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Hemlock #1
Hemlock Vol. 1
A fairy tale set in the forests of 19th century Scandinavia, this book collects the first chapter of the webcomic "Hemlock" into printed format with an all new variant cover.
104 pages, Paperback
First published October 6, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 14, 2014
Hemlock is a black and white webcomic about a witch named Lumi. She lives in a friendly giant snail's shell and is about to cross paths with a young man named Tristan who dreams of a more academic life than that of a farmer's son.
I was uncertain about Hemlock at the start but got drawn in fairly quickly. The atmosphere and tone is really well done. Lumi's quasi-boredom at times and Tristan's distress combine to make the introductory stuff quite interesting. There's a great balance here between setting the stage and moving things along and a lot of intriguing things are foreshadowed for the future. At 80+ pages it's also a nicely complete story in it's own right in addition to being the first part of a longer tale.
The art's a little too dark and abstract in a couple of places, but is very good overall with a unique, well executed style. The character designs are excellent, particularly Lumi and Tristan. The author is very good at conveying emotion through facial expressions and body language.
A good start overall with a lot of potential going forward.
8-2013
Edit 11-12-2014: I've reread this in the printed form. While smaller in paper size than most comic collections, in does not detract from the reproduction of the art and the paper and printing quality are high. The content holds up well to subsequent reading and my review above stands.
I was uncertain about Hemlock at the start but got drawn in fairly quickly. The atmosphere and tone is really well done. Lumi's quasi-boredom at times and Tristan's distress combine to make the introductory stuff quite interesting. There's a great balance here between setting the stage and moving things along and a lot of intriguing things are foreshadowed for the future. At 80+ pages it's also a nicely complete story in it's own right in addition to being the first part of a longer tale.
The art's a little too dark and abstract in a couple of places, but is very good overall with a unique, well executed style. The character designs are excellent, particularly Lumi and Tristan. The author is very good at conveying emotion through facial expressions and body language.
A good start overall with a lot of potential going forward.
8-2013
Edit 11-12-2014: I've reread this in the printed form. While smaller in paper size than most comic collections, in does not detract from the reproduction of the art and the paper and printing quality are high. The content holds up well to subsequent reading and my review above stands.
January 17, 2012
Brilliant line work and character design. Inventive use of Scandinavian folklore. The snail house is wonderful.
July 2, 2013
I like the artist's style. It is both whimsical and dark at the same time. The art reminds me of The Moomins, which she lists as an influence. I wish I had a house/friend like Richmond. Over all, a very interesting and unique comic. I'm hooked!
Want to read
June 15, 2015I love her art! smackjeeves.com
January 11, 2020
Squee, love the reference to Alice and Wonderland: 'your hair wants cutting'.
Fantastic art, lovely use of the Baba Yaga myth, and great portrayal of magic.
Fantastic art, lovely use of the Baba Yaga myth, and great portrayal of magic.
November 10, 2022
ended so quickly 😭😭 cant wait to get my hands on the next volume somehow
edit: this might be the best book i’ve ever found in a charity shop AND ITS SIGNED?!?!!!!
edit: this might be the best book i’ve ever found in a charity shop AND ITS SIGNED?!?!!!!
December 6, 2018
I bought this set of books today at Mv
MCM Comic Con in Birmingham. It was fairly good. Being a graphic novel there weren't many words and the first volume was okay.
MCM Comic Con in Birmingham. It was fairly good. Being a graphic novel there weren't many words and the first volume was okay.
January 2, 2015
Being only the first part of a larger story - there are four printed parts currently available, although I don't know if it is still ongoing - the story itself is quite slight in this book, but the ideas in it are very imaginative. I particularly like the idea of Lumi living in a giant snail shell! I thought at first that the illustrations were printed in black and white to perhaps save on cost, but as I read it seemed more like the monochrome was an intentional idea, used to great effect with silhouettes and negative space. Overall, a great start to the story and I will enjoy reading more.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews