I'll start with the artwork, because it's basically astounding. The scenes from the 1893 Chicago World's Fair would probably be enough to warrant giving this book 5 stars. The sense of scale and the utter smallness of the people, the drawings are strikingly beautiful.

Now the story. It's consumed with loneliness and grief and is deeply affecting. The whole clan of Corrigan men will stick with you like signposts for mistakes to avoid. There was a danger as I got close to the end that it would be too bleak for me, but there are hints of hope in it, which is maybe all you need. ( )

It was engaging, but confusing and hard to read at times. The story was also a lot more realistic than I expected for a series of comics. ( )

Simply brilliant, perhaps the apex of the form.

From a design and layout point of view it was amazing, but the was depressing and I gave up on it. It's really nice to look at. ( )

Poignant yet captivating. ( )