Mae Vol. 1 by Gene Ha
Expected Release: July 3rd 2018
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Diamond Book Distributors
Source: Netgalley
Mae Vol. 1 Synopsis:
Mae’s beloved older sister, Abbie, has been missing for years. Mae has her theories about where Abbie might be. But nowhere in her wildest imagination do those theories encompass a fantasy world full of terrifying monsters, power-hungry nobles, and nefarious scientists. That is, until Abbie suddenly reappears in Mae’s world. And not alone.
Review:
A BIG Thank You to Netgalley and Diamond Book Distributors for providing me a copy of “Mae Vol. 1” by Gene Ha in exchange for my review.
This graphic novel started off well. The two main characters Mae and Abby really complement each other with their distinguished personalities. I liked the bond between the two sisters. In fact, more than Mae, I liked Abby’s character a lot. She seems to be concerned for her sister, is energetic and spunky and awesome fight moves. I also enjoyed Kvido’s character, as he reminded me a lot of Snarf from the Thundercats. It was fun to read how the world and the new characters are revealed to Mae and the readers. The whole concept of the plot had a whimsical Doctor Who feeling to it.
In terms of the plot, the first half of the book was just amazing and I was glued to the pages. It starts off in this mysterious way where you really don’t know what to expect. Even when the new world is introduced to us, it is filled with interesting and dynamic characters. However, the second half of the novel was confusing and really didn’t hold my interest. For one thing, the story breaks into sub plots and moves between the flashbacks and the present. The present story-line tends to move too fast, and I had trouble keeping up with what was happening. There are many new terms and characters thrown out there, and not enough time to digest them. There’s a nice appendix with all the terms mentioned in the back to help the readers, but again, it felt tedious referring to it like a dictionary.
Furthermore, each of the sub stories and flashbacks have a different style of illustration to them. While some might enjoy this, it didn’t really suit me. I loved the style of art that’s shown in the first half, and felt the illustrations in the last two episodes were childish in comparison. It was frustrating seeing a different style of artwork in each chapter. However, I did like the standalone illustrations inserted in the end by different artists, depicting the main characters. The author has also included few prototype sketches and designs that were interesting to view.
Overall, “Mae” is one of those graphic novels that has a great concept but really needs to improve on the pacing. They can easily slow down on the adventure themes and focus more on character development instead. Having said that, it is an interesting series and I am keen on picking up the next volume to see how it turns out.
