Graphic Novel Review – Die Vol 1: Fantasy Heartbreaker by Kieron Gillen, Stephanie Hans (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy/Graphic Novel
Length: 184 pages
Publisher: Image
Release Date: June 11, 2019
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1534312708
Stand Alone or Series: 1st volume in the Die series
Source: Birthday Gift
Rating: 4/5 stars

“DIE is a pitch-black fantasy where a group of forty-something adults have to deal with the returning, unearthly horror they only just survived as teenage role-players”

Series Info/Source: This is the first book in the Die graphic novel series. I got this book as a gift for my birthday.

Thoughts: I enjoyed this even more than I thought I would. There are a lot of characters introduced very quickly but they are all fairly distinct so they are pretty easy to keep track of. It’s a bit confusing to start but not too bad. This is about a bunch of adults that get sent back to the horror world that they accidentally got trapped in as teens, only to find out that their missing teen friend is now the master of this world.

I loved the crazy world here and the creativity behind it. The illustration style is well done and the story is engaging. All of the characters are strangely dark and somewhat sinister but still vulnerable because of the strange situations they are thrown into at this time in their lives (now that they are in their 40’s and supporting various jobs and families).

I loved that their characters’ powers were also strangely dark (for example a Grief Knight who is only strong if he’s incredibly sad and a Dictator who can dictate other people’s emotions). I also really enjoyed how these characters are working to break the game so that the Gamemaster can’t predict their actions. The description of this series as a mash-up between Jumanji and Dungeons and Dragons is very apt.

My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this enough that I recommended it to my husband to read (he’s more of a manga fan) and I plan on continuing the series. I really enjoyed the characters, the world and the way the story is progressing. This is a fast-paced and fun read that I would recommend to fans of horror/fantasy graphic novels.