Early Graphic Novel Review: Metalocalypse: Dethklok by Brendon Small), Jon Schnepp, Jeremy Barlow, Eric Powell, Lucas Marangon (3/5 stars)

I got a copy of this graphic novel through NetGalley(dot)com.  I am not sure why I decided to read it, it just looked interesting.  I have never watched the Dethklok Adult Swim TV series that this graphic novel is based on, so that may be why I found some parts of the graphic novel confusing.  The illustration is decent quality and the stories are pretty funny…if a bit confusing at times.

This graphic novel is a series of stories that follow around the heavy metal band Dethklok as they strive to bring about the Metalocalypse through various strange forms of promotion, advertising, and performance.  This is definitely aimed at adults there is a lot of gore, sex, violence, drug usage, and swearing.

Each chapter tells a story about Dethklok and one of their adventures.  For example the first chapter tells about Dethklok and their quest to start their own frozen food line. Each chapter ends in mayhem, violence, and the death of many.  I have to admit a number of these chapters had me laughing out loud; granted they require a pretty dark sense of humor but they are funny and very over-the-top.  They poke wonderful fun at both death metal and corporate America.

That being said there were some parts of the chapters that were just plan confusing.  Maybe if I had watched the TV series beforehand I would understand what was going on better.  When the clowns come into the story, I was like what the heck is going on?  I think they are supposed to be drug-induced hallucinations or something, but they are never explained very well and don’t add much to the story.  I found myself skimming these parts of the story because they just didn’t make sense to me.

The illustrations were pretty high quality, although a bit more cartoonish than I usually like.  The artistic style fits nicely with the craziness of the storyline.

Overall while I found a couple of the chapters to be highly amusing, there were a lot of other parts of the story where I was just confused.  The illustration is a little bit more cartoonish than I usually like, but it fit the tone of the stories well.  I think fans of the TV series will really enjoy this graphic novel adaptation.  People who are new to Dethklok, like me, will probably be a bit confused.  This is definitely aimed at an adult audience and not for anyone who is squeamish, so just a heads up.

This goes to the following reading challenges:

– Graphic Novels Challenge List

– 100+ Reading Challenge