Griz Grobus

This was a charming read but one that was beautifully unique. This world that was created was fascinating!

This was a fun and unique read with interesting artwork. I like the commentary about society and technology, and as other people have pointed out, the vibe is really cool. It did feel like there needed to be more story, but hopefully we'll get more. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

I think everything I've read from Simon Roy has been a variation on the theme of humans surrounded by relics of a technology they no longer fully understand, but this is by far the gentlest iteration, with the human settlers on the world of Altamira leading what looks like a pleasant enough life in an Alpine sort of landscape, and the old robot resurrected by an archaeologist's meddling bringing not carnage but comic exasperation. The low-stakes ramble through a Ghibli-flavoured landscape of mountains, woods and overgrown buildings is interspersed with excerpts from a slightly hairier but still fundamentally kind-hearted story within the story, Altamira's best-loved book, a fantasy anti-epic in which the god of war is inadvertently summoned into the body of a goose.

(Netgalley ARC)

There’s a lot of really good graphic novels out there right now and this is another example of a great one, great art and a couple of really good stories.

The main story is set on a settled planet and follows the life of a scribe who is determined to get back lost knowledge from before of the intergalactic empire.

They awaken a robot who has it’s own agenda regarding a particularly gnarly root vegetable, grave robbers (sorry researchers), a society degrading from high-tech to pastoral, and a genuinely nice constable.

The other story is another in-universe tale that some of the people are reading called “The Tale of Azkon’s Heart, and it is this that has the fantasy element, and a lot of humour.

In this we follow the exploits of a goose, pacifist cook, hungry sorcerer, and the spirit of the God of War. There’s a nice little twist in that the action of one of the characters in the main story influences the story line of this.

All this great story telling is supported with luscious illustrations that have a seventies feel to them, especially as everyone else says, Tintin.

I received this from NetGalley and Image Comics in exchange for an honest review.

Recommended if you like Moebius's comics. This has a similar feel, both in art style (the line work and attention to detail, especially in building/machine design) and story flow (creates a sort of dreamlike feeling that this is a world both familiar and strange, where the story continues to move forward but not at breakneck speed). That said, I want to temper expectations: this is not at Moebius level. But then, what is? It's a very high bar to aim for, and Roy & Pollard have done a decent job of aiming for it and working hard to close in toward it. There' s fair amount of deadpan humor here as well, which is a fun note that keeps it feeling light and quick, overall.

I do have a bit of a quibble with the choice of lettering. It's difficult to read, and even if it were chosen for artistic reasons, that's still not a great decision when it comes to lettering for a graphic novel. There are ways to make lettering feel more hand-done than "typical" styles without going as far as is done here. I would have liked to see a lettering style that still had that rough feel, but not quite as stylized as what was used.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this eARC for unbiased review. This review will be cross-posted to my social media accounts closer to the book release date.

Griz Grobus is a charming new graphic novel set in the same universe of Simon Roy’s previous graphic novel Habitat, on the quieter planet of Altamira. Having not read Habitat myself, I can’t speak for how much crossover there is storywise, but I really enjoyed jumping straight in at Griz Grobus and didn’t feel I was missing out on anything.

The novel appears to take the form of several mini-stories set in the same world, with several characters crossing over between them. These include the awakening of the quirky robot Father Stanley, and an expedition to find the missing head of a legendary statue. A third story (and my personal favourite) is a mythical retelling from a book, the story of a powerful war god who is accidentally summoned into the body of a chicken. I wasn’t expecting so many plot threads in a relatively short graphic novel, and I do confess to finding the overall effect quite disjointed and confusing. I expected all the threads to carry through to the end of the book, but some stories end earlier on, while others emerge over the course. While I did find it confusing, I found myself not really minding! I loved the setting and characters, and was happy to go along with the ride.

The art style is wonderful throughout Griz Grobus, and the ‘chop-and-change’ plot means the setting and colour palette changes a lot throughout the book. The body language and facial expressions are great throughout - plus, I’ve never seen a graphic novel pack so much body language into a chicken! I struggled a touch with the font choice on certain words, though it wasn’t a major issue, and I would attribute some of the confusion to my e-reader rather than the book.

My thanks to NetGalley and Image Comics for an advanced copy of this graphic novel that tells two stories one about a colony planet trying to find itself, and its lost, and a story set in the distant past dealing with gods, war and of course food.

I like to think of myself as a collector, though the word hoarder might also equally apply. I have a hard time parting with things, especially nerdy things. I have many old flashlights that have a Bat-signal, Taco Bell Star Wars toys, old Dungeon and Dragons arcade games, and more. Occasionally I will come across something old, and go oh I loved this, put in batteries, and within a few minutes remember why I had put that particular item away. This is a situation that arises in the graphic novel Griz Gorbus, one I was very familiar with. The second half of the story deal with a war, a goose, and a hungry sorcerer making a mistake. Except for eating a lot of Taco Bell to get all those Star Wars toys, this was something I was not familiar with. Griz Gorbus is written by Simon Roy and Jess Pollard with art also by Roy.

A vast galactic empire has fallen apart, not that it makes much difference to the colony world or Altamira. While much has been forgotten, lost or just misplaced the people seem to be doing fine, there is plenty of food and a university is starting to look at old tech and see what they can make of it. Far from the university a young scribe is following a tale of a lost powering device, one that she comes across in a village close to a holiday. The scribe steals it, but is caught and brought back to town, where a large robot, with a similar insignia to what is on the power device sits. The town plugs it in and the robot, Father Stanley, a robot preacher comes back to life. There is much rejoicing, until the villagers realize that Father Stanley is rather set in his ways, the old ways, and wants everyone to follow his advice. Accompanying this story is another story, a retelling of a classic story, one of the colony of Altamira best known and best loved works, about the God of War Azkon. Azkon is called to the mortal world to help in a siege, but the spell caster is kind of hungry and accidentally places Azkon in a goose. A goose that demands blood and war, and one that his companion a pacifist chef is not keen on.

A fun story with a mix of science fiction, fantasy, mythology and bit of rollicking adventures. Even a little bit of a love story. This is very Japanese and European in style, from art and especially in the story, touching on themes that American comics would not. There is very little violence, some scenes, and nothing in the way of blood. Arguments are more won by words, or in one case, willing to pay a cost to prove a point. Both stories are good, though one feels that the reader is tossed in the middle of both stories, but this isn't a problem. The main characters are interesting and the scribe and the constable have a nice relationship that adds to the story. The art is really good. Very European in color and style, with very detailed backgrounds, and a lot of attention to details.

A fun adventure story, and one that I would like to read more of. And see more of as I really enjoyed the art.

I received this book via NetGalley.
For those interested in science fiction, mythology, and or mystery, this book may be for you! "Griz Grobus" by Simon Roy and Jess Pollard is a story told in multiple parts. In some parts, you find yourself on a planet that seems very similar to Earth, but with ecosystems and technology that vary wildly from our own. For instance, some of the most revered citizens are the large robots who had helped humanity settle on their new planet years before. It is in these parts of the story that we meet two of our protagonists, a constable and a scribe, who have a fairly tempestuous relationship. Additionally, readers are treated with a look at a story from the characters' own mythology which highly resembles some of our own tales. Combined together, the themes in "Griz Grobus" by Simon Roy and Jess Pollard provide an excellent mix of mysterious adventures, mythology, and science fiction.

"Griz Grobus" is a charming and comfortably paced graphic novel with enticing artwork that offers a relatively unique reading experience. Juxtaposing a Science Fiction story set on world colonized by human settlers with fantasy scenes from that world's best loved novel the book tells parallel stories that eventually play off and reinforce each other. Expect light and entertaining story telling with subtle humor and hopeful messaging.

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Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Image Comics, for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I received this DRC from NetGalley.

The stories were cute. I thought the reason the robot had been shut down was pretty funny. I liked the artwork. Some of the dialogue was harder to read, but that could be because I had a lower resolution review copy.

I don't think the comic is treated in the same fully whimsical way as in Miyazaki's works, as there is violence and more of a serious tone. But the art style is comparable.