This didn't make a lot of sense to me. The artwork can not hold up this book alone, despite being gorgeous!

Haven't not read much of 'The Incal' prior to reading 'Dying Star', I wasn't sure where or if this even fit in, but since reading this and some of 'The Incal', I can definitely see the inspirations.

A great graphic novel, beautiful art, well done. I have always loved the Incal series, and this is a beautiful new addition.

This is one of those books that just didn't work for me. The pacing was weird and some of the plot didn't make much sense to me - we didn't click, and that's okay.

The concept of this graphic novel is pretty intriguing. I did enjoy it at most, it was pretty exciting that you can't help but expect for more.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Humanoids Inc for this arc and introducing me to what appears to be a very full new universe!

5/5 stars!

I requested this not knowing it was part of a larger series,I just loved the cover and thought the description sounded cool. But oh man! I loved this so much! The story, the character depth, the romance, the heartbreak! I just loved this, and I love that there's more in this series! I can't wait to get my hands on them :D

Wow that ending.

The art was vivid and detailed. I really enjoyed this one. I've never read the Incal series but really enjoyed this and am intrigued to read more. It was engaging and scifi fans will appreciate this one. A fantastic mix of gore, adventure, and weirdness.

I've not read the Incal novels so I cannot attest to how well this captures their vibe. Certainly, it does have a very 1980s irreverence to it - that fundamental sense of futility that was so pervasive at the time. The anti-hero is drawn like (and greatly talks like) Prince Valiant - just with a longer wig. What inspired a motion picture here is rather curious.

Story: Commander Kaiman is a pirate - but one whose crew is dead and only exist as holograms. Fighting a mutation that turns him into a reptile, Kaiman needs to get his hands on a rare flower that can stave off the transformation. Along the way of procuring the rose, he will meet a nun from a nihilistic order, gain access to a mysterious violin, and ensure that the galaxy is filled with blood and guts.

So what we have here is a main character who is simple, single minded, and lacking in pathos. He comes across (through time travel) a nun who is thoughtful, empathetic, and fearless. When she returns to her own time in the future, he is bereft and will try to find a way to keep a promise to her that he would protect her. Cue lots of gore.

There are a couple of sub plots - the nun's shelter is about to be destroyed by raiders, her abbot doesn't really care since everyone dies anyway, and the nun wants to protect the children there. Meanwhile, Kaiman has to fix his degenerating hand with a flower potion in order to play the violin again to see the nun; problem is, the flower is very hard to get. He'll have to confront his past, including the royal father who 'threw the baby away' when the mutation was revealed.

The artwork is fine - characters are easy to tell apart and the action is decipherable. There is a LOT of gratuitous violence as the main character blithely goes about in his single minded actions, often with consequences no one could have foreseen (not that he actually cares). The ambivalence is well represented in the artwork.

In all, it was fine. I didn't love the story or feel that there was anything here worth going back and reading again. The book felt like an odd mixture of attempted humor, nihilism, comedy, satire, action, and horror. It was difficult to pinpoint a theme other than I was greatly reminded of The Watchmen, just less dreary. This ended on a complete story arc. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

Pirate commander Kaimann leads a crew of holographic ghosts in a slapstick assault on a stellar cruise ship filled with rich aristocrats. Things go horrifically wrong and Kaimann’s bloodthirsty sword drinks way more than planned, the cruise ship is destroyed, and Kaimann becomes such a legendary villain that (very far in the future) some kids and a nun get to read about him from a forgotten book in a monastery at the end of the universe. The story jumps back and forth in time and space between the nun and the pirate, both victims of foretold disasters, both slowly becoming star-crossed lovers connected by… music.

If this sounds crazy, that’s because “Dying Star” is one of the three new Incal Universe stories, and the Incal universe itself is, by definition, deliciously crazy. The story is very simple and unnecessarily bloody, but there are funny moments, the dialogues are snappy and the ending is slightly surprising. The art is good - the coloring is maybe a little flat, and the 3D effects are a little ancient-looking :) but, hey, the AI isn’t yet at the level where it can clone Moebius :) so we should be happy with the human artists we have :)

Overall, a nice, quick read that tries to hook some new readers into the Incal universe, while moderately entertaining veterans like me.

Disclaimer: I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. This didn't influence my opinion in any way.

Thank you Humanoids Inc and NetGalley for the advanced electronic review copy of this book. This book is full of gore, violence, vengeance, and destruction with some slight elements of romance. The artwork was vivid and detailed. I don’t usually read sci-fi, so it was an interesting experience.

First of all I want to thank netgalley for providing me with this issue.

the incal dying star tells us about a space traveler (space pirate) who is looking for a cure for his illness, he doesn't care who he has to kill in order to get it, since he has already lost everything.
Accompanied by his ghost crew, he travels around space, until one day a young woman from another time appears on his ship. However, they could not be together for long, so now he is looking for her and the cure.

the story is captivating, you expect him to be the classic hero, who ends up rescuing the damsel, but no... the protagonist is not a hero, he is cruel, capable of killing to get what he wants. And the female protagonist is capable of rescuing herself, if they expect a happy ending, they won't get it here, it has a bittersweet ending, but equally enjoyable.

Recommended to be read in an afternoon.

I give it 5 out of 5 stars because it was an unexpected ending.

First time reading an Incal story and it did not disappoint, at all. Loved the artwork, love the story. I need to check out the rest of their works because it was a stunning piece of artwork with a good story line.

Thank you Netgalley and the authors and artists for this book.

𝗠𝘆 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Tending the Vow
𝗙𝗮𝘃 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿: Aurora
𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Easy
𝗧𝘆𝗽𝗲: Graphic Novel
𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: Space Odyssey & Love
4.9/𝟱

🌱Aurora is a priestess of entropy, convinced that there is no meaning to rebellion or action, & that all proves useless in the end - except for reading a few books here & there to the children. When the story of a desperately lonely mutant Commander Kaimann, somehow rips her from her time & place into a vow & unexpected love, the two transform to tackle & overcome the obstacles that dare place themselves in their paths.

🦖
I love unexpected tales & endings, a little whimsy, violence & bizarre love tale also never did much harm in a GN. This was a great read and I am curious about the path Aurora will take. 👏 Very well told, paced and illustrated.

♡🌱 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗲 ;)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

I'm honestly wavering between 3.5 stars or 4 stars for this one. I'll be fully honest, I mostly wanted to read this because the blurb for it said it's going to become a movie from Taika Waititi. That means this graphic novel HAS to be something interesting, right? A tentative yes. I have never read anything else in the "The Incal" series, so I was fairly confused by everything. It drops you right in, and it feels a bit like you started the second movie in a trilogy without ever having watched the first one. The story was pretty interesting and engaging, though there were elements of it that confused me slightly. Such as how the past and the future became connected for that one moment, and why Kaimann is so obsessive over Aurora. Even though I was confused about those plot points for the entire read, this still was an enjoyable story. The characters are interesting, though I found Aurora to be far more compelling of a character than Kaimann. I also liked the ending more than I thought I would. This novel would make an excellent movie, so I'm glad it will become one!

I’ve never read the Incal series before but after reading this, I’m definitely interested in reading more! The art and story were completely captivating. I loved the idea of a musical instrument bringing two linked souls together across space and time. It was romantic but not overtly so. There was plenty of adventure, gore, and chaos that kept the story fast paced and engaging. Sci-fi fans will definitely appreciate this graphic novel. Thank you NetGalley and Humanoids, Inc for the arc.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Humanoids Inc. for an advance copy of this graphic novel that continues the story of the Incal series with new adventures.

Science fiction can sometimes be a little ham-fisted when it comes to romance. There always seem to be princess to be rescued, who seem only to exist to be endangered, and from this love blossoms. One of the most romantic things I've seen in science fiction was on Doctor Who, when the Doctor used the power of a collapsing star to talk to a companion trapped in another universe. The love was there, but unsaid. This graphic novel ups that with a musical instrument that can reach across time and space uniting two souls for only moments, but causing both to do anything they can do to unite. A story just as romantic, just a whole lot bloodier. The Incal: Dying Star by Dan Watters and illustrated by Jon Davis-Hunt is set in the same universe as The Incal series written in the early 80's by famed director Alejandro Jodorowsky, and illustrated by Jean Giraud, better known as Mœbius.

Commander Kaiman is alone in space, kept company only by the hologram ghosts of his crew, and the knowledge that everything he strived for is gone, and the love he had has also died. In addition, his body has a mutagen that is slowly turning his body into a reptile. A chance encounter nets Kaiman a flower that might cure is disease, and a rare musical instrument, and unknown to him a blood feud. At first unable to play due to his reptile arm, once his mutagen is in remission, Kaiman plays the instrument and a woman appears before him. Aurora, a nun, was reading a story in the future about Kaiman, when his playing brought them together. Aurora shares that her life will soon end, just like the stars are fading in her time. Aurora disappears, and Kaiman suddenly has a a new mission and reason for being. Saving Aurora, no matter how many empires must fall.

I have only read the original two volumes of The Incal, and thought them crazy, odd, weird, and strange, sort of like a Jodorowsky film. Watters captures that feeling, the sheer craziness of the plot, the different characters and races, and the violence. But also the love. The feeling of redemption, and the pain when plans, and others get in the way. I had no problems following this story, and now want to go back and read it all, including the many new works that are being based on this. This is just a really good science fiction story, with a strong Métal hurlant feel. Watters reflects this with his writing, the feeling of the story, and the anarchy that are the panels on the page. The art too is very good with Davis- Hunt capturing the feeling of the 80's European comic. The characters really pop, the backgrounds are detailed, and all have that weird feeling, the something is just not right future feel that Mœbius had. A really enjoyable science fiction story.

Recommended for fans of the classic series, and for fans of European comics. This is a real good story that does one does not have to be familiar with the source material. I look forward to more in this series.

This is an interesting time travel twist story. I never read this series before and what I read from the preface is that this is an ongoing story, with a universe but this specific title is seen as a one off tale. The art is nicely colored, but the characters aren’t as really fleshed out as I would expect. The male lead for this tale is Kaimann and the fact that he is introduced with somewhat of a backstory of being a reject from a planet of hierarchy, that wasn't really explained well, leads more to question. The female lead is a nun from a getting attacked planet, and other than a brief passing, it set the story in motion. This is a very quick read. I wished this story was more fleshed out as the story concluded quite fast and the world building was all thrown at the reader.

"The Incal: Dying Star" is a fast paced science fiction adventure set in the Inkal universe. The book has all the weirdness and wackiness that readers of the series have come to expect but is more focused than many of the previous books. Focusing on Commander Kaimann and his ship of ghost pirates, this book tells a tightly constructed tale of love and honor that that has a surprising and satisfying twist at the end.

As a final note, this story is second to last in the sequence of books, but reveals nothing about the nature of the Inkal.. As such it could be could be read as a first book if the potential reader is willing to miss some of the back story of the Commander Kaimann. character.

Thanks to NetGalley and Humanoids, Inc. for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I was pleasantly surprised by engaging and excellent the art for this comic was ! I am a huge comic book fan and this was such a unique and thrilling experience to read .

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher/author for allowing me to read the eArc .

This was quite a strange book, not bad strange good strange, but it was quite weird and out there and if you’re not open to these types of stories I would not recommend. I did enjoy the story and I will be reading more from these authors in the future because I thought the characters were fun and great everyone seemed consistent, and I love the art style.