Review: Fantomah, Volume 1: Up From the Deep by Ray Fawkes and Soo Yee

Title: Fantomah, Volume 1: Up From the Deep

Written by: Ray Fawkes

Art by: Soo Lee

Published by: Chapterhouse

Released: ?? I'm a little confused as to the actual release date. Goodreads and NetGalley have it releasing in February 2018, while Amazon has it releasing July 10, 2018

Source: NetGalley e-arc thanks to Chapterhouse

Summary: La Fantomah. Who is she? What does she want? She is called by the prayers of missing children. The Weeping Woman is drawn to their locations, rescuing the children, and putting the monsters out-of-business.

Paz is a normal girl, caring for her twin half-sisters, dealing with a father who is out most of the time, and working. She lives in a rough neighborhood where a gang runs free.

When Paz's sisters go missing, she must find them. Other children have gone missing as well. Her journey turns into something she never would have expected.

My Thoughts: Thank you NetGalley and Chapterhouse for providing me with a free e-arc to read for an honest review. This was a Read Now option on NetGalley (it has since been archived), and I was drawn in by the awesome cover and intriguing synopsis.

This comic was super quick, and it had a nice set-up for future stories.

I really enjoyed the coloring of Fantomah, and especially enjoyed the art style of the actual character of Fantomah. She was pretty creepy to look at. The rest of the character art was just okay. It seemed to be put together kind of quick. Almost a rushed drawing style.

The story was all right. It zipped right along. It could have been more fun if it had been a little longer, a little more developed.

I was also a little confused by the introduction to the comic, before the Fantomah comic even started. It was talking about this Canadian Super Hero, who I had no idea who he was. I'd never heard of him. So, I thought the comic was going to be about him, but it wasn't. There was also a lot of Canada patting itself on the back for this wonderful super hero they'd created. Honestly, the introduction kind of put me off a little. And then it was confusing because those characters never showed up or were mentioned in Fantomah. Maybe it was just a mistake in my review copy, but it didn't make a whole lot of sense.

Fantomah was an enjoyable enough read. It was very quick, kind of interesting. I enjoyed aspects of the art style. If you're unaware of what Fantomah is based on, I think you could go into this blind and be okay. That's what I did and I still enjoyed it.

Thanks again NetGalley and Chapterhouse for letting me review it.

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 3.3/5

Not Bad.