existed.

[Jim Purcell]

Really solid book. It's not a GREAT FIRST ISSUE in the sense of a first issue that sinks big hooks into you or leaves you on a cliffhanger or some-such....

But.. it did both of those things.

[Danny Rand's Other Fist]

Wow, this had been put aside by my local shop but because I hadn't asked for it and had a heavy couple weeks, I put it back on the shelf. Going by the replies on this thread, it seems I may have to revisit the title!

[jessica]

Amazing first issue. Probably the best first issue since Saga. Definite 5 Stars. Honestly the only way this book could let me down is if spoilers:

the Great Champion ends up being Human

end of spoilers.

Simply because that feels too blatantly obvious.

I am glad to hear someone compare it to Saga, as that is the comic book that got me interested in reading comics. As I was reading it today I thought of the same conclusion you did in your spoiler, and agree it seems obvious.

The art in this book is absolutely amazing. Being a lifelong lover of fiction novels, it's an interesting change for me to have such amazing art to enjoy instead of just paragraphs of text, and this one had me enthralled. There were many scenes I just wanted to put on my wall and stare at, the colors and the art, just fantastic.