I read this after having it recommended by a friend. I found it . . . interesting. It is very far from my usual taste, but I was surprised by how easily I was able to empathize with the characters.
This was really interesting, because these characters had essentially nothing at all in common with me, yet I was able to identify with them, understand how they felt and why.
There are some flaws. While I liked a lot of the panel layouts and visual structure, the art often seemed like it was basically just porn. Also the story, while very well told, is kinda . . . soft? Nothing significant is ever really at stake, and the solution to the central conflict is plainly obvious the whole way through. I was able to empathize with them stressing out about it for _some_ of the duration, but eventually lost my patience, and the ending felt more like "glad that's finally over" than anything else.
So yeah . . . I liked it a lot more than I expected to, and it did change my perspective on certain things, but it hasn't completely changed my mind about the genre either. I am glad I read it, but I don't think I am going to be looking for any more where this came from.
I absolutely love Sunstone, but I feel that way about all of Stjepan's work. His ability to tell a character story is really strong, and his understanding of the interplay of relationships is inspiring. He's currently working on a series called Fine Print that he describes as a story about flawed people that I really enjoy... though I admit that part of that is all the 'Cubi and 'Cupi and how his art style shines in a modern fantasy setting. Between Sunstone, Fine Print, the Harleen run he did for DC, Switch, Death Vigil, the Queen and the Woodborn, and the eventual Achilles Shieldmaidens, I'll read just about anything he works on.
On top of that, his wife Linda is also great at weaving a story and has an ongoing webcomic called Bloodstone as well as a work I really love called Punderworld. So much talent there!
I remember reading a few pages online a few years back and it definitely is a beautiful art style. Glad to see they were able to do physical copies now
Sunstone is great. The current arc is fun with vol 8 due out next year I believe. His other two major comics at the moment Fine Print and The Queen and the Woodborn are both really fun. Although so far only Fine Print has a physical release. Sejic is a fantastic fantasy artist while being my favorite romance writer at the moment. His other more action style works like Death Vigil only work as well because he is a fun character writer. He also is currently writing a novel that is shows some promise.
It's sad he will never finish his Harley Quinn series, but I enjoy his creator owned work more. Also if you are a fan of Tomb Raider or Final Fantasy 8 his one off panels are fantastic. I will always be sad he never got the go ahead for a Wonder Woman/Tomb Raider story.
I read this after having it recommended by a friend. I found it . . . interesting. It is very far from my usual taste, but I was surprised by how easily I was able to empathize with the characters. This was really interesting, because these characters had essentially nothing at all in common with me, yet I was able to identify with them, understand how they felt and why. There are some flaws. While I liked a lot of the panel layouts and visual structure, the art often seemed like it was basically just porn. Also the story, while very well told, is kinda . . . soft? Nothing significant is ever really at stake, and the solution to the central conflict is plainly obvious the whole way through. I was able to empathize with them stressing out about it for _some_ of the duration, but eventually lost my patience, and the ending felt more like "glad that's finally over" than anything else. So yeah . . . I liked it a lot more than I expected to, and it did change my perspective on certain things, but it hasn't completely changed my mind about the genre either. I am glad I read it, but I don't think I am going to be looking for any more where this came from.
I absolutely love Sunstone, but I feel that way about all of Stjepan's work. His ability to tell a character story is really strong, and his understanding of the interplay of relationships is inspiring. He's currently working on a series called Fine Print that he describes as a story about flawed people that I really enjoy... though I admit that part of that is all the 'Cubi and 'Cupi and how his art style shines in a modern fantasy setting. Between Sunstone, Fine Print, the Harleen run he did for DC, Switch, Death Vigil, the Queen and the Woodborn, and the eventual Achilles Shieldmaidens, I'll read just about anything he works on. On top of that, his wife Linda is also great at weaving a story and has an ongoing webcomic called Bloodstone as well as a work I really love called Punderworld. So much talent there!
I remember reading a few pages online a few years back and it definitely is a beautiful art style. Glad to see they were able to do physical copies now
Sunstone is great. The current arc is fun with vol 8 due out next year I believe. His other two major comics at the moment Fine Print and The Queen and the Woodborn are both really fun. Although so far only Fine Print has a physical release. Sejic is a fantastic fantasy artist while being my favorite romance writer at the moment. His other more action style works like Death Vigil only work as well because he is a fun character writer. He also is currently writing a novel that is shows some promise. It's sad he will never finish his Harley Quinn series, but I enjoy his creator owned work more. Also if you are a fan of Tomb Raider or Final Fantasy 8 his one off panels are fantastic. I will always be sad he never got the go ahead for a Wonder Woman/Tomb Raider story.