The October Faction, Volume 1

The October Faction is a graphic novel about the adventures of the retired monsters hunter Frederick Allan and his family.

Initially was I a bit put off by the art in this volume, I thought it was too dark, too gritty, too weird looking, not at all that kind of art that I like when it comes to graphic novel, but in a strangely weird way I came to really like the art as the story progressed, it just suited the story perfectly.

It's a dark story so the art short be dark and a bit weird. And, what a story, a monster hunting family man with a dark past and two quite odd children that very much want to be monster hunters also and we also have robot faced Dante out to kill the man who killed his "father" and an old friend of the family who show more happens to be a werewolf.

In the end I just devoured the 120 page long graphic novel and now I want more!

I received this copy from the publisher through Netgalley in return for an honest review! show less

I read this book ages ago and the request to review keeps popping up. I am sure that I had done this one. Anyway repeating just in case.
Frederick is a retired monster hunter who is now a teacher and his family well they certainly complicate his retirement.
This is a beautifully balanced book between well written and carefully crafted images. The storyboarding was quite exceptional and the darkness really created a superb atmosphere. It is gritty, detailed and with wonderful tones of light and shade.
The story is enagaging, the characters resonate and there is a nice blend of humour in what could have been a dark tale. The dialogue works and keeps you moving along.
I read this at a rapid pace and then went back and slowly took in all the show more imagery. A reallly good graphic novel. show less

3.25-3.5 Stars
A dark contemporary graphic novel that's a little bit Addams Family and a little bit Van Helsing. The illustrations are unique, PG-rated, and fit the storyline well (think the color scheme of Schindler's List), although there is a least one adult situation discussed (FYI, if you are getting this for a child). There's plenty of sarcastic humor included too. The book didn't wow me, but I would give the next one a shot.

Net Galley Feedback

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Not sure what I expected from this one, as I hadn't heard of this title before. But I'm familiar with Steve Niles' work on 30 Days of Night, and knew it should probably be pretty good.

It was VERY good! The story follows retired monster hunter (now teacher) Frederick Allen who's being forced back into this job because of a threat on his (very strange) family. This volume collects the first six issues, and basically sets up the story with little snippets of background so the reader isn't completely lost.

The artwork is outstanding, and sufficiently dark and creepy, perfect for this type of story. I'll definitely be hunting down the next volume!

3.5 Stars

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I'm still trying to broaden my reading sphere by trying all kinds of different graphic novel series. This was one of them.

I'd seen some good reviews and was curious to find out more myself. And I'm glad I did. It was an interesting first instalment. Obviously the story about a family of monster hunters who're being hunted themselves as well is only starting in this first volume, so I can't tell how that's going to develop, but the characters so far seem very interesting.

The art is very dark, but it fits the story well. Would recommend and I'm looking forward to the next volume.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in show more exchange for an honest review! show less

This collection deals with monster hunters and monsters. A former monster hunter tries to keep his family out of the “family business” but his past comes back to haunt him – and to kill him.

You also get werewolves and resurrected bodies in this story so horror fans should be pleased.

The artwork is unclear, dark and oppressive and quite difficult to read in the digital edition on a computer.

Quite engaging eventually but not really my taste.

Really digging the art style, feels like a cross between Hellboy and 30 Days of Night.