Zaya HC

Great book, engaging and beautiful. I got it for my artist friend and she really, really liked it. Thanks!

*I received this book from Diamond Book Distributors in exchange for an honest review*I really enjoyed Naja, also by Jean-David Morvan, so I was really looking forward to reading Zaya. I was hoping for an exciting, multi-layered, sci-fi adventure, and that's pretty much what I got! There were a few things that didn't work for me, and a couple of times when things got really weird, but for the most part I thoroughly enjoyed this graphic novel.I think the basis of this story is very interesting. An ex-spy has settled down and is now the mother to twins. But in order to save the world, she has to go back in the field and risk everything she's worked so hard to build. The plot progressed predictably at first, and I felt like it was dragging for at least the first half. But then things get real weird and there are twists that I did not see coming at all! They hooked me, and kept me wanting more as I read on.I really loved the artwork in this graphic novel. The art speaks for itself, and there are several passages when there's no dialogue at all and we get to see glimpses of Zaya's past go by almost like a photo album. Since the dialogue often didn't help progress the story as much as I would have liked, I really enjoyed these moments and thought they added quite a bit to the comic as a whole.Zaya is a strong, independent, and sexy woman. She has some revealing outfits, but her spy gear and working outfits are sensible and not as ridiculous as many of the outfits women in comic books wear. It was a nice change of pace! There's still enough mature content that I'd say a younger crowd should probably not read this one, even though it is toned down quite a bit from something like, say, Well. This is an interesting comic, and I'll be looking for more of Jean-David's works in the future. 3/5!

Having enjoyed and favorably reviewed Naja by the same author in June this year, I was pleased to have a chance to take a look at this graphic novel, which is really rather breath-taking.It has the appearance of steam-punk, and a sci-fi, and a space-travel story, and the artwork is a seamless blend of different styles which I'm naming the Huange-Jia style! If you liked Blade Runner or its origin, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, then more than likely you will enjoy this, although it's quite a different story.The story here is about Zaya Oblidine, a retired assassin who now has twin children (shades of Kill Bill!, but who is called back into service in what appears to be a minor role for her in a major operation. Of course, it's never like that, is it?!If I had one complaint, it would be over the use of 't' to represent 'Terra' in identifying time periods - such as t-years, or t-minutes. This, to me, is nonsensical. I railed against it when David Weber employed it in his Honor Harrington series.Yes, I get that other planets necessarily have different lengths of day and year, but this doesn't have to affect the lengths of sub-divisions of those time periods, such as weeks and minutes. Even if it does, if everyone is always using Earth measurements - as they are here - then what is the point of specifying it? It seems to me that no-one would realistically do that, but then that's just my pet peeve.I don't get what's with the use of 'Terra', either, for that matter. No one has ever used that as a name for Earth except in science fiction, so it seems completely nonsensical to me that it would be employed in reality! Maybe we can blame the translator for that? I don't know what was written in the original.But apart from those quibbles, I loved this novel. I fell hopelessly in love with Zaya. More than this, the story has interesting and motivated characters who drew me in and made me want to follow them beyond this one volume. It had stirring, gorgeous artwork, and a real plot. I recommend it.

'Zaya' is the new graphic novel from Jean-David Morvan, who also wrote 'Naja.' I enjoyed 'Naja,' but I think I might have liked 'Zaya' just a bit more, perhaps because of the SF theme and perhaps because of the art by Huang-Jia Wei.Zaya is a secret agent and a killer, not unlike the main characters in 'Naja,' but the similarities end about there. Zaya hacks the spaceship she is given for a mission, and the ship becomes self-aware and helps her throughout. A funny moment happens when she's sent on a mission aboard a cruise ship, and just about everyone else on board is a secret agent. She carries out the job, but finds herself on the run which sends her and her ship into dangerous hyperspace where the story takes a strange turn.The art is intricate and really cool. If I had one complaint, it's that every killing seems to be a bullet to the eye. The artist is good at drawing these exploded, deconstructed heads, but after a while it would be nice to see something different. Also, the action scenes where there is no dialogue can be a bit tough to decipher. The art seems to run together at these times and it's hard to tell what's happening. All that to say I really liked the story and thought the art was really different than what I usually see. I look forward to reading what's next from Jean-David Morvan.I was given a review copy of this graphic novel by Diamond Book Distributors and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this interesting graphic novel.

Initially upon receipt of this book, I thought it was damaged as the corners of the book had been rounded off, but on closer inspection I decided this was a deliberate move. Flicking through the book, I discovered it had a mute noir-ish colour scheme, ie there weren't any bright pages. I assume this has something to do with the paper stock which felt a good quality. On a slight downside as the pages weren't numbered, I wasn't sure if I was turning over 1 or 2 pages. Those few gripes aside, I thought this was a technically aesthetic book with a credible storyline. Only rated a 4 as not quite as I thought it would look like.