Graphic Novel Review – East of West, Vol 9 by Jonathan Hickman, Nick Dragotta (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Teen+
Genre: Fantasy/Graphic Novel
Length: 136 pages
Publisher: Image Comics
Release Date: May 28, 2019
ISBN-13: 978-1534308633
Stand Alone or Series: 9th volume in East of West
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 4/5 stars
“The penultimate trade collecting the fan-favorite story of love at the end of the world.”
Series Info/Source: This is the 9th volume in the East of West graphic novel series. I borrowed this book from the library.
Story (4/5): In this volume Death is attacked and the other three Horsemen of the Apocalypse separate Babylon from him. Meanwhile Mao leads her army through the Hidden Nation’s territory to March on Chamberlain. We also see what really happened to John Freeman from The Kingdom. There are a lot of flashback scenes showing us how the Chosen were chosen, how various characters met, and a scene showing how Death betrayed the other Horsemen in a time before this one. It was all interesting background to the story and I am very eager to see how things tie up in the final volume 10.
Characters (4/5): I don’t have a lot more to say about the characters after reviewing the eight previous volumes to this one. I still enjoy Death, Mao, and Babylon the most out of all the characters here. I do enjoy that we get more background on the Chosen and on how Death betrayed the other Three Horsemen.
Setting (4/5): This continues to be an interesting setting and world.
Writing/Drawing Style (4/5): Writing and drawing style is in keeping with previous volumes. I really love the drawing style and this is a very well written graphic novel series. This volume does jump around quite a bit. The scenes that take place in the past have a blurred out quality to the frame edge which helps the reader keep straight whether they are reading about the present or the past.
My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this volume but am eager to see how things wrap up in the final volume. This volume gives a lot of background and focuses on things that have happened in the past. It jumps around a lot but wasn’t too hard to follow. I would recommend this whole series to those who enjoy graphic novels set in an apocalyptic fantasy western style world.
