I enjoyed this a lot, mostly because Tilly is awesome, and sweet. I really appreciated watching her grow as I read this because we honestly could see her growth from beginning to end. I also enjoyed that the new and interesting super powers that some of the other characters had it didn't feel like the same old same old,

What I didn't feel like I enjoyed was how the idea of "fake news" ended up being tangled into the story. Maybe because it is already something touted as way to rebuke someone by the right. Seeing it even fictionalized makes me grit my teeth because it feels like there isn't an escape from it.

An interesting and quick read. Got some similar vibes to THE BOYS, albeit not written/told through Garth Ennis's gratuitous lens. The artwork is pretty good, with occasional manga-like moments for emphasis/humour. I enjoyed it, but I wonder if it could have benefited from a bit more - maybe a couple more issues, in which we could have got to know the characters a bit more, become more attached to their fates/agendas.

But, overall, a quick and enjoyable superhero read.

This is a beautifully done graphic novel - the illustration is honestly stunning and it has a good and engaging storyline. It was set up in a way when “meeting the hero’s” which made it easy to understand the world and what was coming. Overall I really enjoyed it and something I’d love to have on my shelf.

I felt that this book was too rushed to fully reach its potential. I found the art style to be unique and interesting, but the pacing went by too quickly through several large plot twists and events. With the proper pacing, this could've easily been divided into two books. I found it difficult to connect with the characters, especially Tilly, the protagonist, as I couldn't even tell what her superpower was supposed to be. This comic relied on a trope I love, with the subversion of who the hero and villain are, but the rushed storytelling failed to explore all of the potential to make it a unique story.

The premise is really cool and I love stories about morally grey heroes, but unfortunately this lacked a lot in depth and complexity. It was entertaining, but everything was very rushed. So much so that I got the impression of reading more of a summary than the actual story. It has severe pacing issues and the storyline and characters need to be worked out a lot more. So far they are very generic and you get to know basically nothing about them aside from their names. It's impossible to build up a connection and have any attachment to them this way.

I liked the artstyle and design of the main character a lot. The cover intrigued me a lot, but I was expecting a darker, more dramatic and emotional story from it. Sometimes the silly facial expressions were at odds with the severity of the situations, which further made it hard to take anything serious.

It has potential, that needs to be fleshed out more. It's like a rough, very straightforward draft of a story that has been often done before and better at that. It's too predictable and needs an original element that gets the reader emotionally invested. I would have wished for more focus on the characters and getting to know their backstories and abilities.

I could see this being a great story for some readers, but it ultimately wasn't for me.

I was drawn to the blurb, the vibrant art style, and Tilly's fabulous character-design. I was expecting an action-packed X-men type plot... Unfortunately, I wasn't left truly satisfied. The villains and heroes were incredibly generic, from costumes to powers to Super-names. Perhaps that could have been the <i>point</i>, as suggested by the references and parallels to modern world politics... but the message was muddled. I wish that we got more backstory for some of the "heroes", and why they were the way that they were. The pacing was also a little weird. All-together felt a little underdeveloped and jagged. Could use some smoothing out.

"Villainous" is an action-packed, intriguing, fun-to-read comic. I could barely put it down after starting and when I reached the end, I kept going back to stare at some of my favorite panels and to re-read some of my favorite moments.

The deconstruction of what makes a hero and what makes a villain is a solid plot without becoming too bogged down with hitting readers over the head with the message. While the story is plot-driven more than character-driven, which leads to the reading feeling like a well-oiled machine, the story was never boring. If I had to give it one flaw, it's that the story's trajectory is quite obvious from the beginning and there were few other surprises to be found in the narrative.

Speaking of the characters (and their designs), they have to be one of the best parts of this comic. Tilly, the main character, is a lizard-girl who made me smile every time she moved lizard-like and slipped deeper into her villainous/heroic lifestyle. Pillar, a hero, is a great juxtaposition to her as she appears human and dressed in white. Looking at them, with Tilly dressed in dark colors, it's easy to see how there could be a stereotyped view of which is the villain and which is the hero. The other villains and heroes are also eye-candy to look at with a mix of modern and more classic superhero designs, which makes them all look like their starring in different superhero flicks. They all look cool and I could see cosplays from this series being a real, exciting possibility at post-COVID conventions.

I highly encourage you add this to your TBR list if you like superheroes, villains, and anti-heroes. You won't be disappointed with this excellent comic book.

This was a quick, fun read, it kept me entertained. The story and the premise was good however it has the potential to be so much more, especially the characters and their relationships who I thought were really interesting but I wish they were more complex. I feel like this would be a five star read if the plot was properly developed. I like the art style, it fits the story well despite the action scenes being confusing at times.

What initially drew me to me to Villainous was the cover art. I think it did a great job of catching the reader's attention, and gives some hints about the plot. In general, I liked the art style throughout the story - the bright colours were effective, and the art was clear and easy to follow (especially during action scenes).

However, while the art was very effective, I felt that the pacing of the plot was a little rushed. I think a little bit more time could have been spent on developing Tilly in Part 1 of the graphic novel, as when the plot twist occurs around the end of the first part, the reader doesn't really have a good sense of who Tilly is as a person, and what drove her to join the Coalition (and what her parents have given up to get her there). I think that the plot beats (as well as the plot twist) would hit harder if the pacing was a little slower and Tilly could have been explored more at the start. Also, throughout the story, I found it hard to connect with the characters. I think this was a combination of quick pacing, and not getting enough time to explore their backstories,

Overall, this was an interesting take on the superhero genre, and I would recommend it for people who are looking for something different to traditional Marvel and DC comics.

This book was received as an ARC from Diamond Book Distributors - Mad Cave Studios in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I loved this book from beginning to end. Everything from the characters, plot, theme, climax and color scheme was brilliantly done. It brought the story to life and it just made it that much easier to follow along and be invested from beginning to end. I know what it is like to "meet your heroes" and have them not be who you thought they were and then on top of all of that, you were part of a scheme that seals your fate and everyone else's and the courage and bravery Tilly showed through the whole book. I know this book will have a cult following at our library and we can't wait to share it with them.

We will consider adding this title to our Graphic Novel collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

I love stories where the characters are more nuanced than the typical "good vs. evil" dynamic. However, the cast of characters was large and the story on the shorter side, making it difficult to get to know any of the characters well. I think this would benefit from slowing down the pace of the story and developing the characters mroe before just throwing them into action. Beautiful art.

The second I saw the cover for Villainous I knew I wanted to read it. But, I was expecting more.

I really love all the concept around the story. We ask to ourselves, if the good guys are really good or not. But, the characters are really lacking depth.

This is a world with superheroes, with humanoid races, all living, work together. I really like this, remainds me of the manga Boku no Hero.

i think it’s a very good story, but i think you guys like more if you don't go with high expectations :)

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of Villainous in exchange for an honest review!

I'm obsessed with morally grey stories so I was really excited to read Villainous, but since it never takes the time to develop any of its characters, what could have been a really great, grey superhero story fell really, really flat. Because of that, nothing that happened here felt at all unique and there was nothing really left for me to connect to or latch onto. I also wasn't a super big fan of the art style so there just wasn't any appeal here for me.

Villainous is pretty typical of the superhero graphic novel genre. It's kind of a PG version of The Boys but also reminds me of "Not Your Sidekick" by C.B. Lee. I really like the art style and the design of the characters. Especially Miss Nemesis and December (i'm a simple girl, i enjoy my badass goth-coded ladies). I can imagine some pretty A+ cosplays of these characters so hopefully this gets big because I want to see cosplays. Overall pretty good, I'd rate 3.5/5

This was such a romp! I loved the new take on heroes and villains, and the questionable morales of both sides. I got X Men and Birds of Prey vibes from the story and would happily read more from this world. The art is bold and colourful, and accessible to a variety of audiences.

Not all “heroes” are good, not all “villains” are bad. This was a fairly quick read. A good portion of this graphic novel was just introducing characters. Some of the bolded words were a little bit confusing... the majority were characters names, others were emphasized words, and the rest seemed at random. The art style was nice and one thing I loved was that not all of it was “pretty” (i.e not everyone looks good sitting down and this illustrator showed that). This was a start in the right direction, hopefully future volumes improve.

A huge thank you to this book’s publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this book early in exchange for an honest review.

After reading the graphic novel Villainous, I had mixed feelings. The story itself had all the tropes of a new superhero team/character coming together, but it felt rushed. I would’ve loved to get a bit more about Matilda’s relationship with her parents, to set the tone of her obligations to succeed. Also, every character from the Coalition or Villains felt one-sided or lacked depth, superficial. I understand this is hard to accomplish in comics or graphic novels, but a page or two on each character might have just provided motivations, personalities and some foundations for their character arcs. Like Showdown seemed to be a womanizer. It might have been a better read to see it in action (more than a frame or two), so we hate him as much as Matilda does early on. Also, some characters’ powers weren’t clear in the little time we spent with them, therefore when big action occurred, it was hard to understand the stakes in between them.

One area I liked about the story was the initial twist of the good guys/bad guys; how our main character Re-Tilly/Matilda was introduced as the sidekick who quickly realized the corruption inside of The Coalition of Heroes. However, this plot twist wasn’t enough to sustain my interest through the rest of the story. The character designs, the layouts, coloring and pencil work was good and reminded me of a style that was popular back in the 90s.

In the end, the missing elements of the story quickly turned me down on “caring” for the characters and felt like I was going through the motions of the events in Villainous.

This was a short graphic novel about heroes and...villains? Or is it.
Matilda is recruited by the Coalition of Heroes to train as a sidekick to their #! hero, Showdown. Her first day isn't all it's cracked up to be when Showdown gives her a long list of chores to do. As she's leaving HQ at night, she overhears something she shouldn't and her life gets turned upside down.
This reminded me a lot of The Boys (on Amazon).
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC to review.

As the title suggests, this graphic novel supposedly focuses on villains. But this book turns out to be another "good guys are actually bad and bad guys are actually good" trope. Which I honestly have no problem with, if the characters actually have, you know, a slightly grey morals. Both the bad and good guys. But no, we didn't get that.

I blame the pacing. It leaves a lot to be desired. And if it was slightly better paced, I feel like the book can give us better characters developments, more layers to the villains' motives and gives more depth to the characters.

The art is fine, though sometimes the characters' expressions didn't quite capture the emotions the conveyed. But that's the only complaint I have regarding the art.

Tilly is one of the newest interns at the Coalition of Heroes where she is mentored by one of the most popular heroes. This is an experience she has been striving for her whole life, so it comes as quite a surprise when the heroes of the Coalition are not what they seem - in fact, they seem more like the villains.

Villainous is an action-packed graphic novel that pits the heroes against the villains. The artwork is decent, but the graphic novel suffers from a played-out story and a lack of background on the characters. Villainous was also shorter than I anticipated and appears to wrap up far too quickly. Overall, Villanous was okay, but there's not enough to separate it from other graphic novels.