THIS WAS INCREDIBLE! It’s somehow even better than Vol. 1 (which I also loved) and builds upon the plot so well!! The characters, artwork, colors, plot, themes - all of it is stunning and I am dying to read more! If it wasn’t clear from the first book, this is a new favorite series of mine. ( )

Five years ago, Pan helped her best friend (and maybe crush?) Tara escape an arranged marriage. A Princess on the planet Viridian, Tara's fate was to be "won" by a Cosmoknight in a futuristic duel (this is the year 2169, after all), and then married off to the Cosmoknight's "sponsor" (read: highest bidder), who gets a royal title in the bargain (or, more likely, just further consolidates the power and wealth of the 1%). Pan's life was underwhelming before The Incident, but now she's a pariah on her small planet, adrift and without purpose. That is, until the night Bee and Cass show up on her doorstop.

Known in the ring as Bull, Cass sustained some pretty serious injuries in the last match. Luckily, Pan's mom runs an underground medical clinic. But when these two queer, badass women Cosmoknights move on to the next planet - and match - Pan stows away on their ship. She's convinced that she's found her mission in life - namely, helping them free the princesses they've "won." But a shadowy, pink-haired woman is hot on their tail, with an offer they maybe can't refuse?

COSMOKNIGHTS is all sparkly, fiery, rainbow feminist fun. The artwork is vivid and gorgeous but the real draw is the queer AF vibe and burn-it-all-down, fuck the patriarchy, riots not diets, radical revolutionary spirit. (Insert the "So you're an anarchist?" "You say that like it's a bad thing." panel here.) I live for Cass, Bee, and Pan's impassioned monologues, and Cass's backstory is just *chef's kiss* perfection. ( )

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ( )

This was a lot of fun. ( )

Cosmoknights is everything I could ever want in a graphic novel. Gorgeous art, an interesting fast-paced story, and some fantastic world-building. The blend of futuristic sci-fi with elements of classic fantasy is so refreshing and so fun to read! I've never heard of Neo-Medieval as a sub-genre, but I would love to read more like it! I really adore Pan, and I'm rooting for her on her journey to find Tara. It's clear her quest to find Tara will be the over-arching storyline, and likely will follow the classic "Hero's Journey" plotline, but I'm still very curious how it will play out. The world-building was also very enjoyable to me, even though some of the intricacies on how the royal families work within society eluded me. Like, I understand each planet has its own royal family, but are the planets like their fiefdom? Is there a main royal family that all of these other families answer to? I assume it will be answered at some other point. The illustrations are gorgeous! I'm in love with how pretty this novel makes space look, and I love how colorful they make space seem. Also, the artist is excellent at drawing things like mecha suits and spaceships, it all looks so good. The pacing of this first volume is also done very well. Normally, the first volume of most graphic novels or manga series likes to cram a bunch of information about the world and characters in the first volume. It usually leaves the first volume feeling rushed, and like you've been sped through a bit too fast. But not with this series! The first volume is evenly paced, and never felt like it was just shoving exposition at my face. The character writing for all of the characters is great so far as well. I'm equally interested in all of their stories and how each of their characters will evolve as the story goes on. Excited to read volume two! ( )