Didn't work for me.

Sorry for the long delay in feedback. I'm working on clearing out my Netgalley backlog. I am DNF'ing all books that just don't work within the first 50-100 pages. Trying to find the joy in reading again by going through the hundreds of abandoned books here.

The concept for this book is genius! Touching someone and killing them only to inherit their memories? That sounds like my kind of sci-fi book! So good and the plot just made me want more.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

In Ben Fisher's post-apocalyptic graphic novel, humans are able to kill only with their touch, however, they get sort of "possessed" by the soul of the person they just killed. I enjoyed little parts of it thanks to the author's humor, but overall this book didn't really work for me since I'm not very fond of the sci-fi genre. I'm sure it's something other fans of this type of story would appreciate.

'The Great Divide' by Ben Fisher with art by Adam Markiewicz is a story of a weird apocalyptic disease that is affecting humans.

In the not too distant future, a weird thing happens. When people make skin contact with another person, one of them dies violently and the other lives with their memories inside. Kill too many people off and this makes a person a bit crazy.

A couple years after this happens, people are very distant and clothe themselves in gloves and masks. Porn has become a hot commodity since no one can touch. A young thief finds himself gathering a group of people, one of whom may be able to solve what happened.

This was a quirky enough idea that I ended up liking it. I wasn't sure at first, but it won me over. The art isn't bad. The characters are interesting. It pays to observe the things happening in the book with dialogue boxes and weird transcripts at the end of each issue. I liked this one.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

The Great Divide quickly gripped me! It was a thrilling read from the very beginning as you are thrust into this post-apocalyptic world where no one can touch each other. I thought it was incredibly brilliant and eagerly devoured page after page. Maria was strong and mysterious. Paul was a goof who provided some excellent humor that made that dark world seem rather bright under the circumstances.

The art was excellent. Character designs were wonderful and it makes it an even more enjoyable read.

The only complaint I have is the ending. I want more!

I love the concept of this book. Something that prevents people from making physical contact is a great twist on a standard apocalyptic scenario, especially as we are given the impression that this is an intentional situation engineered by some shadow group.

I quite liked this offbeat dark dystopian graphic novel. I particularly like when it is well crafted, appropriately paced and gives enough plot development and revelations as the story unfolds. This graphic novel delivers on all fronts. Give yourself a treat and read it.
---Ronb

Death is touching another human being. Skin to Skin contact to be precise. Any touch. A kiss, a hug, a casual touch to the back of the neck.. All of these will kill.

In Ben Fisher's The Great Divide, 'Seperation is Survival', and the Human desire for Community actively works to kill. Paul and Maria are an odd couple, stuck trying to determine if community is worth it, or if the company of a Rider means more that that of the living.

After the barest of touches.. When hemmoraging from the eyes and ears, a life ends painfully but quick in torrents of blood. Within minutes, when death is complete, it is unclear what other trauma occurs during death. The bloody deceased, however, are not gone.

They become a Riders.

Riders are personality, memories, skills, all rolled up and forcefully stuffed into the brain of the person who survived the touch. A Rider can see through the windows, can hear the sounds, but is locked in forever.

You become dyslexic when you have a Rider. On top of the guilt of manslaughter (or outright murder), beyond the insanity of having others in your head, you also lose the ability to read.

The Great Divide, an expanse of human solitude. The Soulbox is the key to crossing the Divide.



Collabotatively, the writing of Ben Fisher and art of Adam Markiewicz are a fine marriage. The pace of the graphic novel and the textures present in the work drive the media home. The amount of world building needed to carry the story was minimal in the end work. I can see where I would have been a bit nutzo had I been reading monthlies though, as the story lends itself well to the overall Graphic format, but would feel patchy if presented in parts.

Some questions popped into my brain as I read this which were loosely answered, but ultimately not well. For example, two people touch, and one dies.. so who touched who? Does it matter? It is much different than the apocalypse happening at midnight, but in what time zone?.. The final answer was simple character hypothesis that it was not a roll of the dice or a matter of timing. Instead, will power alone was described as the probable key to living.

Meh, I suppose that works. Later the story builds a bit to support it, but it felt more than a bit contrived.

The end of the Graphic Novel seems to lead toward a possible continuation and a recent interview with TFAW shows promise for another Arc. Unfortunately, this means more unanswered questions are left on the table than preferred for the time being.

Overall, this work was solid and my wimpy nitpicking is exactly that.


----
If you have a few minutes to spare, here is the interview with the creators via the Things From Another World blog.

https://blog.tfaw.com/2016/08/01/interview-adam-markiewicz-ben-fisher-great-divide/


--
Disclosure: This Graphic Novel was provided for me for review purposes by the publisher. It was kind if them to allow me access and in return I have cancelled the deliveries of PooPourri samples to their individual grand parent's homes. Instead, they will begin to open mailboxes stuffed with requests for me to be added to the inheritance.. I am, after all, a cuddly fat bear of a man.

A fragmented human race struggles to live because a mysterious condition has made it so any skin to skin contact will cause one of those people to die an agonizing death. Whoever survives the encounter absorbs the memories of the dead person. While fumbling a heist, Maria and Paul stumble first upon each other then later upon a possible cure.

This comic is a mix of Walking Dead, Crossed, and Y the Last Man (without what made me so uncomfortable about Crossed). It has a unique take on an apocalyptic world with all the darkness that entails while still managing to maintain some humor. I'm glad it's not zombies for once...

The characters and world building here are well thought out and some really original implications of whatever sort of virus like this can do or be used are played with. Thankfully the cast members we're following around play off each other well despite the fact Paul's jokes can get tiresome. I give this a 4 out of 5 for being blessedly original in a genre that sorely needs it.

A quirky, unique take on apocalyptian end of the world type books. We've seen it all before, zombies, crazies, death of all men, virus, bombs, kaiju but this was a first for me. All of a sudden toughing another human causes one of you to instantly explode. Not only that but their personality rides along with you. Suddenly most of the people left on Earth are schizophrenic and dyslexic (another side-effect). Oh, and every month or so everyone starts go Walkabout (sleepwalk) for days at a time. Society is obviously breaking down because the best possible way to protect yourself is to live alone on some nice flat land. As the book progresses, we begin to learn why this is happening. Looking forward to book 2!

The Good: Fisher has a wry, twisted writ. He delves into what happens to people when they can no longer have sex or contact of any kind. I found the Baredevils pretty hilarious along with the farm scene allusions.

The Bad: Early on in the book Paul acquires a Spanish speaking rider and all his dialogue is in Spanish. Paul understands the Spanish but most readers won't so it's a continual annoyance.

The Ugly: The book is definitely for adults and those who aren't easily offended. Fisher does take on adults sexual nature in the book.

Well, that was more than I expected. For now, is the best post-apocalyptic comic books I have ever read. So good, so interesting!

Someone has damned the whole human race, whereby someone touching someone else leads to death and infection with the deceased's soul, so generally we're looking at loners here, even if they do so readily band together. The look is very similar to any other token end-of-the-world graphic, but the feel throughout is competent enough. Yes,you do have to bear with a hero with more bad wisecracks than Ash, and yes a lot of it has been seen before, from the hokey church cult thing to the token extra-powered aging MiB. And yes, it could have been presented in a better way (especially with the horrifically poor resolution on netgalley, so I could hardly read the souls' contributions at all, let alone some of the Spanglish in the larger speech bubbles), but there is enough novelty and conviction to be found in the narrative to make this one to consider.

I received a free review copy from Netgalley.

The Great Divide comic book series is created by Ben Fisher (writer) and Adam Markiewicz (artist). This book contained issues #1 - #6

In the Great Divide, the slightest touch from another person's skin results in a bloody, agonizing death. The survivor absorbs memories from the person that died. This is a unique spin on the post-apocalyptic genre. The two main characters are well developed, the dialogue is great and there is an interesting cast of supporting characters. The artwork works well with the story. Adam Markiewicz did a wonderful job. I definitely recommend this book.

A dark and gritty near future dystopia where a mysterious plague has fallen on mankind, where the slightest contact of bare flesh will cause immediate death for one of those being touched, but there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason as to who lives or dies. On top of that, the survivor also then carries around in their head the persona of the person they killed. This can sometimes cause madness in the survivor, but some can coexist with their new passenger. Of course, with no physical skin-to-skin contact possible, sex is off-limits but brothels survive, with watching, no touching, rules in place. Isolation becomes the means of survival, but with that isolation also comes the end of the human race. That is, until two unlikely allies possibly discover the cause of the plague, and possibly a means to undo it.

<i>The Great Divide</i> is definitely not for the lighthearted. This is a very grim look at humanity and what happens when all means of physical contact is stripped away. It is a violent, sexualized dystopia that Ben Fisher and Adam Markiewicz give us, but it is still a story about the resilience of the human spirit.

<i>I received an eARC of this title thru NetGalley for a fair and honest review.</i>

A strong post apocalyptic tale, set in a world where any skin to skin contact results in death in one of the people involved, this is an original take on a very popular genre. No one knows why or how it happened but one day the world changed, and now isolation and separation are the norm. As a reader we are dropped straight into this world with little explanation, but thanks to the strong storytelling technique and the clever use of art to show not tell, all soon becomes (relatively) clear. As if the physical contact resulting in death was not bad enough, it turns out that the surviving person absorbs some of the mind and personality of anyone he kills , so that they become a "rider" in the survivors brain, often resulting in madness as multiple personalities and minds fight for control of one brain and body.
While searching for a trade, opportunistic thief Paul meets brother and sister Maria and Carlos, and when Paul absorbs Carlos' mind he feels obligated to help Maria reach Seattle. Along the way they meet ex soldier Eli and scientist Victoria, but in a world so divided will coming together be safer, or just lead to more danger. More importantly is Victoria hiding something, does she know more about what really happened than she is letting on?
I loved this book, it not only has a clever concept, it executes it really well, with interesting and diverse characters, dynamic pacing with a well balanced mix of action and character development , and artwork and a colour palette that enhances the story being told.

Interesting idea but crap execution. For people who can't touch each other, walking around naked and sitting side by side in an arena seem like really bad ideas. Why is everyone so desperate? When our heroes need clothes (see above) they just walk into an abandoned mall. Just doesn't make sense.

In the not too distant future the earth has been over-run by a virus where physical contact between two people will kill one of them with the survivor taking on-board the now deceased person as an extra voice inside their head. Two thieves Maria and Paul take a road trip to save the human race and the story evolves around their journey and the people they encounter along the way, some good and others out to kill them. Well illustrated and written. A new take on an apocalypse story.

Beautiful Illustrations with an Unusual Plot

The world has gone crazy in this well plotted beautifully illustrated graphic novel. Suddenly after the Great Divide, one human touching another kills one of them. The killed live on in the brain of the killer as "riders". Once a rider is in residence, the killer can no longer read (so you should probably pick this book up soon). Reminiscent of The Walking Dead (but thankfully without the zombies), the hero goes on a trip across the US and meets a thief, a serial killer, a MMA fighter, a military man and a scientist and others all before the first half is over.

There are some nerdy pop culture moments referencing Star Wars, Lost and other movies. The best description ever of sexual orientation:
I'm a little less into Octopussy and a little more into Shaft.

Overall, I adored this graphic novel! It is completely different than the usual post-apocalyptic plot. So if you are as bored with zombies as I am but you like to imagine how mankind would react after a worldwide disaster, you should read this book.

Just a head's up that some of the dialogue is in untranslated Spanish. While the Spanish dialogue does add to the reader's perception of the character's mood, it is not necessary to understand the main plot of the book.

There is also some light profanity in Spanish. Since humanity can no longer have sex, some graphic graffiti is portrayed in some sections of the book. This novel is definitely just for 17+.

Thanks to the authors, publisher and netgalley for giving me an advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is from an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

This is a post-apocalyptic story that really had no story, let alone a beginning, a middle, and an end! It's set in a world where the trope 'comet hits the Earth and humanity goes haywire' is called upon. The result in this scenario is that when one person touches another, one of them has their head explode and the other gets their memories.

The idea is absurd. If their head explodes, how do the memories, which were just destroyed, get transferred? What memories?! But this wasn't the only issue. It didn't help that even on a decently-sized tablet computer, the text was rather small, and in some instances literally impossible to read even when I swiped the screen to zoom in.

At intervals there was what looked like it was supposed to be an image of a computer screen, but the text was so blurry that it was a nightmare to try and read, and I quickly took to skipping those pages unread. The odd thing was that I didn't feel like I'd missed anything for skipping them. I will welcome the day when graphic novel writers recognize that you cannot continue to short-change the ebook format unless you want to irritate your readers at best, and piss them off so much that they refuse to read any more of your material in future, at worst.

The one who gets the memories is supposed to also get their skill-set, but this isn't explored, and it doesn't work. The trope fails because just knowing how to do something isn't the same as having had the experience of doing it. This is where The Matrix fell down, when Neo said, "I know Kung Fu". You might know the moves in your head, but your body sure as hell doesn't know how to execute them, and your muscles and limbs are simply not up to it without being properly trained. It's what's often referred to as 'muscle memory' although there's actually no such thing.

But that wasn't the problem here. I would have been willing to let that go as I was in The Matrix, but in this case, there was no story! It was one all-but endless road trip punctuated with random stops to pick up random people who themselves made no sense and who contributed nothing to the story which was, despite the road trip, paradoxically going nowhere. It made no coherent sense and the end simply fizzled out with no explanation and no resolution. I cannot recommend this one.

Phenomenal storytelling, a fantastical idea which has all the makings of a great dystopian style movie or tv series. I cannot wait to read more from this world!