Series: Blood Stain
Publisher: Image Comics
Release Date: 19 Apr 2016
My Rating: 4 cups
Source: Netgalley
Blurb (from Goodreads):
Mad science at its finest. Chemistry major, Elliot Torres has been unable to keep a steady job and eventually accepts a job by a rumored mad scientist Dr. Vlad Stein. Humorous hijinks ensue as their collaboration becomes epic.
*Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this book from Netgalley and Image Comics in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my rating or my opinion of the book.
This book had me at "mad science" and "chemistry major". I am always interested in seeing what people deem "mad science", so I was very curious about this comic book. That and I was sure I've seen the author's name before, but more on that at the end of the review.
I adored the art in this comic book. I spent a huge amount of time just staring at each panel, they were so gorgeous. The lines were well defined, the colors used were rich and vibrant. I also liked how the colors used seemed to emphasize the mood of the scene. We see most of the panels involving Elliot, the heroine, in light, bright colors, while the panels for the doctor are dark and cold.
Elliot was such a relatable character. I felt her despair at not finding a job that fulfills you, I understood her feelings toward herself when a job offer fell through or when she just couldn't hold a job that had nothing to do with her intelligence or her studies. I feel like most people are Elliot at one point or another. So it was easy for me to like her. Not just that, but I completely understand her tendency to overreact and to interpret stuff in the creepiest way possible. Another character that I liked was Serge, which you meet later in the story.
One thing Linda Sejic did that I completely enjoyed was to include some extra material at the end of the book regarding her creative process. I knew even before reading those pages that creating comic books can be difficult, but I never imagined just how much. Between the pencil sketches and the drawing and the creation of the story itself, it takes an incredible amount of time and effort to put together a good comic book, so I'm really grateful the readers get to have a little sneak peek into that process. As to why I knew the author's name, it's because her husband is the author of the Death Vigil comic, among other comic books as well. In case you're wondering, my opinion of Blood Stain has nothing to do with my feelings for Death Vigil, it was just a detail that got my attention towards this book.
All in all, I'm really happy I got to read this book and I cannot wait to see how the story continues. I hope we get to know more about the doctor, so I'll definitely be waiting impatiently for volume 2.
