readtoramble|
Click to listen!
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Title: Shadow Service Volume 1 (#1-5)
Author: Scott Cavan
Published: 20th of April 2021 – Vault Comics
Format: Digital (eARC) – 128 pages
Hello Hello! How are you?
Today I am bringing you a little something different with my review of Shadow Service Volume 1 by Scott Cavan that I got the opportunity to read thanks to Jamie-Lee Nardone who was kind enough to email me about this book.
I’ve been trying to get into more comics and graphic novels, and this one sounded right up my street, so I’m glad I decided to pick it up because it was quick, fun and enjoyable! Keep on reading for my thoughts!
I received a free copy of this book to read and review, so thank you to Jamie-Lee and the author. All opinions are my own.
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS
Worried your partner is cheating? Need a missing person found? Gina Meyers is the Private Investigator for you. Sure, she’s a witch who worries that her powers make her more of a monster than the crooks she’s trying to catch, but it’s not like London’s criminal underworld is literally going to hell… is it? Spycraft meets black magic in the shadowy world of MI666.
MY REVIEW
Trigger Warnings:
Shadow Service Volume 1 by Scott Cavan is a compilation of the first 5 issues of Shadow Service, a quick, fun and very unique graphic novel/comic that I really enjoyed! I don’t want to spoil anything inadvertently, so will try to keep my thoughts fairly short.
I liked how this one started because I was directly immersed into the story, in the present day and we got to see the main character, Gina, at work in what she knows best. When I read this book had witches, how could I not want to read it? I loved the unique take on witchcraft, power, magic and the politics that are just subtly hidden in this book and that we start to see as the story evolves.
Something that I also really enjoyed and that helped me better understand the current events, character personalities and their feelings were the little flashbacks we got from Gina’s perspective back to when she was a child. I felt so sorry for her, but I was really intrigued about her past and I think this addition made the backstory much more solid and helped me to understand Gina’s current feelings.
The writing style and dialogue were quick and clean, nothing was added that didn’t need to be there and I just whizzed through the pages. I also really liked that the speech bubbles were kept fairly short as it made it feel even more fast-paced. The drawing style was incredible in my opinion. Very violent, bloody or gory, but I was able to really appreciate the art style which I found very accessible and I was completely lost in the drawings on each page for several minutes.
MY THOUGHTS AND RATING
Overall, this was a great comic that I read really quickly. It kept me immersed, I just wanted to know what was happening and that ending!! GRRR, I really hope the next issues will be out soon because I want more from this world and these characters.
As I mentioned, the writing style, pace and drawing style were all very good, it was a really well-executed little comic and the characters were all really believable. What I enjoyed the most was the magic because it was very unique and I can’t wait to find out more about it!
I gave this comic 4 stars (see full ASPECTS rating below) and I really enjoyed it. I think it was a great choice since it has witches, magic and a lot of uniqueness that I wasn’t really expecting so it definitely took me by surprise. I didn’t mention it before, but this also has a mystery side which I loved and can’t wait to see more of!
If you love witches, magic, mystery, a great and complex main character and you don’t mind violence, blood and gore or the other TWs I mentioned above, then this is the comic for you! I highly recommend it!
Once again, thank you so much to Jamie-Lee for the opportunity to read this book, I can’t wait for more from this author!
That’s all for now, I hope you enjoyed my post, see you soon, stay safe,
Ellie xx
ABOUT THE AUTHOR – CAVAN SCOTT
“Hello! My name’s Cavan Scott and I’m a UK number one bestseller who writes novels, comics, radio and TV for both adults and children alike.
I’ve written for a large number of high-profile series including Star Wars, Doctor Who, Assassin’s Creed, Transformers, Back to the Future, Star Trek, Vikings, Pacific Rim, Adventure Time, Pathfinder, Angry Birds, Judge Dredd, Blake’s 7 and Warhammer 40,000.
My credits include novels, comic books, award-winning audio plays and short stories. My latest creator-owned comic book series, the supernatural urban fantasy Shadow Service launched in 2020 from Vault Comics, with further creator-owned projects in the works.”
Cavan’s Links: Website – Twitter – Instagram – Facebook – Goodreads
ASPECTS RATING
Atmosphere – 7
Start – 6.5
Pacing – 7
Ending – 8
Characters – 7
Theme – 7
Style – 8
Total = 50.5
This list includes some affiliate links. If you decide to purchase a book from one of my links, I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you.
If you would like to purchase this book, you can find it here: Amazon UK – Amazon FR – Amazon US – AbeBooks – The Book Depository – Waterstones – Barnes and Noble – Blackwell’s – Wordery