A tough graphic novel to review. On one hand are the problems:

Way too much text that results in a lot of showing and telling. As a graphic novel it should have been in better balance. Way too many extremely dense panels. On some pages it looks like a black and white "Where's Waldo" picture. Impressive--sure, useful in story telling--not so much. Almost all of the women are consistently topless, even in the snow. It's a problem because it doesn't make any sense. More problematically, although all the men are in some way distinctive, almost all the women look basically identical. It's like the author had one model and just copied her no matter which specific woman he was drawing. The result of the toplessness and all looking alike make it feel like some sort of teenage male objectifying dream. I don't usually get bothered by this sort of thing, but it was so obvious here that it really became annoying. The story itself is epic, but sometimes it just feels long and not particularly innovative.

So are there good things?

The story was interesting enough that I want to read the next volume.

The shear amount of artwork is impressive. Even though some of the panels are too dense the level of detail is impressive. It all makes sense and while you don't need to look that close to see if it all supports the story, it does.

Ultimately I'm going to read the next volume and we'll see if I continue after that. So approach this one cautiously but there's some enjoyment here if you're willing to put up with the other stuff. ( )