Not my favorite graphic novel/comic. Not my favorite writing and not my favorite art. This was just not for me.

-- this review is unfortunately several years past release date (due to the many issues of 2020). Thanks a million to the publisher and Netgalley for an early copy of the book.

‘The Lost City of Heracleon’ with story by Bruce Livingstone, and Art by Mike Willcox is a graphic novel of adventure. It feels like it’s from another age.

Young boys, Lu and Shiro, get a strange call, and find themselves diving underwater to get on board a submarine. What they don’t know is that the submarine can travel through dimensions. Along the way, they find themselves transformed and they also find their missing father, the battle strange monsters and many other crazy situations

This book feels like an adventure story from the 30s but that’s a compliment. It feels like the kind of story that can’t be made anymore and yet here it is. I really liked the art style. It has a collage sort of style.

This is the strangest combination of interesting art (I'm not even sure what to compare it to - 1940s horror and adventure comics? ), psychedelic plot (like the Illuminati trilogy crossed with the hardy boys crossed with Edith Hamilton's mythology?), and absolutely TERRIBLE writing. The dialog, them, exposition, and motivations (and some of the silly plot points) are just awful. But worth checking out (from the library) for the art alone. 4 stars for the art and trippiness, 1 star for the writing.

This graphic novel was one wild ride. I've seen some reviews where readers thought this tale was just way too weird, but let me tell you when a graphic novel takes place across space and time weird is to be expected. I followed the story line fine, even in the exceptionally strange moments, and was ecstatic to find that the artwork is reminiscent of the pulp comics of the 50's and 60's. If you're looking for a fast paced, fever dream story line that keeps you turning the pages, The Lost City of Heracleon is for you!

Somewhat intrigued by the time-traveling adventure concept, but the art style made identifying some characters and scenes difficult, and I was mixed on the text bubbles/blocks.

I enjoyed it but I wasn't wowed by it. Great illustrations, loved the art work very much. I do want to read more in the future

Thank you to BOOM! Studios and NetGalley for the ARC!

I have mixed feelings about this one! The art is so interesting. It’s reminiscent of mid-20th-century science fiction art. The retro feel creates such an interesting timelessness to the narrative, and some of the panels are stunning.

The story itself feels a lot like a fever dream. I liked the first act, but starting in part 3 or so, it loses the tightness of the narrative. Some of the themes and questions posed in the story were interesting to read about, but something about the execution didn’t do it for me.

I loved the conceptual questions about determinism/pragmatism/absurdism and the idea of choice, but unfortunately, the narrative was not as tight or well put together as I would have liked it to be.

I don't even know what the heck this was supposed to be except the retro-looking fever dream of an 11 year old boy. It's part Jules Verne, part Clash of the Titans with some really strange choices that make the reader jump right out of the story, like when the pendant the main characters are wearing suddenly becomes sentient for absolutely no reason whatsoever and everyone just accepts it like it's been that way the whole time. Also, substituting the word "curse" for any actual curse words was cute at first but gets obnoxious after being grossly overused.

I really like the art style used here, reminiscent of 1950s sci-fi magazine art. The story is self-consciously weird, but never really goes over the top, which I kind of hoped it would. As it is now, it's a bit like watered down Matt Kindt, or Fantagraphics Lite.

Come for the art, don't stay for the writing.

This was really weird. Both the story and art reminded me of a story you'd find in a 1950's science fiction magazine anthology. I really liked the premise of a journey through time and space; and the injustice of gods and fight against them.The story is fast paced, too much so for me. The moment you start getting accustomed to something, we are on to the next thing. It just feels like a slipshod mashup of a bunch of cultures and religions, none of which are done right. It's almost like they can't decide the tone of the story.

This was really weird. Both the story and art reminded me of a story you'd find in a 1950's science fiction magazine anthology. The art has this old movie poster look to it. The story was so out there. It reminded me of those pulp science fiction stories where not a lot makes sense and you just have to go with it, almost like it's a dream.

I was provided the ARC by NetGalley in exchange for an honest opinion.

I really liked the premise of a journey through time and space; and the injustice of gods and fight against them. But this read was disappointing. I was really taken by the old, retro poster style art but for a graphic novel, this book has more tell than show. It's like they couldn't decide whether they wanted to show something or write it down and they decided to do both, poorly.

The story is fast paced, too much so for me. The moment you start getting accustomed to something, we are on to the next thing. It just feels like a slipshod mashup of a bunch of cultures and religions, none of which are done right. It's almost like they can't decide the tone of the story.

To top it all off, there are no women characters. Seriously, the mysterious, scantily-dressed 'Empath' who literally just bestows superpowers to a male character by kissing him and disappears does not count. Neither does a general with no dialogue who is from the race of 'dog-men' (yeah, that's what they are called).

I think this had the potential to be really engaging (especially with a book of that length), but it was a major disappointment. I did like the commentary about the state of humanity tho, so 2 stars.

It's not just the art that makes The Lost City of Heracleon a cool read -- although the art is unique and wonderful. And it's not just the story that leads me to recommend Bruce Livingstone's new graphic novel -- although the story is indeed intriguing.

I think it's the way Livingstone breaks new ground, embraces the semiotic possibilities of the graphic novel, and shows us something new and ultimately original that makes me recommend this book. There's much here to explore and enjoy.

Thanks to the publisher for sharing this review copy -- it was a pleasure to read.