I haven't read anything written by Saladin Ahmed so I thought I would pick this up. I was not disappointed. I loved the main character and the supernatural premises intermingled with historical context.

The protagonists struggle to survive both the real and the supernatural world is nicely done. The relationships also was a good twist. I won't go into details and give spoilers. But this one is worth picking up!

Thank you #NetGalley and Boom! Studios for giving me the opportunity to read this.

#Abbott1973

First off I was not aware this is a sequel series. But o don’t know that it made a difference. Still totally enjoyed it. Will definitely be checking out the first series.

A Black queer woman the 1970’s Detroit works for the paper. She is forced to deal with racism, sexism in her life. There are some supernatural elements within this story which was so cool.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher BOOM! Studios for an advanced copy of this noir/ supernatural/ political graphic novel.

Abbott: 1973 by Saladin Ahmed and illustrated by Sami Kivelä is the second to feature crusading journalist and fighter of creatures of the night and beyond, Elena Abbott. After finding in the previous introductory series who was responsible for the death of her husband, and that the evil she thought was gone was still present and scheming, Abott has a new love, a new boss, but same old problems. Election season has come in Detroit, and the black candidate for mayor is facing not only dirty tricks from the left and right, but supernatural tricks from below and beyond.

The characters are all distinctive and have their own voice, which can be hard when trying not only to be historically accurate but culturally. Sadly many of the ways that the characters interplay especially in race and gender haven't changed enough. I've read an interview with Mr. Ahmed that the character is based on his grandmother who was a private detective back in this era, which is a great family story to draw on. The real world in the comic is sometimes more interesting than the supernatural creatures who inhabit it. However the scares are icing on a very filling cake.

The art is crisp, with a cartoony realistic sense. The colors pop and the cars are all beautiful to admire. This is important being a Detorit-based series. The art and story complement each other well, and move everything along, with nothing boggy down the story or extra plotting that gets in the way. There is a strong sense that Detroit was a city on the move, the move is trending down, and magical creatures are bad, but the worse crimes are how the political system fails everyone, except the powerful.

This is the second Abbott series that I have read, but have been reading Mr. Ahmed since his Black Bolt series at Marvel introduced me to him. As a writer of novels he brings a strong plot and and understanding of story and how to keep the book going and interesting. Mr. Ahmed understands that the star of the comic is the city of Detroit itself. The politics, the lives of the people effected and affected by decisions sometimes important, mostly greedy, even from those of a supernatural bent, give the Abbott series its heart. A heart that many would like to eat, but its heart nonetheless. A great series for people who are new to comics, or are looking for diversity and morality in their H.

Ok, so I am a dummy and didn't realize this was actually a sequel series. It's ok though because it did a good job of explaining things without being too obvious about it. Great art and a cool story about a strong black woman in the 70's fighting the forces of darkness.

WILD! This graphic novel's vibrant and detailed to the nines. The artist brought their A game and it's gorgeous. The story itself has some holes but I'm 10000% willing to wait for some more answers. I liked that the protagonist is an established hero already and that we didn't have to go through yet ANOTHER origin story.

Thank you to NetGalley for a preview ebook copy in exchange for an honest review.

More Abbott all the time, please and thank you! Ahmed is back with more adventures from the badass reporter, Elena Abbott. After defeating the forces that killed her husband, Abbott is focused on the upcoming election, perhaps the city’s most important election in history. Someone is using dark magic to sabotage the campaign of the black candidate, who would be Detroit’s first black mayor. Risking her career and her life, Abbott battles the sinister forces that would destroy Detroit.

I love this series and can’t wait for more. Abbott is a formidable main character. A black woman reporter in the 70s is a recipe for a tough life, but not only does she deal with all the human issues of these intersections, she’s battling supernatural forces to save her city.

The art and writing are amazing, as usual. BOOM! really knows how to get me. I don’t think I’ve ever read a comic from them I didn’t like. Solid representation with a quick moving story, definitely check out this series if you need more comics in your life.

This was a very enjoyable graphic novel, set in the ’70s with a black lesbian reporter who has encounters with the paranormal kind. I loved the time period, the main character, and even some of the side characters. The story overall kind of fell flat for me and was a bit predictable and cliched.

All around, this was ok for me- quite enjoyable, as I said love the characters, just very unsure of the plot of the story.
3 stars.

***ARC provided by BOOM! Studios via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review

Elena Abbott is one of the best and toughest reporters in Detroit. While trying to unmask gangs and their dirty affairs, she plays an important role as the Lightbringer to vanquish the evil threating the election campaign of the first black mayor.

When her firm gets a new books, he begins to question her role in the firm. Asking why she isn't lady like and offering unsolicited advice on how Elena Abbott should behave as a woman.

The comic style is not short of beautiful and clear you can read the dialogue boxes easily.

The main characters are all blacks and people of colour. The main lead character, Elena Abbott is a black queer woman. The representation of the challenges black queer women face was covered in this comic.

If you want to experience an urban fantasy and supernatural comic with magic and guns and detective work, Abbott us packed from the first page to the last page.

This book was very entertaining and the art style is very beautiful. I agree with the other reviewers that you should read the original run of Abbott before reading this one because I did feel like I didn't get the full experience. However, I still really enjoyed the story and the throwback style. If you like blaxploitation movies, you would really like this graphic novel. And the relationship between Elena and Amelia was a great thread throughout the story. Overall, the book was paced really well and made me want to keep reading throughout.

An interesting story with some cool characters, but I was overwhelmed by the text on many pages and style of art that looked busy. The world of the story was compelling and I definitely am interested in the next chapter just to find out what had happened, but I feel like the dialogue and art can support the story in a much better way. 3.5/5

Abbott: 1973 is a superb collection of several issues of the comic. Detroit reporter and general badass Elena Abbott is covering the mayor's election when she finds herself faced with a gross and sexist boss, the return of the umbra--a malevolent power used by white supremacists to try to bring down the city's first viable Black mayoral candidate--and the local mob. As always, the storytelling is tight and the characters are deep and resonant. My only quibble is the lettering style, in which Us often look like and L and an I, causing some difficulty reading quickly.. Words like CUT don't do well in this lettering style.

I'm super glad that I got to read this book, because it was excellent! While it certainly felt like the second book in a series, not the first, the context made it easy to fill in the blanks of what happened before this book started, and it was interesting to start the story with Elena already having used her powers to banish one Umbra member.

I loved the combination of the setting of the time period with the supernatural elements. The setting felt vibrant, and Elena was an excellent character - she's tough and determined, and it was easy to root for her as she struggled with both her battle with the Umbra and the difficulties of being a queer black woman in 1973 Detroit.

Exciting and touching, I really enjoyed this book, and I really want to read the next installments!

This graphic novel had so much potential but it just wasn’t for me. We follow a queer black reporter in 1970’s Detroit who has some sort of magical/mystical powers. I was so interested in this story as someone who lives in the Detroit area, loves graphic novels, & queer POC books. It unfortunately fell at for me. To start, we are just thrown into the story with no real idea what’s going on or what the magical/paranormal really is and it left me so confused. I will say that I loved the artwork, it was beautiful and colorful, but other than that there wasn’t much else I enjoyed. I feel that many people will love this story, it unfortunately just was not for me.

Official title: Abbott 1973
My title: Abbott of Light
Author: Saladin Ahmed, Sami Kivela, Mattia Lacono
Publisher: @boom_studios
Fav character: Abbott
Readability: Smooth
Type: Graphic Novel
5/5
PUB DAY: Oct 12th, 2021

Abbott the investigative reporter, living in 1973 Detroit, USA, is out here killing nodes, fighting sexists and being awesome. LOVED IT!

Elena Abbott, reporter and awesome super-powered human, has had this whole life-changing experience involving a murdered husband and an evilness called ‘the umbra’, before we meet her in this volume. She has recovered from her loss and is now dating her gorgeous childhood friend, Amelia. However, things are changing in Detroit and their lives will be threatened.

The city is about to elect its first ‘black’ mayor, if the telephone polls are to be believed, and naturally, the down and trodden people are excited about the prospect. That is, until ‘caucasian’ residents begin receiving incendiary flyers filled with racist and vile propaganda against the darker residents. Naturally, this begins to change the tide of the election but Abbott senses there is more to the story and decides to investigate.

She is met by resistance by the new Editor in Chief of the Detroit Chronicle, and ex-marine sexist who believes female reports shouldn’t stress themselves beyond their frail capabilities and should always be eye candy for him to consume. Abbott doesn’t allow herself to be caught up in office drama, politics and secrets.

‘The umbra’ is back, spreading its evil energy through the hatred simmering in Detroit, and it must be stopped. Abbot must find those responsible for the racist flyers and t.v. commercials, find the umbra before it claims the lives of those she loves, save Amelia from the gangsters she once worked for, learn how to use her powers and defeat the evil intent on corrupting Detroit. You know, basic things. 😏

I recommend the read.

I really loved this graphic novel and cannot wait for there to be more to follow it. I am obsessed with Elena Abbott as a character, she is incredible! The idea of the story that runs through this series is really well thought out and I can't wait to see what happens. The graphics are incredibly well-drawn and I think the wider themes of racism, sexism, and homophobia (to name a few) that run through the series are really important. I can't get enough of this.

More! I need more!

Elena Abbott is a young, tough, take no prisoners, black reporter.

It’s 1973 and Chicago is on the cusp of electing its first black mayor. In a city where your skin color can get you killed, this is a momentous time. But of course, there are people who would do anything to stop this from happening. Yes, most of them are white, but some are inhuman.

We have everything you could want here; social unrest, politics, women's rights, wizards, demons, and oh yeah...Elena Abbott is also a kick-ass Lesbian.
There is nothing this story shies away from. The fact that Abbott is a Lesbian is just who she is. It is not sensationalized or used at titillation.

This needs to be a movie. I mean really needs to be a movie! If I hit the lottery any time soon, I’m calling Saladin Ahmed. This is the next big hero for the world.

The hip, bad-ass, lesbian, African-American that I know I’ve been looking for. If she’s single yet, have her call me!

Highly recommended!!!

Thanks to @NetGalley, Boom! Studios, and Saladin Abbott for the chance to read this in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

3.5 rounded down.

As much as I enjoyed the first [book:Abbott|38748572], this one left something to be desired. While the art was great, the story did feel a bit rushed. The pacing was a little too quick, the action a little too simple, challenges too easy to overcome… and it all came to an unsatisfying conclusion. All the likable characters from the first volume are back, with some new introductions to the cast- but there was very little character development as it was sacrificed for action.

Surprisingly, I was more interested in Abbot’s life as a reporter rather than as a hero in this volume. I think the reason behind her powers should have been revealed at this point and maybe we also need a fresh villain?

I would be open to checking out the next volume, but I do hope it answers more questions than it presents. For anyone thinking of picking this up, make sure you read the previous volume first!

*3.5 stars

*Thank you to NetGalley and BOOM! Studios for the ARC. All my opinions are my own*

I really liked the art style in this. It was very dark, spooky and atmospheric for October. I loved the 70’s vibe and clothing (not the blatant racism and sexism our character has to go through). I have to say I was confused with the fantasy elements in the story. I had to double check that this was the first volume (it is) so I didn’t miss anything. I tend to be confused about the magic and the world in the first volume because there’s not much dialogue to flesh out the world (duh) but as I read the series I know I’ll understand more. Will definitely be continuing the series.

Thank you to Saladin Ahmed, Netgalley, and BOOM! Studios for giving me a chance to read this lovely comic!

Our story is set in 1970s Detroit and follows our main character Elena Abbot, a black lesbian who works for a black newspaper. As she is investigating the white supremacy pamphlets being left outside of white homes in light of the potential first black mayor, she is also coming to terms with her powers as the Lightbringer and her role in stopping the malevolent supernatural force the Umbra. As both sides of her life begin to mix, she realizes that it may be up to her to stop whatever evil lies below the surface.

I absolutely loved this! I can safely say there is nothing that I would change about it in the slightest. I love our queer poc rep in both Elena and her girlfriend, and especially as lead characters! I loved that social issues such as sexism and racism are not shied away from and are instead explored and put into context. It made the story feel so much more alive as opposed to existing in a vacuum! I absolutely love the art style, everything is so detailed in the classic comic style but so vibrant and colorful to fit more modern audiences. And on top of all that, the plot is so interesting. Unlike anything I've ver read.

If you're looking for a different type of read, definitely pick this up. It will not disappoint.

I love the setup for Abbott. She's a black, lesbian reporter for a Black newspaper in 1970's Detroit. She also stumbles into the fact that she's the Lightbringer, with supernatural powers she doesn't really understand. She tries her best to protect Detroit from the Umbra, a malevolent force being used by a shadowy contingent of magicians.

In this volume, a new boss has bought the newspaper she works at. While he seems to have ethics, he's also very sexist and demanding. The mayoral election is approaching and for the first time, there's a real chance Detroit will elect its first Black mayor. She starts investigating some racist propaganda pamphlets that are being left in the doors of White people. Meanwhile, the members of the Umbra keep coming after Elena.

I really like how Ahmed uses Detroit as a character in the story. I lived in the area for some time and he uses real world places like the Detroit Institute of the Arts as the backdrop for the story. Coleman Young really was elected mayor in 1973 and would remain the mayor for the next 20 years. Detroit has a long history of racial divides and strife and I like that Ahmed isn't glossing over any of it.