Yzabel / August 4, 2017

Bizenghast Collectors Edition V.1 by M. Alice LeGrow

My rating: [rating=3]

Blurb:

When a young girl moves to the forgotten town of Bizenghast, she uncovers a terrifying collection of lost souls that leads her to the brink of insanity. One thing that becomes painfully clear: The residences of Bizenghast are just dying to come home. Marty Legrow has crafted an unforgettable Gothic drama that will leave readers haunted long after the last page is turned.

Review:

[I received a copy of this book through NetGalley.]

I’ve had this comic book on my shelf to read and review for quite some time, I just didn’t get to it until now. (I’ve known about it for quite, quite some time, back when the author posted on deviantART, and when I saw it on NetGalley, well, it reminded me that at some point, many years ago, I used to check on the related art from time to time.) It gathers the first chapters of the Bizenghast series, and I’d say it’s more an introduction for now, but still giving the reader to see enough.

A strange girl who isn’t getting over her parents’ death and whose health seems to suffer in consequence; a boy who seems to be her only friend, in the small remote town where she lives with her aunt who doesn’t know what to do with her; and a contract signed in a mysterious castle with a strange arachnoid-slash-humanoid being, with the goal of freeing spirits who couldn’t find solace in death, following a trail of riddles. I am not sure yet where this is leading, but in themselves, the first ‘tasks’ involved sufficiently creepy elements to keep me hooked.

The art is sometimes confusing and inconsistent, though, potentially because it’s a work that started years ago, and one can see the author’s style changed over the years. Still, it’s worth a read.