I didn't love this. The artwork was unique and definitely added to the experience but the plot was slower than I would like. Also too religious for me.

A Dracula retelling (which I haven't read the original story), in the form of a comic sounded interested to me, however the art style just wasn't for me. Sometimes i found it fascinating, other times, most of the time, it weirded me out, like it was stuck in time (I don't know how to explain the feeling I had). The characters feel a bit two dimensional, and this was also very religious, which is not something I enjoy reading very much.

Art style: 7/10

Plot and characters: 5/10

Paneling: 6/10

Thoughts: This was an alright graphic novel, I enjoyed the art style but it didn't suck me in and captivate me as much as idve liked

4/5
WHAT A STORY. This is how you do a graphic novel, specially one that follows one of the most iconic pieces of literature ever. Dracula by Bram Stoker.
This story y'all. The graphics are perfect, i was too stunned to turn the page because of how good the art was. Each piece if magnificent and full of detail. The story is compelling, addictive and original. There's some twists here and there and I loved every second of it. I can't recommend this enough

Who doesn't love a Dracula retelling? The great mix of fantasy and history in the artwork is darkly gothic, which definitely adds to the drama of the whole thing. Whilst the pacing is slow, I was desperate to turn each page, to find out how it was all going to end. It reminded me of Mirka Andolfo's 'Mercy; Lady of the Frost' as a super dark/gothic graphic novel, and I'm definitely interested to see more from this author.

Man, I wished I loved this more. I mean, a Dracula retelling in graphic novel form? Hell yeah! Sadly this was a book that I actually considered DNFing.

Dracula was such an intriguing character and his flashback love story was the only part that I enjoyed. I initially thought Aurelia was a strong heroine but she faded into the background once the rest of the cast was revealed. Bulk of the story was lost on me and I was left confused about so many things, especially with zero prior background knowledge of Dracula lore and origins.

Overall, I did not enjoy this at all because reading it felt like too much work. Such a shame as it definitely had potential. There were many awesome horror moments and solid frames, but the reading experience was sorely lacking.

A very, very good horror comic. It has much more action. In my confusion I thought this was tied in with the Netflix show. The two have much in common. Black Mass Rising has far more action and is little less opaque than the TV show. Both ask hard questions about the nature of God, belief, and destiny. How can so much misery exist in the world and how as people can we make sense of it?

The art in the comic commands your attention from the first page. The is purpose to every panel and the moments I appreciated most were the dawning looks of terror on character's faces when faced with the monstrous.

The dialogue and the way the characters play off each other is engrossing. It's a book you need to force yourself to slow down and savour.

If I have complaint its that certain cliched horror characters make an appearance. Other than it is superb graphic novel.

I loved the art of this graphic novel, it was a painted style that made it feel creepy and haunting. Unfortunately, that was where my enjoyment ended with this book. It was just not for me. The plot was SUPER slow, and it couldn't hold my attention. While I like the ideas that this book had, the story overall was confusing to follow.
Lastly, I never connected to any of the characters, and I am definitely a character driven reader.

Didn't like it. Felt like the intro for a Castlevania or Castlevaniaesque game. Was just stupid with bad characters that made no sense. That ending was so bad I regreted picking it up.. Art was good though so that was something I liked about it.

Loved the illustration style and especially the last act of the story, but I was left with questions and wanting more.

"And do you know what's the funniest thing about most ghosts? They're dead, but they don't know it yet."

"Black Mass Rising" was certainly an interesting one for me as I'm not typically a graphic novel reader. Jodie Muir's art was undeniably stunning – certainly the strongest part of the story. The settings and details created a sense of eerieness and some of the panels I'd love to just have printed out and hung on the walls.

That said, the writing what somewhat of a letdown. At times, the story was really hard to follow, and while the final two chapters were picking up, the ending seemed very rushed and left a lot to be desired.

Black Mass Rising by Theo Parsidis and illustrated by Jodie Muir is a graphic novel sequel to Dracula. The story starts one year after Dracula was killed and hope is starting to come back into the lives of Transylvanians. While out with friends, a young woman, Aurelia, witnesses her little brother’s death at the hands of a demon. Later that night, the young boy comes back from the dead. Aurelia joins forces with a man called The Healer to go to Dracula’s castle and see what darkness is waking in Transylvania once again.
Readers that have read Bram Stoker’s Dracula will see familiar characters, while those that have not read the classic won’t feel lost as long as they know the general premise of the story. Theo creates compelling new characters that bring a modern outlook into the story without feeling out of place. Paired with Jodie Muir’s painting-like style, the world comes to life. This book would be a great recommendation for readers who enjoy vampires, fantasy, strong female leads, and dark story plots. Because of language and violence, I would not recommend this for middle grade, but would not have an issue recommending it for high school and above. This graphic novel receives 4 out of 5 stars, and I will be keeping an eye out for future installments.

Amazing art, love it and interesting story. I don't read graphic novels often but this was a nice change up.

I wouldn’t miss a comic release by one of my favourite artists – and written by a compatriot? – for anything in the world, so Black Mass Rising was very high on my tbr list. Its strongest feature is definitely Jody Muir’s illustration style, disarmingly realistic and flawlessky compositioned, with some of the greatest lighting and palette choices I have seen this year – but keeping art realistic, especially in long-form, comes at a price. The facial expressions, for example, will sometimes seem “off”, not quite fitting the emotion or mood of the scene when they’re modelled after references, and this was the case here too – sometimes the less expressive real-life models just shine through the brush strokes. And the writing… not perfect, although I am a huge fan of “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” (1992), which is the Dracula adaptation this comic was most inspired by. A little Dracula-Mina romance goes a long way for me. Besides that, I was happy to recognize some of the artist’s previous work seeping through! Still, Black Mass Rising won’t win any awards for originality. This is an artist’s debut, though, and I hope it opens the way for more - and more mature - works in the future.

*Review contains spoilers*

Fantastic art, interesting story idea, but I needed more info here. <spoiler>How/why did Mina get over vampires killing her parents in front of her as a child and abandon lifelong plan that (I assume) she and Van Helsing hatched to kill Dracula when she met him? How/why did Dracula give up his centuries-long campaign of violence and evil, do a complete 180 and just hand himself over to Van Helsing? Because they "fell in love"? *rolls eyes*</spoiler> Could've been so much more.

3.5 stars rounded up for the stunning art.
This was a very creepy atmospheric read and I truly enjoyed.

Starting with my absolute favorite part: the art. The art style was perfectly suited to the feel of the story. The backgrounds were amazing and the creatures interesting to look at. While the expressions felt a bit stiff at parts, the character design was subtle and I appreciated it a lot.

The story is pretty straightforward. A wondering missionary saves a small village from a devil and finds himself dragged in a larger conflict with the forces of Satan. The plot twist is not obvious, but at the same time, I have to admit, I was not emotionally invested enough to truly be shaken. I could not strongly connect to any of the characters, but I still enjoyed their adventure.
There are two kind-of-romance arcs, and without spoiling, I could appreciate one (the one shown via flashbacks), but the other came out of left field and I had no idea how to react.

The biggest issue this graphic novels suffers from is the pacing. It’s very fast, but to the point we barely have time to get to know the characters. Reading this book felt like sitting on the side of a train track and trying to count how many windows are on a passing train. It went so fast.

Overall I would still recommend giving this graphic novel a read, if only for the stunning art.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I originally discovered this graphic novel through goodreads giveaways and was immediately pulled to it. The cover and the description is what sucked me in! While reading this graphic novel I immediately fell in love with the art style. The style is really pretty and unique and I think it goes well with the time period and setting for this novel. I only wish this novel was a little longer! I really loved the main characters that we get introduced to in this book and discovering their backstories. I thought that this was a wonderful Dracula retelling with stunning artwork.

Rating 4.5

The art was very pretty but the story was hard to follow. The dialogue was confusing and took me out of the story. Instead of full sentences, it was chopped up to make the lines shorter but just honestly harder to read. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a arc in exchange for a honest review.

Wasn’t really sure what to expect when I started this but I must say, I did enjoy it.

A perfect amount of spooky.

The drawings were incredible but the plot was a difficult to follow in places.

Definitely one I would reread again in future

Black Mass Rising is a gorgeously illustrated graphic novel that feels like it took inspiration from hottie Dracula takes and used that for something new. I don't think it's a true Dracula successor since Stoker's Dracula was a total bastard and in this version he's a softie lover-boy type. Still, it's fun to see that, and the baddies in BMR were creepy without relying on a Dracula-that's-been-done to make them scary.
I wish it hadn't ended on the cliffhanger, though. I hope there's a sequel to bring the story to a close.
I'd recommend BMR to horror graphic novel fans or even vampire/dark religion fans who aren't super fans of graphic novels. I could see the artwork having mass appeal.