‘Hypericon’ with story and art by Manuele Fior is a graphic novel that takes place in two distinct times and is distinctly linked.

It’s 2001 and Teresa has just arrived in Berlin with insomnia and a new job getting an art exhibit ready. There are also flashbacks to Howard Carter’s 1922 discovery of King Tut’s tomb that Teresa is reading about. Teresa meets Ruben, but he may not offer her the stability she needs as her insomnia frays her fragile mind.

I liked it well enough, but I’m not sure I cared all that much when it was all said and done. The art works well, especially for the Egypt portions of the book.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this graphic novels. The stories being told got a bit in the way of each other in my opinion, even though I undertand the idea behind it. The characters got me at times but completely missed me most of the time. I ended up not getting anything out of this so maybe it just wasn't for me. The art style was interesting.

3.5

interesante, con una historia bastante fluida y con buen mensaje. Los visuales son muy agradables y vívidos. Se lee super rápido.

I am grateful to NetGalley for introducing me to European graphic novelists and artists. Manuele Fior is the latest on the list. It tells us the story of Teresa, a young Italian who has arrived in Berlin with a grant to help organize an exhibit of Tutankhamen's treasure. She suffers from insomnia and anxiety but meets an Italian expat named Ruben and together they navigate their new lives together as well as Berlin. Simultaneously Howard Carter's discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb is also blended in the story. The past and the present come together. A very relaxing and thoughtful read.

In 1922 an Egyptiologist stumbles upon the finding of Tutankhamen's tomb and something less than a century later, a postdoctoral researcher moves to Berlin to work at an exhibition of the tomb, where she meets a man and her life gets interesting.

I really liked the art of this graphic novel, it was absolutely amazing. But the story wasn't a great match for me. I couldn't fully follow the storyline. I got quite confused by the two parallel narrations.

Unfortunately a vanilla story with graphic sex that didn't belong. The artist is good, but the storyline suffers and becomes a bore.

This book was good I like the girl Mc and I liked that i could relate to her, I rated the book such a low rating bc this book has a lot about the history of Egypt and it’s sculpture, and hidden tombs, and for someone who is not interested in the topic of the history of Egypt it can get a little boring,

I liked the art, I like the Egyptian history elements with Howard Carter, but I felt no attachment to the main story and characters. Not a bad comic, but it isn't the best of Europe Comic's offerings this season. I like the base concept of the heroine being a little displaced and having to find some personal balance and rhythms that work for her, but ultimately this just fell flat for me

"Hypericon" is an ambitious graphic novel that attempts to blend science fiction, mythology, and philosophy into a single cohesive story. While the artwork is beautifully rendered and the overall concept is intriguing, I found the execution to be somewhat uneven.

The plot follows a group of astronauts who are sent on a mission to explore a distant planet known as Hypericon. Along the way, they encounter strange creatures and encounter various obstacles that challenge their beliefs and sense of reality. The story is full of complex ideas and themes, such as the nature of existence, the limits of human perception, and the search for meaning in a vast and uncaring universe.

While I appreciated the depth and complexity of the story, I found it difficult to fully engage with the characters or their struggles. The narrative jumps around frequently and often feels disjointed, making it hard to follow the plot at times. Additionally, the philosophical musings can be heavy-handed and didactic, detracting from the overall impact of the story.

That being said, the artwork is truly stunning, with detailed and evocative illustrations that capture the eerie and otherworldly nature of the story. The use of color and light is particularly effective, adding to the dreamlike quality of the narrative.

Overall, "Hypericon" is an ambitious and visually striking graphic novel that will appeal to fans of science fiction and philosophy. While the execution may be uneven, the underlying concepts are thought-provoking and worth exploring.

“It's 2001, and Teresa, a young Italian suffering from insomnia and a generally fragile state of mind, has just arrived in Berlin with a grant to help organize an exhibit of Tutankhamen's treasure. Though she finds support in Ruben, a fellow Italian expat, she struggles to keep it together. Her one anchor is reading Howard Carter's book about his discovery of King Tut's tomb in 1922, finding solace in the Egyptologist's writing and the thought of that noble young pharaoh resting undisturbed for three thousand years.”

Publication date: 22 Feb 2023

Author: Manuele Fior

Illustrator: Manuele Fior

Rating: DNF

Genre: Comic/Graphic Novel

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get through this comic so I don't have much to say. I wasn’t a big fan of the art style and everything felt really…unfinished. The writing wasn’t well done in my eyes.

Very interesting story. At times a bit hard to follow due to font changes, but that that does not detract from the actual story and writing. Wonderful art and drawing.

Hypericon is a graphic novel about an Egyptologist, Teresa, who has gone to Germany to help set up a new exhibit about Tutankhamun's treasure. The story goes back and forth between Teresa's story and that of Howard Carter who found Tutankhamun's tomb.

The art in this was fairly nice, it was pretty clean and lovely. The story of Carter finding the tomb was fascinating, and the portrayal of insomnia and mental health was very compelling.
However, all in all, I found Teresa's story just very uninteresting. I was more interested in moving forward on Carter's than hers. The art, while lovely, felt a bit flat and as if it was missing some spark or something. The whole of it, story and art, felt like it was trying to be something, but I'm not sure what. Slice of life maybe? It wasn't a cozy read, but it also wasn't enough of a story to feel like a story.

An interesting graphic novel, but I think I can see people not getting as much from it as they would expect. A young Italian lass gets a year's gig in Berlin, sorting out a museum display of the Tutankhamun funerary riches, and before managing to even find a permanent digs shacks up with Ruben, a punky ex-pat doing little with his life. Upon reflection, there are several things that might have made for a compelling read – her insomnia, a Berlin being changed by a world-beating exhibit as well as everything else, and the titular botanical link between all the strands of the story, but as good as they may be in isolation they don't fully hang together in justifiable ways. So yes, she reads Carter's diaries of the tomb opening when she can't sleep, but those flashbacks still feel too separate from the rest of the business. She promises something dreadful when getting intimate with Ruben (this is definitely an adults-only read and manages to be fairly erotic at times, for this kind of book) but all it is is a lover's beef, and over faster than one of Ruben's plans. And when a certain global event is allowed to happen, as ironic counterpoint to her sleeping pattern, you really are forced to admit this is a bit too thematically woolly for its own good. Thus it remains a sexy, interesting diversion, sort of but not quite about timey-wimey stuff, and not the character piece it might have become.

Thank you to Netgalley and Europe Comics for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Hypericon follows two interconnected plotlines - one being the the story of Teresa, a young Italian academic, who has just arrived in Berlin on a grant to work on an exhibit of Tutankhamen's tomb, and the other - the discovery of said tomb by Howard Carter, described in a book that Teresa reads during sleepless nights.

This is the most beautifully written graphic novel I've had the pleasure of reading in some time, especially in the part towards the middle where Teresa's reflecting on her insomnia and the role of sleep in our lives. The art in the scenes set in Egypt was likewise beautiful and dreamlike. It's only the art of the scenes set in Berlin that I didn't necessarily enjoy, but overall the story had a nice flow to it, despite jumping between the two plotlines every now and then.

There are quite a few explicit sex scenes though, so if that's not something you enjoy in a graphic novel, maybe this isn't the best fit for you

I have mixed feelings about this one: it is exactly what the synopsis says it is and that's the problem. I know it is not fair to criticise a book for what it was not, but still, I was hoping for some dramatic twist or a grand revelation and was vaguely disappointed when it never came about. At least it's relaxing and the art is cute. Nonetheless, I appreciated the take on chronic insomnia and how it affects one's quality of life, mental wellbeing and subsequently the people around them. It's not a topic I see discussed often in books much less comics.

Hyperion by Manuele Fior was a really interesting story. The look at anthropology/archeology aspect was enlightening. I enjoyed it as a period piece, and the tidbits that were thrown in about the time period especially in relation to Germany were appreciated. I think the story seemed a little disjointed to me, and while I understand that the archeology flashbacks were supposed to inspire awe in me, they kind of had the opposite effect. It actually made me question if the entire museum concept of these western powers stealing these artifacts from these civilizations to display in museums was humane at all. I hope the Egyptian people get some sort of kickback from these museums.

I did however really enjoy the art for the archeology panels. So, I enjoyed the story and the art for the Germany panels, but only the art for the archeology panels. The story is about a woman who is struggling with insomnia and is trying to get through a museum residency setting up a King Tut exhibit. The story is peppered with panels from the the journal of the discovery she is reading throughout the story. While I only enjoyed the art from these journal panels, the regular story was very interesting. The story of her road to opening up and her dynamic with her suitor. Her discovery of her worth and place in her field of study. All these aspects were well realized and carried my enjoyment.

This graphic novel tells the story of Teresa, a young Italian woman who goes to Berlin in order to work as an assistant on an exposition about Tutankhamen. Soon she meets Ruben, an Italian guy whose carefree personality contrasts with her independence and seriousness. They quickly fall in love. In the meantime, we learn about the discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb in the twenties.

Fiore's art is as gorgeous as ever here. He is one of those artists who can transform a banal story into a memorable one. He seamlessly weaves the two storylines together and makes us eager to know what's happening next, even though we already know (in the case of the historic events) or have a good idea (as the couple has a lot of chemistry but is quite incompatible personality wise). He also raises some interesting reflections about time and our perception of it.

Hypericon is a beautiful story that's full of poetry and sometimes feels as light as the budding romance between two people with their whole lives ahead of them, and sometimes a little heavier, when we realize that fairy tales don't exist in real life. It was a great read and I highly recommend it.

Hypericon's soft illustrations fit the narrative arc of the story. The multiple timelines tie up nicely. The story delivers on the description with the historical references and light love story. The relationship and insomnia are the points for conflict generation, which work okay as narrative elements. I was never deeply engaged. I didn't care as much as I could have about the leading lady. But it wasn't bad.

Overall, it was fine.

**I would like to thank NetGalley, Europe Comics, and Manuele Fior for an ARC of this book! This is now available as of 2/22/23!**

This graphic novel follows two story lines.
In 2001, Teresa, an Italian 20(ish) year old, has just arrived in Berlin to pursue an opportunity in helping organize an exhibit of Tutankhamen's treasure. She meets Ruben almost immediately after arriving and navigates this next journey with him by her side; sometimes good, and sometimes bad.

In 1922, Howard Carter is in Egypt on the search for treasure. He journals his travels and documents his experience discovering King Tut's tomb. Teresa finds solace in reading his journals, especially when she struggles with insomnia (which is always).

I understood the premise of the book, but it totally missed the "what's the point" aspect. Other than her organizing the exhibit while reading Carter's account of his discovery, there was no real reason for us to read it. I kept waiting for the two stories to converge and have an 'aha' moment, but it never came. By the end, I literally said out loud to myself, "What did I just read and why did I spend my time on this?"

My stars for this come entirely from the artwork. The illustrations were so beautiful. I wish the story did the illustrations justice because this would have been a really cool piece otherwise.

I wasn't sure what to expect and was pleasantly surprised.
I liked the parallel stories of Teresa in early 2000s Berlin, and the discovery of King Tutankhamen's tomb, one that can't sleep, one sleeping forever. The raw emotions, the suspense, even for something we know already, and then the moments that are not shown take another dimension as well. It had a bittersweet, coming of age feeling, and I liked the art style.

Thank you Europe Comics and NetGalley for giving me a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.