Graphic Novel Review – Die Vol 3: The Great Game by Kieron Gillen, Stephanie Hans (3.5/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Graphic Novel/Fantasy
Length: 168 pages
Publisher: Image Comics
Release Date: December 22, 2020
ISBN-13 : 978-1534317161
Stand Alone or Series: 3rd volume in the Die graphic novel series
Source: Bought
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
“In the world of DIE, the players are now real players. Countries are their pieces, and the board threatens to run red with blood. Who is the Queen, and who are pawns? Who’s playing to win? Who’s forgotten what they’re playing for? And what will they do when they’re reminded of the real stakes?”
Series Info/Source: This is the third volume in the Die graphic novel series; four volumes are planned for this series. I bought this.
Thoughts: This volume was still a bit hard to follow. Ash (dictator) has taken over as the Queen of Angria and Isabelle (godbinder) has remained by her side. Meanwhile Chuck (the fool), Matt (the grief knight) and Angela (the neo) are trying to escape Angria and storm the Glass City to prevent the machine of Die from assembling the final Die it needs to merge the world of Die with the real world. The story mainly jumps between Angria/Ash/Isabelle and the rest of our characters (I am hesitant to call them heroes).
We see some more of the “real world” background of these characters peeking its head into the story. Angela stumbles upon her daughter and Chuck comes clean about his poor health. We also see some more blurring of timelines when Ash runs into H.G. Wells.
I enjoyed the artwork here. However, there is still a ton of dialogue (it’s almost overwhelming to read at times) and I am not completely clear on how this world works or what motives are driving the characters. It remains kind of confusing. If this were going to be a longer graphic novel series I would stop reading it now. However, there is only one more trade paperback volume left, so I plan on finishing it.
My Summary (3.5/5): Overall this is a creative fantasy graphic novel series that is well illustrated. I am struggling some with the characters and the story though; they are both kind of confusing and hard to follow. I might have to give this a re-read once all the volumes are released. Since there is only one volume left in this series I plan on getting it and reading it to see how the story is wrapped up.
