Pretty Deadly, Vol. 1: The Shrike | Comic Book Review

Pretty Deadly Vol. 1: The Shrike by Kelly Sue DeConnick; illustrated by Emma Ríos and Jordie Bellaire

( Collects Pretty Deadly issues #1-5 )

Graphic Novel / Fantasy / Western / Comic

120 pages

Summary:

Death's daughter rides the wind on a horse made of smoke and her face bears the skull marks of her father. Her origin story is a tale of retribution as beautifully lush as it is unflinchingly savage.

summary from: goodreads

4 out of 5 stars

Firs of all, as it says on the back of this comic, it is for mature audience. There is mature context, such as violence, sex, gore, nudity and language.

Now onto the review:

The way this story was written reminded me a lot of a fairy tale, especially in the beginning as there was a lot of rhyme. The story is told by a butterfly and a bunny, which I thought was very different but interesting, non the least. They tell the story of different people whose lives intertwine and bring them together, for the better or the worst.

The western setting was also very interesting and new for me, as I haven't watched or read any westerns. I ended up enjoying it more than I thought I would, which is always great.

One of the most important aspects to any story, for me, are the characters and they didn't disappoint. I loved finding out more about their past and seeing them interact with each other. My favourite are Ginny, Sissy and Fox. What I appreciated a lot were the many amazing and strong female characters. Most of the characters, that we follow in this story, are women who can take care of themselves and who know what they want. It was really amazing reading about them.

The art was amazing. There are pages that have different colour schemes and images that took my breath away. Here is one of my favourite, a pretty dark one. I very much enjoyed the art style and the simple colours.

The only reason that I gave this graphic novel 4 stars instead of 5 is because it lacked something. I don't know what exactly it is but something was missing for me, maybe I will find that something in the next volume. I very much recommend this graphic novel, although it isn't for everyone since it has a lot of blood and gore. 

All in all it is an enjoyable and interesting read and I can't wait to read more of this story.