Member Reviews
I'm coming from a place having never listened to the podcast, and I found this incredibly enjoyable. I didn't feel like i was missing any details, so clearly even newbies can come in and love the story. I thought this was a really unique science fiction story and the cast of characters is super fun to get to know.
The author builds an interesting world inside and outside of the Bubble. The main character, Morgan, goes on a wild adventure dodging imps, zombies, and even book clubs! I could have done without the sexual references throughout, Would recommend for adults only.
I found this comic hilarious!!!!! The Huntr app idea is so funny! This book was different because it made a fun new version of a future world or dystopia.
BUBBLE has a lot of really good ideas and a creative and satirical world that I found to be engaging and interesting. I love the idea of a gig economy making people into bounty hunters to take on dangerous creatures from outside the safety of a dystopic society. I also liked the characters, as they felt like snarky millenials and Gen Z-ers who are over all the malarky of the society they are living in. Also, I really liked the diversity in the cast. That said, I think that BUBBLE goes VERY fast, sometimes the world explanations didn't keep up with it. We know that there is a dystopic 'safe zone' that our characters live in called Fairhaven, and that there is The Brush which is the dangerous outside world. We also know that some of our characters have histories and back stories involving The Brush. And while it gets explained and touched upon, I didn't feel like I got enough of a feel for either Fairhaven OR The Brush for this story to wrap up in such a short amount of time. There wasn't much room to breathe as the plot went on, as everything felt like a plot moving moment, and because of this a few of the characters felt rather two dimensional. I think a bit more world building would have connected better with me. Perhaps the podcast that THE BUBBLE is based upon does more of this, but as someone who went in with no knowledge of that, this felt like there could have been more.
THE BUBBLE is fun and funny, and definitely entertaining. I just feel like there was more potential that didn't get fully addressed. If more stories come out about this world, however, I would read more.
4/5
Quality of writing: 4
Plot development: 4
Pace: 4
Characters: 4
Enjoyability: 4
Ease of reading: 4
This was so, so, so fun! Monster, mutants, an app for calling a hunter to kill monsters and a wish for a normal life...
The art is great, the characters are fun and diverse, the plot - engaging and easy to read.
Review copy provided by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
A commentary on "gig" lifestyle choices and careers that lends itself in a futuristic world where humanity has decided to occupy another planet. This would be if uber or door dash went all science fiction and people could sign up to kill beasts and deliver them for a fee.
While I know nothing about the podcast that Bubble was inspired by, I didn't find it hard to be sucked right into the story without any of that backstory. Sarah Morgan's art was wonderful and her clean lines created interesting monsters and distinct characters. We follow Morgan, who was born outside the "Bubble" in the brush and has a special talent for tracking down and dispatching brush monsters. As Morgan begins to work with the corporation that runs the city of Fairhaven (within the bubble) she begins to question all that she knows about the brush, Fairhaven, and the corporation's intentions behind the governing of the city and its citizens. As a millenial I both related to and laughed at the commentary about our generation and our love of great coffee and life hustling with multiple jobs. I haven't seen anything specific to more installments but I sincerely hope they are, and I might try my first podcast ever just to get more of a taste of the world within Bubble.
A fun, hilarious sci-fi comic about hustle culture! I really loved the concept of the original podcast but don’t personally enjoy audio fiction - this was an ideal way for me to finally enter the world of Bubble. I was surprised by how much I laughed out loud at this comic - it wasn’t just filled with empty ‘witty banter’ that’s supposed to just tell you THESE CHARACTERS ARE FRIENDS, but with actual jokes. So many good characters to enjoy, and just enough inside podcast/Maximum Fun jokes to sweeten the diehards.
I really like the art style of this graphic novel. As someone who listened to the podcast, I felt like the style really matched the tone of the overall story.
While I was reading this book, I kept thinking that the writers were trying just a bit too hard to fit in topical references. It reminded me of the Big Bang Theory, where the writers main way of making "jokes" is to just insert pop culture references. The graphic novel has that same feeling to me. These references were not inserted smoothly and kept taking me out of the story.
Overall it was a fine read. I enjoyed seeing the depiction of the action I had listened to in the podcast.
I loved everything about this graphic novel (adapted from a humor podcast). The art is bright and dynamic, the humor is silly and cynical and satirical, the writing is Buffy meets Sorkin meets Portlandia, the gig economy is soul sucking, the characters are more than just their archetypes, and the big corporate commodifying overlords are real. A great scifi satire that pushes all he right buttons for me.
That was wild. I don’t know if this is a 5 star for regular comic book readers, but for me, it was awesome. I loved the characters. I loved the details! The playlists! The book club moms turned demons or whatever... the hot dad 😂... the soda can 😆 🤦♀️ the sly references to all the cool 💩. Read it. Decide what you think is cool.
It’s an interesting commentary about life in the gig economy. It’s also just funny as with gorgeous inking to boot.
Loved it. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.
This sure was a fun read. I was familiar with the podcast but hadn't listened to it (despite my husband telling me how much I'd enjoy it) and was worried I wouldn't quite get this adaptation. I was wrong! While I did wish for just a little bit more world building, it makes sense to just be thrown into this dystopian gig economy based world. The action starts quick and doesn't let down. There's lots of great jokes in both the writing and the art -- if you're familiar with other MaxFun hosts who voiced characters on the podcast, there's some cameos to keep an eye out for. I wasn't expecting the back matter interviews; they shed a lot of light onto the writing process and really upped my enjoyment of this book.
This was great. I was not familiar with the podcast so I went in blind and was very surprised. The artwork is beautiful with full-color illustrations. The character designs were unique and diverse. I thought the beginning was a little slow (so I read the first 50 or so pages, then forgot about it for 2 weeks before finishing the rest in one sitting), but it definitely picks up. This book made me laugh out loud several times. I loved the characters, the jokes, how it doesn't take itself seriously at times and calls out troupes. Just read it.
Super silly, loads of fun and very tongue in cheek with phenomenal artwork and diverse characters make this a fun ride. I like that the ending left things open for a sequel because it would be fun to revisit the characters and see where we go from here.
I enjoyed this book a great deal, and would recommend it to folks who enjoyed other funny, energetic, and at times vulgar comics. I'm thinking of Sex Criminals and Chew in particular, but I know there are plenty more that I'm not familiar with. Speaking of, I'm not familiar with the source material here, a podcast, but this story and vibrant artwork definitely made me want more.
I really really really loved this book! First of all the art is fantasic. I love the style and the beautiful colors used throughout to convey the mood and scenery.
Join Morgan (a bush born human), her roommate BFF Annie (who is bubble born and raised), and a few of thier friends and familiars both from the bush and the bubble as they come together to fight the imps that are rampaging their city. So what is the bush and what is the bubble? The bush refers to the dangerous jungle like wildscape located outside of the government safety city called the bubble or Fairhaven. Morgan left the bush to live a normal life within the confines of Fairhaven. Here is where she decides to be raised - with television, a normal non life threatening job, and friends that she can hang out with. She comes from the bush where her father taught her how to hunt and fight and protect herself from the creatures that live and thrive outside of the walls of the safe city. But enough is enough when one day her father tracks down a beast to its nest in the hopes of erradicating its babies to keep the future of their bush community safe.
Now her past is back to haunt her. Her father has shown up with an army of imps (magical beasts?) to destroy everything she holds dear...or so she thought. Not everything is as it seems with her government and cush life within Fairhaven's walls. But thanks to her loyal friends and comrades, she is about to get to the bottom of the truth.
Highly recommend picking up a copy once it goes on sale!!!
This was such a fun read and the comic managed to pull together a really vivid world with fun characters in just a few pages. The story does a great job of poking fun at the plight of millennials in the gig economy and I am excited to read more about this strange little bubble. There's a podcast that this comic is based on and now I'm left with the choice of spoiling the ending via podcast or holding out for more of these fun and colorful illustrations. Little too raunchy to recommend to a teen but great for adult readers.
Bubble is a fast-paced story that utilizes flashbacks to help the reader understand present conditions. A group of your average, every-day millennials navigate this strange world of beasts that infiltrate their bubbled society with a gig-job through an app. It is like if you worked for Uber Eats but instead of delivering food, you are killing strange monsters for people. You also get a rating that can make or break you. The group quickly gets involved in a conspiratorial plot by the run-of-the-mill evil capitalists and hilarity ensues. I learned this was based on a podcast, so I listened to the first episode. It had rich descriptions which easily brought up the corresponding panels to mind. It was as enjoyable as reading it. The graphic novel follows its original source well, which makes sense considering that Jordan Morris is the writer for both formats. This sci-fi graphic novel is a good read for fans of millennial humor.
Hand this one to adult fans of Buffy. It has a good mixture of fun and action. All of the main characters are enjoyable, and I found myself curious about how the story would play out throughout the entire story. Will definitely recommend.
Exciting and action-packed, this adventurous sci-fi comic plunges us into a post-apocalyptic world, where most folks live in civilized "bubble" cities, while others live in the harsh wasteland of the Brush, fighting monsters and living off the land. Morgan grew up in the Brush, but was rescued as a teenager, and now, several years later, lives in the bubble city of Fairhaven, where she works as an on-call imp hunter, bringing the bodies of her monstrous quarry home to her roommate, who concocts knock-off drugs from the creatures' blood. As the monster attacks on the city become more frequent, and one nearly kills their pizza delivery guy one night, bestowing him with powers, a deeper mystery unfolds. Although the pacing threw me off sometimes, this was such a fun, lewd read with excellent world-building and gorgeous illustrations. Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy!