ARC Graphic Novel Review: Klaw- The First Cycle

Author: Antoine Ozanam

Illustrator: Joel Jurion

Translator: Mike Kennedy

Edition: eGalley courtesy of Netgalley

Buy Links: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Book Depository

Goodreads Link

Release Date: June 7th, 2016

Rating: 3 Stars

I received a copy of Klaw from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you!

I picked this one up and nearly forgot about it!  It had caught my eye because of the concept, but I didn't really know what to expect.  After finishing it, I learned that the artist is praised for his style, and while I did think it was gorgeous art, the story is what I focused on when reading.

Klaw is about Angel, a young boy who comes from a wealthy family and is bullied at school.  He even has his own driver/bodyguard.  He has a massive crush on a girl, and when her boyfriend is killed, seemingly by a giant tiger, he begins to suspect himself.

This graphic novel is split into three parts, and each is totally different from the last.  While they all follow the same character, they seem to shift tones and genres.  The first one is somewhat of an origin/coming of age story, the second is a spy-thriller/climax of an origin, and the third is a superhero drama of sorts.

The first two parts of the graphic novel I was totally behind.  I enjoyed watching the character grow and mature and learn about what was happening to him and going on in general.  It's a lot for him to take in, but I think he does a good job of it.  Some parts of the pacing were rushed, but it felt fine in the context of the story.  There are some twists, too, that caught me off guard, and some that had me face palming when Angel didn't figure them out as quickly as I did.  It was the third part, though, that really rubbed me the wrong way.  Everything set up in the first two sections seem useless after several years of time jump.  The characters seem to go off character and all that maturing and growing that happened?  Where it went I don't know. Suddenly the pace was ridiculous and as a reader I felt like I had to play catchup because I had no idea what was motivating anyone anymore.  And that ending?  It didn't make any sense to me and has pushed me far from trying another volume any time in the future.

I don't mean to speak bad of it, because I was thoroughly enjoying the first two parts!  Never before has a fight between a Rooster and a Tiger been so interesting!  But the shift that happens in part three is ridiculous and almost seems like someone completely different wrote it.  I was glancing through reviews on Goodreads, to see if I was the only one who felt this way, and wasn't surprised when the vast majority of reviewers were also upset by the change.

If it sounds interesting, I recommend picking this up from your library.  Hopefully others will enjoy it much more than I did.