When I found all 12 of these comics in the $1 bin on a day when the $1 bin comics were on sale, it was a no brainer to pick them up. The art looked cool and it seemed like a kind of fantasy/horror thing, which is right up my alley. It really was good, I liked the characters and the world seemed fully-realized. Lots of action and suspense.

And then it ended. That's when I found out the series was cancelled and never finished. It wasn't a terrible ending, but kind of like a season finale, that left the big story unfinished (like the show American Gods). ( )

This book was only just okay for me. I won a box of comics from bookriot.com and this was in the box.

The storyline wasn't bad - a young girl, a thief, steals the oculus from the royal family and basically all hell breaks loose - literally. The Umbral - dark, demon like creatures, are after her to steal the oculus themselves and make the world their own.

My biggest problem was the artwork. I had a very hard time telling people apart and really telling what was going on in the scenes. Some pictures I stared at very hard, but still could not figure out what was happening. A lot of people just look alike.

I'm not sure if I will be reading the sequel or not. ( )

This fantasy comic book is entertaining and well-constructed. It is the first in a series and engaging enough to want to know what ensues. It reminds me of the “bande dessinée” format so popular in France.

The plot centres around a young thief called Rascal, her possession of a mystical object called the Oculus and her struggle to stay alive against the shadow creatures called the Umbral. She teams up with a variety of characters but it is difficult to know who to trust as the Umbral came take the form of any person.

The artwork is quite good but I found the frames a little too colourful for my liking and sometimes it was difficult to see which character was which, especially the collection of white-haired bearded old men who all look the same to me.

Enjoyable enough but it is not a book that I would have bought and I am not interested enough in what happens next to buy the next instalment.
( )

Disappointing

(Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this book for review through Goodreads' First Reads program.)

Tasked by her boss, the Master of the Thieves Guild, with stealing a priceless artifact from the palace trophy room, Rascal unwittingly witnesses the murder of King Petor and Queen Innaline during the robbery. Worse still, her co-conspirator is none other than Prince Arthir, who soon joins his parents in the grave. Only, the rest of the world doesn't yet know that the royal family is dead - because their killers, creatures from a hell dimension known collectively as the Umbral, are shape-shifters who have assumed the visages of the King, Queen, and Prince, as well as other key players in Strakhelm. Their goal? World domination. It's up to young Rascal to keep the Occulus safe and out of Umbral hands.

Based on the book's tag line - "Orphaned at birth. Raised by smugglers. Taken in by thieves. Running for her life." - I had some crazy high hopes for Umbral, Book One: Out of the Shadows. A spunky young heroine! Doing crimes and taking names! In a multiverse! And pirates!

Alas, it was not to be. While the story idea is promising, Umbral never quite lives up to its potential. Between the shape shifting and the constant travel between dimensions (Rascal is somehow able to slip in and out of the Umbral), the story can sometimes get confusing - a problem not helped by the artwork, which is oftentimes sloppy and fails to clearly illustrate the many plot twists. For example, a few of the characters (e.g. Dalone and Master Gearge) look so much alike that at first glance they're often hard to tell apart. And the hell and regular dimensions? So similar that they're nearly indistinguishable. One just seems to be a different version of the present reality; the only way you can tell one from the other is through the narration, which isn't always helpful, either.

More than once I found myself backtracking several pages in order to figure out just what the hell was going on.

Three stars is probably on the generous side, but there are some elements of the story I loved - namely, Shayim the one-eyed smuggler, who's a much more compelling character than Rascal. While I'm not a fan of the artwork (why on earth does Rascal's hair resemble a rope made of bedsheets?), the colors are gorgeous and do a fine job of setting the mood for the story: dark, rich, foreboding.

That said, I think I'll pass on Book Two.

http://www.easyvegan.info/2014/07/21/umbral-book-one-by-antony-johnston-and-chri... ( )

Rascal has rescued the Occulous from the Umbral, an ancient evil bent on taking over the world. Now she and her crew are on a mission to keep it from evil and potentially destroy it so all can remain safe.

Detailed graphics with a hint of cartoonishness, which adds a bit of a relaxed air to what could be an overwrought story line, lead the reader and character through perils current and past. Thus all are brought up to date on the fight, history, and action in a concise yet pleasing and not confusing manner.

Characters are well formed, authentic for their reality, and develop as the story progresses.

Overall, a fun read. ( )