A very well illustrated and told story. Slick, beautifully illustrated graphic novel, showing a strange post-apocalyptic society clinging on in the shadow of the hoover dam, this was a great read but over a bit too soon. Definitely one to read if you love technological futurescapes rising from the dust. Great for fans of Horizon: Zero Dawn.

I'm always interested in scifi comics and the cover for Elecboy looked awesome. Basically it's the end of humanity in the same way as in Mad Max and the last survivors are on the hunt for water. It's the year 2122 and soon Joshua is of age. We get to see people trying to get by and we get glimpses of how things came to be. The people are fighting these weird new white winged creatures that suddenly came out of nowhere and this surely is the most interesting part. This first book is slow and mostly sets the pace, which I liked. It slightly jumps from scene to another, which makes this hard to follow at times. The plot is surely interesting and how Salaün uses time to grow the story, even though the rhythm isn't the best.

The art looks great and suffocating, which works well with the story. 74 pages just isn't enough to set the plot and use panels after panels on art. I wish this had been longer to make this work. Still, a truly interesting comic for those of us wanting their humankind suffer in the wasteland!

The story feels like generic post apocalyptic fiction. There are compelling moments that go nowhere because they're so mired in tired tropes. Shame, there's definitely potential and the art is nice, but I couldn't get into it despite really trying to.

I was really interested in the premise of this book, so much so that I tried to give it an honest shot not once but twice. But still found myself unable to really enjoy it.

This book is definitely part of a series and has so definite Mad Max vibes going for it.

But I found how the story to be set up and then told to be really hard to follow, and honestly left me uncertain about what this book was really about, or even what was really going on.

After reading it twice, I feel like I still have no idea what this book was about, and it's really disappointing because the art is gorgeous.

Elecboy is a visually breathtaking work written and illustrated by Jaouen Salaun. Setting technology and hyper-modernism against the traditional art of Greek mythology would often seem jarring, but in Elecboy seems like a natural pairing.

The story features gods, men, and robots doing amazing and terrible things that will leave you alternating between endeared, awed, and horrified. The depiction of the cities in the Elecboy universe also have the juxtaposition of hi-tech and gothic art styles that key the theme throughout the book. While there was one or two moments that were hard to follow with some of the Natives, the story does well to slowly draw in the reader while not giving enough away to be predictable.

The finale of Book 1 definitely leaves me wanting to read more and get to Book 2 as soon as possible.
Overall, Elecboy is a story that deserves to be more fully fleshed out.

This will be my first review for a graphic novel, as well as the first graphic novel I’ve read in as long as I can remember. My interest in reading it resulted from a rare NetGalley check in. I of course go right to the Science Fiction and Fantasy list and upon my reaction to the cover, I found that it was a graphic novel. Everything from the coverart to the title and description was shouting “Hi, I’m Weird and was created with dream and determination.” Next thing I knew I was halfway through the striking mix of scifi and Dystopia.

Elecboys amazing art fascinated me with its contrast of High Tech advanced beings based on a Greek/Roman architectural space station/craft orbiting the earth like planet, and the desolate and scrounged setting plus style of the humans, trying to survive in a post apocalyptic desert scrubland. I live in the Arizona desert and the creator, Jaouen, did a great job of capturing that feeling of miserable heat, reliance on water, and the dust and ďirt that is everywhere. It actually reminded me of a mostly abandoned place called The Salton Sea. Located east of Palm Springs, it is a humongous body of water created in the early 1900’s from a runoff of the Colorado River. There were resorts built on the edge of the sea that catered to Rockstars and celebrities in the 60’s that have now fallen into ruin, leaving behind a couple small towns and communities scattered with the ttough residents and the structural remains of those that eventually gave up the fight to live in such an abandoned and foul smelling life. I’ve lived there, and I assure you, the sea gives off the most awful smell almost all year and you never get used to it. Combined with poverty and lack of resources, it’s a great training experience for a life similar to what I was reading in Elecboy. Again, the creator really excelled at portraying the many qualities of the struggle to survive.

Adding to the vibe is the actual crazy story. The techno angel like beings from space are on a almost military like mission to find one human. It seems the efforts have continued for at least a decade or two and the small human settlements are vulnerable to an attack except for some strange shielding tech we never get a full explanation of. In fact, I read it twice to see if I missed some things because it did feel like some details were left out that could’ve made the story a little easier to follow. This fact resulted in a 2nd read through that did clear up a few things I missed the first time. I believe I took more time taking in each visual scene as well as the written parts. It ended in a perfect spot to ignite the desire to scratch the “what is going to happen in the next edition which I now have to read” itch.

Thank you to NetGalley and Europe Comics for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of Elecboy. The art in this graphic novel was amazing: it truly placed the reader directly in the grit and grime, the harsh desert and harsher cultural climate. The story line was lacking however and I spent most of the book wondering what was supposed to be going on. The parts that were clear (mysterious origin of main character, highschool bullying, teen love triangle between half-siblings, deeply sexist treatment of women, and Mad Max post-apocalyptic situation), weren't as interesting to me as the mystery of the AI and the beginning sequence. A weird and quick read that reminded me of DC comics.

A slick, beautifully illustrated graphic novel, showing a strange post-apocalyptic society clinging on in the shadow of the hoover dam, this was a great read but over a bit too soon. Definitely one to read if you love technological futurescapes rising from the dust. Great for fans of Horizon: Zero Dawn.

The artwork here is engrossing. Salaün world-building and character designs are spectacular. Every page is rich with detail. It is a beautiful thing to look at. The painterly colouring adds depth to each panel.

Salaün demonstrates equal finesse with balls to the wall action sequences as they do with quite dramatic moments. Much of the book is about Joshua's troubled relationship with his father and the tensions his family has with the ruling elite. The sections of the book where the loathsome Sylvio argues with his father or is conspiring with his grandfather are particularly good.

The world that Elecboy takes place in is weary and on the verge of breaking down. It clearly has taken some inspiration from other post-societal collapse stories such as Mad Max, I Robot, Akira, and The Postman. That said, there is a lot of original stuff here. The harsh desert landscape looms large over the characters.

The characters themselves are very much archetypical. Joshua is a rebellious young lad disappointed in the father he loves. The scheming chief is conniving and vicious. Sylvio is a desert Joffery. The two most well-rounded characters are Joseph, Joshua's dad, and Vittorio, Sylvio's father. Despite the obvious hatred between them, there is also mutual respect. How their feud resolves itself is one of the most gripping things about the plot.

That said, this is not a self-contained story. Which I felt was disappointing. The book asks more questions than it answers, setting the scene for what comes in the next. The good thing is that I was intrigued and interested in finding out what those things are going to be. A lovely book to look at, with an intriguing set-up that is slightly let down by the characters. Despite that, it is very much worth reading. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

This was provided to me by netgalley for an honest review

Interesting story with some amazing art, however it left me wanting more. I dunno what it was about it, but this was like a death by 1000 cuts for me, little niggles like character and story, while not being bad felt like I needed more to enjoy it. I will gladly read more but I just felt a bit confused and empty by the end of this volume.

The art was beautiful, the story was wondrous and exciting and very interesting. I felt the characters were well fleshed out and original, though I felt like the panels of the art as well as the script were sort of slow paced and felt as if I were drugging through them. The story and characters were well done, and the dialogue kept me intrigued, but otherwise it felt like a normal scifi story. I would definitely recommend this for anyone who thinks this was made for their taste.

Hyper realistic comic of a post apocalyptic violent universe. I was attracted by the cover, but this was not for me. I love SF, but more the character based ones with internal dilemmas. In those pages I just felt like I was reading about a boy, stronger than most, bullied by the unforgiving wild world. People who are fan of Mad Max should be right at home, maybe people who like Alita too.

So, this one gets points because the art is gorgeous, but loses points due to lack of character development and a weird, convoluted plot.
Here is what I was able to figure out: some years in the future, what is left of humanity is being constantly attacked by robots that for some reason look like angels and are led by Zehus (a massive AI that looks like Zeus).
On land, people are separated into two groups: a vaguely Native American tribe (keep in mind this was written in France) who are the "wealthier" citizens and everyone else who is abjectly poor and live to maintain the water system and the system of electrical domes that prevent the AI's from killing everyone.
The main character is supposed to be a boy named Josh, but we learn NOTHING about him other than the fact he likes a girl who is part of the tribe, and her brother wants to kick his ass because he also wants to sleep with her (CW: there is mention of an attempted rape).
It absolutely goes nowhere and leaves you not caring about what happens to any of these people.

Thank you to NetGalley and Europe Comics for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Elecboy has an interesting premise, but the execution wasn't quite what I expected. The worldbuilding felt a little dense and difficult to follow. The art was beautifully rendered, and I enjoyed the shifting color palette throughout the book, but overall felt stiff at times. I wish the art had been a little more expressive at times. I hoped I would enjoy this more than I did, but I still appreciate the craft put into it.

The art and story of Elecboy by Jaouen Salaun convey the grimness of an apocalyptic society. I am looking forward to the next installment of the story.

It´s a year 2122. People struggle to survive in the deserts of Earth. In American southwest is a small community, controlled (and quite disgustingly terrorized) by local rich shaman family. At the beginning of the graphic novel is a short opening of another storyline – strange angels/robots in a search of a strange man/human. Maybe these two storylines will blend together?

I really liked the cover (that´s also why I choose to read this, beside the blurb), but in the end, the art overall is not my kind of style. It was not bad or anything; people were quite realistic (not sure sometimes about their facial expressions; I see the author worked hard but sometimes I didn´t understand which emotion it was supposed to be). Maybe it was too realistic for me (after years and years of manga).

Story sometimes blurred to memories which was a bit confusing – but maybe that was because of the format (e-book)? However, confusing were the angels. I wonder how the story will continue, but they seemed to me to be unnecessary storyline (“too much”). But we will see. This was only first book in a series.

Nice Illustrations. Loved the post apocalyptic world. However it was a bit confusing. Didn’t really connect to the characters. Don’t think will be continuing with the next book.
trigger warnings: rape, violence

Honestly, this wasn't what I expected it to be, I'm kinda disappointed.

First of all, I didn't like the art style, it was so irritating and ordinary. Second, I didn't enjoy the story at all. Some parts were very confusing, I had to go back and reread some pages just to understand what had happened, which is a shame because Elecboy had Mad Max vibes (and I love Mad Max).

The world-building was intriguing and all, but not enough to make me forget how 'frozen' characters looked like and how much I didn't care about what's going to happen.

Also, I very much didn't like how women were presented (or better to say NOT presented). Putting women in a novel and treating them just as breeding and desire objects is so disrespectful and disappointing. It's 2021, this can't be tolerated anymore.

All in all, I'm not interested in reading the next volumes.

* Thank you NetGalley and publisher for allowing me to read an ARC of Elecboy in the exchange for an honest review/*

I enjoyed the illustrations and story. Some parts were a little confusing, but the I liked the world that had been built. The themes were dark, but made sense in this world and provided some good twists and turns as it showed how all of the characters were connected. I also liked that there was conflict within the antagonistic family that provided more of a complexity to the story.

One part Mad Max, and one part Blame!, Elecboy takes some of the better tropes from dystopian/post-apocalyptic fiction and makes it something of its very own. Europe Comics has done a fine job of introducing me to many comics and creators that I have not been familiar with, and this is yet another entry that has caught my attention.

“In a devastated cityscape, a lone man fights off creatures of fearsome power: white, winged, serenely impassive, and capable of terrifying transformations… Decades later, in a desolate American southwest, a meager colony of human survivors ekes out a precarious existence between dwindling water supplies and magnetic shields that screen them from roving bands of aerial attackers. An ancestral upper class presides, while in the lower city, laborers do the hazardous work of keeping everyone alive. But all that may be about to change when the mysterious Joshua comes of age…”

Jaouen Salaün is a French writer and artist that has apparently been trying to bring the pages of Elecboy into life for over 18 years. Good news is, the story is fairly good, and more importantly the art is absolutely GORGEOUS, I want to see more of this guys creature designs more than anything. They remind me a bit of Tsutomu Nihei a tad, it would be interesting to see if that was one of his influences in any way.


This book is part one in a series, and tells a fairly compelling story until a cliffhanger ending made me sad that I don’t have more to read. I’ll have to keep checking back with the publisher to see when more of this is released. To be honest, I have come to the conclusion that I’m fairly confused as to why Europe comics isn’t bigger than what it is. They consistently have better content than other companies that feature a lot of European comics such as Heavy Metal – here’s hoping they take off at some point in the future.