Blackbird Vol I: Review

This graphic novel was recommended by Brewsandbooks on youtube. Go check out their video here!

Am I becoming a graphic novel stan? Is that what’s been happening slowly over the past two years? I think it’s a genre I can get on board with. I just want to drown in all of the different art styles, the colors, and the unique expressions of plot delivery.

Blackbird Vol I was incredible. Just. Hands in the air. Waving them like I just don’t care. Incredible.

The art was stunning to look at, the colors were vibrant and telling a story all on their own, and the plot twists were hitting me left, right, and center. I definitely should have seen at least one of the major twists coming, but I was so distracted by the art that I got sucker punched in the noggin before I realized I hadn’t stopped staring long enough to actually process the story or think!

Blackbird follows the story of a family as they devolve into chaos. After a massive earthquake family secrets are uncovered, and not everyone makes it out alive. Our main character and her sister grow up closely bonded, but also under tenuous circumstances. Oh, and our main character believes in magic, but everyone calls her crazy any time she brings it up.

This graphic novel does explore some drug and alcohol abuse throughout, so if that content is bothersome or triggering for you, I might skip this series. We follow our main character as she tries to dig herself out of this tormented hole, while falling into the world she was told over and over didn’t exist. Most of our characters in this graphic novel are POC, and badasses. *inserts rock on emoji here*

Our main character goes through quite the character arc on her journey, which made her so much more relatable. Not only is she discovering a world she’s always dreamed about, she’s also discovering who she is and who she wants to become. This is a story about someone who was told they are crazy their entire life, only to find out that they were right, and then given the chance to prove to their ‘haters’ and to themselves, what being right means.

This graphic novel deals with death, grief, lies, mystery, and even rebirth. The magic or the magical world in this novel can symbolize so many different things for so many different people.

Something I’ve learned about graphic novels is that there is a difference between a volume and a book. The copy I have of Blackbird is Vol I, which contains books 1-6.

This was a blast to read, and left me with even more questions than answers. I can’t wait to get my hands on Vol II (which as far as my research has shown me, does not have a release date yet).