I received a copy of this for a fair and honest review. Mae's sister has been missing for seven years and sudden returns to tell a fanciful tale about how she went to a world that was very Oz-like. Mae did not believe any of this. That is until the creatures of that world starting to appear in this world. The artwork was good and the story flowed well enough for me. I would like to read volume 2 just to see what happens next.

The comic graphics are great.  I can see why he is winning awards for his work.  But, again, I just cannot get into comics, which is why (if you love comics) I'd still say get this one.  The ideas are there and the story is also great.  I just get so distracted by the pictures, that I cannot focus on the story.  Guess this might be because I haven't ever really read picture books since I was an 8 year old.

It follows this young girl whose sister goes missing, then shows up years later, only to bring so many weird things with her return.  Their dad gets kidnapped, they go to a different 'universe' to find him and save him.  Then the adventure begins...

There is still so much room for the story to be developed, and the characters kinda fell flat for me.  There is so much overlap in the sisters' personalities that distinguishing between them gets hard at times.

Also, these characters accept so many things so easily, that introducing new ideas gets 'under-appreciated' by both the characters and the reader.

There's lots of room for improvement.

Some of us amateur reviewers don't get to pick the cherry off the top. Once in a while we get lucky, but often, we're reduced to going after the Read Now offers on Net Galley, and this was one of those. It's always a bit 'potluck' in the Read Now bleachers, but every once in a while a gem comes along and this is what I found here. Although it seemed to borrow a bit (there were elements of CS Lewis (the portal to another world), Doctor Who (the many headed robot and the arachnid girl) and even Star Wars (some of the creatures were rather reminiscent of the appalling Ewoks), but that aside it was a fun and original story with a kick-ass female times two, and I typically enjoy that kind of story.

As the blurb has it, Mae is missing her older sister who disappeared several years ago and all Abbie has is memories. Now Abbie's back, from inner space, she's just standing there with that ferocious look upon her face! She is telling fairy tales, and she is making poor Mae wail, but it turns out that Abbie isn't lying as Mae learns, up close and personal, when some of these creatures come over from the parallel work and start going after Mae.

Inevitably the sisters travel back to the other side where everything Abbie told her sister is confirmed, and Mae in turn confirms that she's just as awesome as her sister when it comes to being a strong, decisive, inventive, and imaginative young woman despite the odds. The artwork was really intriguing to me because it had elements of computer-generation and hand painting, so I am not sure how it was done, but I really liked it. I also like the script which was snappy and kept the story moving, but wasn't overly wise-ass or juvenile, and the female characters were portrayed as real females, not as pneumatic adolescent male fantasies, which was a big plus for me. This is a great fantasy, I enjoyed it very much and I look forward to the next volume.

My rating:5 of 5 stars

"Mae Vol. 1" is a wonderful new graphic novel about two sisters, Mae and Abbie. The story begins on the night that Abbie disappears. Several years later, as Mae and one of her friends is eating dinner, some strange characters show up and then BAM! Abbie is back!

I'll leave the story telling to the author, because I truly enjoyed learning about the sisters and the magical world that they end up exploring.

The artistry here is fabulous. I like the color scheme, because I'm partial to anything purple or blue. The people feel realistic, the settings enticing, and the various types of creatures/people are believably drawn.

I have high standards when it comes to graphic novels. I don't like it when the art interferes with the story telling, or when I feel like I have to guess where to read next or where to look next. I also don't like when graphic novels use weird fonts that I have to decipher. Happily, "Mae" does none of these bad behaviors, which allows a reader to get sucked into the story and the novel.

Frankly, I finished the book without realizing how much time I'd spent.

I received an ARC of this from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I originally chose this graphic novel because I really liked the artwork on the cover. While the artwork certainly disappoint, the story fell a bit flat for me. There was just far too much information and action happening far too fast and I don't think the story/characters actually had any time to really develop. I came away feeling somewhat indifferent about it. However, I do appreciate the Doctor Who references and the fact that Mae's outfit looks a bit like one of the Doctor's (4th?) outfits.
I would likely read the second installment if it were to become available just to see where this storyline goes and like I said, the artwork is great.

This was... interesting. Not sure if I am going to continue with the series, but it was different from what I have read. I thought the concept was pretty cool, it was just not for me and I think perhaps this book would be better if it was an actual written novel and not a graphic novel.

A BIG Thank You to Netgalley and Diamond Book Distributors for providing me a copy of “Mae Vol. 1” by Gene Ha in exchange for my review.

This graphic novel started off well. The two main characters Mae and Abby really complement each other with their distinguished personalities. I liked the bond between the two sisters. In fact, more than Mae, I liked Abby’s character a lot. She seems to be concerned for her sister, is energetic and spunky and awesome fight moves. I also enjoyed Kvido’s character, as he reminded me a lot of Snarf from the Thundercats. It was fun to read how the world and the new characters are revealed to Mae and the readers. The whole concept of the plot had a whimsical Doctor Who feeling to it.

In terms of the plot, the first half of the book was just amazing and I was glued to the pages. It starts off in this mysterious way where you really don’t know what to expect. Even when the new world is introduced to us, it is filled with interesting and dynamic characters. However, the second half of the novel was confusing and really didn’t hold my interest. For one thing, the story breaks into sub plots and moves between the flashbacks and the present. The present story-line tends to move too fast, and I had trouble keeping up with what was happening. There are many new terms and characters thrown out there, and not enough time to digest them. There’s a nice appendix with all the terms mentioned in the back to help the readers, but again, it felt tedious referring to it like a dictionary.

Furthermore, each of the sub stories and flashbacks have a different style of illustration to them. While some might enjoy this, it didn’t really suit me. I loved the style of art that’s shown in the first half, and felt the illustrations in the last two episodes were childish in comparison. It was frustrating seeing a different style of artwork in each chapter. However, I did like the standalone illustrations inserted in the end by different artists, depicting the main characters. The author has also included few prototype sketches and designs that were interesting to view.

Overall, “Mae” is one of those graphic novels that has a great concept but really needs to improve on the pacing. They can easily slow down on the adventure themes and focus more on character development instead. Having said that, it is an interesting series and I am keen on picking up the next volume to see how it turns out.

I am not a huge fan of graphic novels and I have been trying to get into them more lately and when I saw this, I thought it would help me enjoy them more. Unfortunately, I did not care for this story to much. I felt the characters and the plot were pretty basic, and the world wasn’t all that unique. I did however enjoy the style and illustrations in this which really helped me get through this.

This was a promising start to a fantasy graphic novel series. The world in which this novel takes place seemed particularly promising and while I wasn't super interested in the characters, theres' definitely opportunity for growth. I did like the references scattered throughout the story and that the focus of the story was between the two sisters,. If able, I would be intrigued to continue the series though I am by no means desperate to do so.

I did not finish Mae Volume 1 because it was too convoluted. I got about a quarter of the way in, and was too difficult to follow. I'd much rather have read about Abbie's adventures in finding the "gateway" and then her adventures in the other "dimension(s)".

The artwork was also weird. It felt The Sims-like: the backgrounds and objects are two-dimensional but the characters are three-dimensional. Not a fan.

Loved this! Mae's big sister Abbie disappeared nine years ago without a trace. Now in the present day, Mae is trying to live her life and take care of her sick father when a phone call from the police changes everything. Abbie is back and in jail for beating up some of the locals at a bar. Mae doesn't believe her sister found a new world through a mysterious portal-just found a new favorite drink at the bar. When Mae and Abbie's father goes missing, all clues point to the House of Zemetrasi from the other side of the portal. With no other options left, Mae and Abbie set out for the portal to find their missing father. Mae enters a world far different than her own where her sister is a famed warrior and chocolate is worth it's weight in silver.
This is an action packed ride full of humor and heart. Amazing artwork and a compelling story that draws you in until the last page.

Whilst I thought this graphic novel had a lot of potential and I did ultimately enjoy it, it felt like I'd started with a later volume in the series. You are immediately thrust in to a confusing world, with so many unexplained terms and it draws you out of enjoying the series. I understand that this mirrors how Mae herself feels, but sometimes its okay to have a little bit more exposition. The basic plot and characters were easy enough to follow, but I was easily confused and confess I don't remember many of the character or place names past our leads.

It's clear that a lot of love and care went in to this and I can definitely appreciate that. (I really enjoyed the extras, sketches, and commentary included at the back!) However, the art style wasn't really my cup of tea (in fact, I much preferred the style of some of the additional scenes and panels included in the extras). I know this is more a question of personal preference but I didn't like the computer-generated, cartoonish quality of the faces. It felt dated, and again, pulled me out of the narrative a bit. I did really like the detail and colour palette of some of the landscape and non-peopled panels, but the rendering of the characters did really put me off.

I am intrigued to see where the story goes, and think that later volumes could get really interesting. I just don't think the creators approached this story from the most interesting angle and (so far) haven't allowed the reader to fully grasp the world they are building.

Mae's sister seems to enjoy running away. Between second and fifth grade, she'd run off all the time, until one day she never comes back. Seven years later Mae gets a call that her sister is being held at the Sheriff's office. Now Mae feels like she hardly knows her sister, and she seems a bit odd to boot. Mae's sister claims to have been away in another world, like Neverland or Oz! When a creature from this strange dimension appears, things suddenly look more real than fantasy.

The beginning seemed somewhat oddly paced, but the story picks up quickly in the first chapter, showing some potential. Access to this other dimension seemed too easy, but the concept of the locations, creatures, and the make-up of the society are interesting. The only qualms I really have with this are the names and the main plot. The names of the fantasy world are extremely unpronounceable, like the author just typed random letters and was like "that's the name I'll use for this!" The main plot revolves around the two sisters traversing the other world looking for their father. While that aspect in itself is rather dis-interesting, the action sequences are fun and I wonder which enemy characters will make a reappearance or what kinds of alliances will be made. The art is also rather appealing, although the transitions at times seem rough. I really like the ending. It seems that Abbie/Ani knows someone who looks very formidable, and I am curious to see who that character just might be. There is also an extra side story at the end that revolves around Ani's adventures in the other dimension during the time her sister knows her to be missing.

All-in-all pretty interesting graphic novel with quite a bit of potential. The world is interesting and I am hoping there will be more secondary plot that overshadows the main plot to keep the action sequences tight and flowing.

Gene Ha’s upcoming graphic novel, Mae, Vol. 1, showcases Ha’s talent as both a writer and an illustrator. This story introduces Mae, who follows her long-lost sister, Abbie, into a fantasy realm full of monsters, talking animals, mad scientists, and warring factions of nobles. Despite running into mishaps and occassionally bickering like the siblings they are about where they’re going and how to get there, Abbie’s fighting skills and fearless heroics combined with Mae’s technical skills and brain power promise to make them an almost unbeatable team. Though I felt at times as if the story should be titled “Abbie” or even “Abbie & Mae” rather than just “Mae,” it was easy to root for these intrepid sisters as strong female character leads.

The story is woven together with a good dose of action and humor. Mae and Abbie’s adventures transport them to a realm where Abbie has spent the last several years during which time Mae was left to wonder what had happened to her sister while caring for their father and the family business. The world building was both creative and well crafted with a variety of interesting characters, from heroes to villains to comic relief side-kicks. The alternate land to which they travel evokes a feel reminiscent of steampunk and magic, but with a flavor all its own. Ha’s illustrations feature bold black outlines with shadowy dark tones offset by accents of bright reds and yellows.

Eisner award-winning Gene Ha has worked with comic legends such as Alan Moore and is known for his work with Marvel, DC, and other comic imprints. Originally started as a solo project with funds raised through the crowdfunding source Kickstarter, the first individual comic books in the Mae series were published by Dark Horse. This first complete volume graphic novel is published by Lion Forge, with sequels expected under the Lion Forge label. I, for one, will look forward to reading about Mae’s future adventures.

This review was first published on the Damian Daily blog.

The artwork in this isn’t bad but it really isn’t my style. The story is only ok. It reads like bad fan fiction, and wish it had more depth, but the plot jumps and has very little flow. The pacing is too fast to care about the characters.

I enjoyed the fact that in the fantasy world the humans are mostly people of color, but didn’t like that the characters in the story pointed it out-that made it seem less a statement or quality world building than it did trying to be trendy. The characters and plot lacked depth, and the focus seems to be very much on just dropping references to really famous works. This can be done well, but in this case it was lazy and seemed to use referential humor to distract from the one dimensional plot and characters.

They introduce the characters and there is wooden dialogue, then it jumps to random action scenes. Almost like a graphic novel equivalent of Thankskilling and other d-movies, but without the charm.

It’s unfortunate because I really enjoy sister dynamics and female-driven stories. This isn’t that-it’s just a series of action scenes and references with no plot, character building or development, or point of view. If there was more time in the beginning to flesh out the main characters it could have been more enjoyable.

This could have been a pretty decent story but overall I felt like it lacked depth. I love portal fantasy and the idea that this girl's sister has been missing for years and then pops back into town 'talking nonsense' and whisks her away back to another world is a really fun one. But the actual story line seemed to just jump from scene to scene with little explanation and only for the purpose of throwing in as many tired nerdy references as possible. People who like 'reference humor' will probably enjoy this, but I would have a little bit more substance to my stories than just going 'oh, I understood that reference!' every other minute.

I also didn't really like the art style. I'm sure there's a specific name for it that I'm not aware of but I would compare it to 3D animation for movies and I definitely prefer the more 'classic' styles. There were a few backstory issues at the end that looked like that, but by that point I had lost all interest so unfortunately I couldn't really enjoy them. There were some cool things in here - like that the fantasy world they go to has a majority black population and there's some panels about fantasy worlds always being ridiculously white - but unfortunately even these goods parts are delivered with such a drive-by style that I couldn't actually enjoy them.

I love the drawing, it reminds me a bit of Life is Strange, well at the beginning anyways. I absolutely love the nerdy references. Of course who doesn't love nerdy references when you are a nerd though. What kills me is the fact that this is based in Indiana and I want to go buy this and show my cousin and his friend in Indiana because they hate being in Indiana and living there. This is great I really want to read the next one to see what happens next just because of the way it left off I was a little frazzled. It went into a bit of a hey here's the back story here's the this and yada yada. But it didn't get back to the story itself. I am happy that Gene did decide to go with Mae as the focus instead of having her sister as the main character because I very much enjoy Mae. She really focuses with her head and doesn't just go and gets herself stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Mae’s older sister, Abby, disappeared years ago. She returns with a strange tale of a fantasy world, not unlike Oz, where she’s had adventures galore. Mae is skeptical, until this fantasy world and its creatures start seeping into regular old Indiana. After targeting the girls’ father, Mae and Abby embark on their own epic journey to save him.

I have some mixed feelings about this graphic novel. I love the character of Mae, and her references to Doctor Who and Harry Potter. I also appreciated some of the details of the fantasy world, like the scene where Abby and Mae barter for silver.

The illustrations didn’t resonate with me, sadly. I sometimes felt that this was trying to emulate Lumberjanes or Rat Queens, but not quite succeeding. I also found the choice of bold words in the bubbles random. This is a small thing, but it was enough to take me out of the reading experience.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an arc.

This one was another solid 3/5 stars for me. I really liked the concept of the graphic novel. It's just some parts jumped and there was no real explanation. You are sort of thrown into the world. I love stories that have the sister dynamic so I know I will probably pick up volume two as well. I think it will get better as it goes on.

Mae Vol.1 is a fantasy novel in vivid graphic form, Mae's sister Abbie returns after being missing for a longtime with tales of a fantastical place full of monsters and war and where Abbie is Queen Ani. When some of the other world's creatures kidnap their dad, Mae and Abbie cross back over into the other world to save him. Going undercover and picking up a new sidekick, the sisters embrace the adventure while kicking butt. The characters are unique and wildly imaginative with hints of steampunk. The art is beautifully drawn and colorful for a wonderful immersion into Abbie's world for an enjoyable good read. My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy from Netgalley.