If you know the comic book series Dungeon by Sfar et Trondheim, if you love the quirky and epic fantasy adventures of the anthropomorphic heroes, if you find the humour great and can't get enough (and still cry that they stopped the series) then pick Soggy Landing, you will have a blast.
This was an unexpected finding, wasn't sure what I was going to face, but it kept me engaged throughout in its own strange little universe.

First, thank you Alec McGovern, Andrew McGovern, Netgalley, and Oni Press for the free ARC in exchange for a review.

Though the art generally has a certain whimsy to it, and the smoke magick is intriguing, this tale lacks characterization, and even the story itself is flimsy. There is little to make us care one way or another about the main character and her friends. With the sparse dialogue and some vague looking scenes, it wasn't always easy to tell just what was happening, and thus not possible for me to immerse myself in this world. It seems a bit like it's a second, third, etc. book in a series, but as far as I can tell it isn't.

As another review says, this book is strange; the genre suddenly changed from 1984-type subversion to Attack On Titan-level gore/violence.

I really enjoyed the art style and was super excited by the premise.

Unfortunaetly, I did find the story to be confusing. It wasn't very clear exactly what was happening on the page. The narrative felt super vague. I didn't feel that the story went anywhere nor did i really understand the characters.

Well. This was awfully bizarre; about 3/4 of the way through, the genre suddenly changed from 1984-type subversion to Attack On Titan-level gore/violence. Maybe I missed out on some major cues that hinted at such a turn, but IDK - it originally had prohibitionist-era vibes set in a Japanese countryside village. I expected a coup of sorts, but I feel like there was 0 tonal indication of that level of gore coming up in the book. Sure, there was some minor violence and rough-housing, but I feel like those scenes should've been bloodier to better set the tone for what was coming up - it felt pretty PG until it suddenly wasn't.

I did think the concept of pipe magic was really cool, and I found those scenes to be engaging.

The architectural artwork was also quite beautiful. I really admired the use of color and how it invited the viewer to imagine more without necessarily giving details about what was there. This bumps the book up to "ok" territory for me.

~Thank you to NetGalley and Capstone for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.~

A bit uneven. It often felt like there was both too much and not enough going on, an odd feeling considering how busy the panels could be.

E-ARC provided by OniPress

Soggy Landings art, at first glance, seems dirty, rough and unpolished, but I promise you, it is for a purpose.

It is a story whose characters are animals, and our main character is a stoner bear wizard, which in another world would make for a wonderful retelling of some classic fantasy story about friendship, hope and good vs evil.

Well it is about good vs evil, but it does not shy away from the hardships and brutality fighting that fight brings. The art is rough because the denizens of Soggy Landing are rough, worn down, dredges of what is left when an oppresive force slowly chokes the life out of you.

But the good in this story is Otso, the stoner bear wizard I mentioned. Despite the hardships, and the threat of imprisonment or worse around every corner, she and her band of fighters wish to make Soggy Landing a place worth thriving in again.

What I loved, is they lean into the absurdist visuals that can come from drug use. And when our protaganist is a stoner wizard, when we get her backstory in a wonderful transistion that starts with her smoke clouds but brings us back when she finally drinks her tea, I couldn't help but smile at the creativity of it all. While occasionally disjointed, I was still invested scene to scene, wanting to see more. More of Otso, more of how the city dealt with being opressed, more of the magic of the world.

My biggest dislike is that mention of The broken wheel (the rebel group) and other worldbuilding was left on the back of the book in the summary, rather then explained directly in the pages. The context is there, and it wasn't hard to pick out the important parts of this, but the world, despite being so bleak pulled me in. I wanted to see more. I wanted the sunshine after the storm cleared, not just all the rain. Though with a name like Soggy Landing, I guess I can't be that mad.

Incredible art style laced with great character design. Really like the pencil shading bias, and the overall deliberate sloppiness, it gives so much life. Also attracted to the use of screentones, looks very cool! Very atmospheric story with an interesting protagonist leading through rain, tobacco smoke and city slop. Thanks for the access to this wonderful work! Grotesque and fabulous.

The blurb interested me. It seemed a bit wacky, which I like. This comic was a joy to read. Do I totally get everything after a first read? No, but I’m happy to go back and read again. It was definitely quirky, with humour and a lot going on. The style of the art work complements the story and the rainy island perfectly. And the story is at least in part one of oppression and of those willing to stand up and overcome. And the other parts? I’m still working it out. But anyway, it’s really worth a read! Thank you to Oni Press! And NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

I absolutely flew through this graphic novel - there is so much happening - magic, plague, uprisings, found family, stoners! It's non-stop from start to finish - but what happens after the final page?! Hoping there will be a volume 2 at least. The art style I loved, I felt it really matched the subject matter.