Picked this by mistake. The over all Premise sounded good, but did not realize it had the same sex romance angle, and seems to make all the females evil or dead. So i will respectfully NOT review this story. thank you for the preview.

3.5/5 rounded down

Thank you to NetGalley and Oni Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review! I remember seeing promo for this on TikTok a long time ago and being very excited about the premise. I ended up never reading this graphic novel on WebToon, however, so this was my first encounter with the actual work.

First of all: I adore Samson. There is nothing I love more than a badass woman who brings a gun to a knife fight. I also really liked the intro: it has a really funny tonal about-face that I think did a great job characterizing the contrasting serious and lighthearted aspects of the story. Similarly, I adore the character designs and the punk priest aesthetic that the main characters have.

Art-wise, I feel like the main nitpick I have is that scenes with a lot of movement (which is several, since there's a lot of fighting in this graphic novel) can sometimes lack fluidity. That said, Covenent has beautiful and atmospheric art with really awesome use of imagery and framing in the church scenes in the intro and it's the more casual places where it falls through a little. Similarly, the more casual moments of dialogue sometimes feel a little stilted or unnatural, but the more serious and officious moments come across really well. I also think that the moment that this volume ended was a perfect combination of satisfying reveal of Ezra's real job to Sunny, while leaving a cliffhanger for the next chapter. I was so into the story by that point that it took me by surprise when I suddenly ran out of pages, haha.

I did catch a couple of minor errors:
— p30 the bottom left panel with Ezra's back shown is missing both his tattoo and the bandage he has on in the previous and subsequent panels
— p213 has lorem ipsum in the newspaper text

Overall, it was an exciting read with a great aesthetic and interesting worldbuilding, and I think it was wonderful in its more serious moments but a little bit lacking in the more casual ones.

This first part of the Covenant series is quite entertaining! I do love churches, demons and whatnot. Ezra is an exorcist, but doesn't believe in God. He and his fellow companions exorcise demons, but soon another church gets interested in them as they think they are the reason behind more demons getting in our world. The angels sometimes show themselves and one tells Ezra to protect a guy named Sunny. Demons seem to be super interested in him. The mystery seems really interesting, but I wish more time was spent to depict the world and all. Now it's just fighting and it gets somewhat boring when you don't know who the characters are, since they are paper thin at this point. Also, no romance of any sort in this first part.

The art is OK, the movement looks good. The color world is great too and even the rhythm is nice. This seems quite basic in a good way and I do hope it gets better along the way. The potential is there, though I hope Vuong decides not to make Ezra a puppy as it would now seem...

Oh my god! Ha, see what I did there? Anyways, this graphic novel was excellent. I wasn't sure what to expect in the beginning, but I kept on going and it was so good!! The characters were likable, and each had their own personality that made them fun. I expect we'll get to know them better as time goes on in the graphic novel series.

Not only is this a good fantasy, but the world building is super interesting and I can't wait to read more.

I don’t often read webtoons so it was fun to get outside my comfort zone for once. The art is absolutely gorgeous!! I did find the transitions between scenes a little confusing at times, but the story was pretty enjoyable overall! I can’t wait to see what happens next.

— A Glorious 5 ⚝

In an extremely intriguing, intricate fantasy world where priests are dressed in gothic attire, covered in holy tattoos, and use guns to defeat demons, Ezra, a priest and exorcist belonging to the Church of Providence, is struggling to believe in God. In between the Church of Providence being under scrutiny for favoring and protecting demons by The Great Church and the coming of a war, Ezra is tasked by an angel to protect a seemingly normal boy who has a bloody past.

This story closely follows Ezra and his teammates through this riveting and breathtaking journey of fighting demons, protecting each other, and being extremely gay.

Packed with action, witty and funny dialogues that just flow, and a masterfully crafted world, this webtoon-converted graphic novel will have you turning pages so fast that you will just fly through it desperately craving more.

I could literally smell the slow-burn romance that is going to take place and I am beyond ready for it. I enjoyed the illustrations and the art style so thoroughly. I was so impressed by this debut and am so excited for future volumes. I also love that the characters are queer and you can see it being embraced very well. The representation of characters is very diverse. They are all such important parts of the story as well and are so interesting, captivating, and delightful that you cannot help but be invested in their journey.

This gave me such strong Supernatural vibes, with similarly witty banter, snarky, sarcastic dialogues, the dark color themes used for the illustrations that really resonate with the tone of the story as well as the endearing personalities of the characters.

Since this is the first volume, it lays the foundation for the rest of the story and is just an introduction to the larger plot. However, I assure you, you will have no problems flying through this and embracing yourself for the future volumes because the way it is plotted and paced is very compelling.

might just read the rest on webtoon being as impatient as i am. :p

Keep an eye out for this on the 16th of April in 2024.

A huge thanks to NetGalley and OniPress for an arc of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own and not influenced in any way.

Absolute 5 out of 5. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

It's always exciting to see my favorite webcomic creators step into the publishing world. I've been reading Covenant for several years and the story is so creative and visceral and unique.

Priests protect the human world from demons, with kick butt weapons tattooed into their skin to represent the Archangels that have blessed them. But in comes a half breed anti-Christ who throws the world into chaos.

This is a dark tale of how good vs evil isn't so black and white.

Erza, a powerful exorcist, is entrusted with guarding Sunny, a seemingly regular person with a troubled history, in a world where tattooed priests fight demons with machine guns. The complex storyline intertwines a slow-burning queer romance, religious faith, the weight of fate, and the fight for morality in a world overrun by demons.
Erza's sardonic bright disposition and bright's aloof manner contrast sharply, establishing a gripping dynamic as the two try to work over their differences. With the church under investigation and war looming, Ezra needs to find the strength of conviction to protect Sunny. With its distinctive fusion of comedy, romance, action, and mythology, Vuong's story offers an engrossing investigation of religious faith and what it means to be good in a world besieged by demons. Covenant is an engaging adventure that delves into the realms of darkness and light.

Covenant turned out to be a graphic novel that took me by surprise and, in some ways, left me amazed. I admit I hadn't fully grasped the impactful religious aspect, and being not particularly drawn to it, I couldn't fully immerse myself in it. However, I absolutely loved the action, the characters, and above all, THE ILLUSTRATIONS.

They are FANTASTIC, STUNNING, and every positive adjective imaginable. The visual storytelling adds a layer of brilliance to the narrative, making it a feast for the eyes. Despite my initial reservations about the religious themes, the captivating action, well-crafted characters, and the sheer beauty of the illustrations made Covenant
an unexpectedly enjoyable and visually stunning experience.

Thank you Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with this ARC

** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Copy received through Netgalley

~

Covenant, Volume 1
by LySandra Vuong
★★★★★
240 Pages

Content Warning: heavy religious content, mentions of vague child abuse, grief, mild violence


Covenant is a new-to-me story that collects 18 episodes of the Webtoon comic. I'm glad to say that, the common problem with Webtoon/Lezhin adaptations – being that they feel like vignettes rather than a cohesive story – was completely avoided here. This was a complete, well rounded story that flowed from each page and through each chapter.
The artwork was gorgeous! There were a lot of dark, night concepts but they were all fully visible and understandable, done in incredible detail. Every character had their own personality and quirks. Everyone was easily distinguishable, with no confusion about who was who.
I loved the major LGBT reps – both FF and MM – and that there was a lot of inclusion and diversity in other ways without it being some major factor of the story. These were just regular college kids going about their business, who just so happened to work for God as Exorcists.
The plot itself took a whole new slant on exorcism, on the church, and the work they did to fight demons and evil. I liked how well that part was explained, the depth and variety that was shown throughout, and how information was fed slowly.
While I feel like it covered a lot of ground, it didn't feel rushed or forced. The pacing was great and I loved the hints of back story for all the important characters.
If I had any complaints, it would be that it ended on a cliffhanger and that it felt too short, because I was fully invested in the story by the time it finished. I'll definitely be coming back to read Volume 2. In fact, this is one that I'd probably buy in paperback.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for suppling an arc.
Now, I have never seen or read Constantine, but have had glimpses of it. This book gives me heavy Constantine x Shadowhunter vibes. And I am here for it.
Despite working under God, Ezra questions his faith. He has been granted the power to fight—and exorcise—demons. One of the things that I really enjoy about this is that the problems overlap, however, it doesn’t complicate the plot. There’s this battle of the Churches going on and he’s been tasked to protect Sunny, a mysterious guy whose been running away from demons. The fight scenes are amazing. LySandra does an amazing job with the graphics. At first, it was a bit slow to get into. I am agnostic and the first few pages felt heavily “religious”. I thought I would have lacked the knowledge to fully comprehend the story but you don’t need it. The plot and the graphics were quick to draw me in. I love me a slow burn relationship but I’d definitely want to see some cute relationships.

Netgalley review, possible plot points mentioned below.

I had moments in the beginning where I feared I was only going to enjoy the concept over the actual book itself but in the end I really enjoyed it. It just took me a minute to really get into it.

It feels like there's a lot of depth written into the story, it's well planned out with the details of the churches the angels the tattoos the world. The cast of characters at the providence church are very likeable - its hard not to like them, especially Samson.

AND THE OUTFITS, my god. How can you make religious clothes so cool.

Nearing the middle mark the demons became a little more interesting than before, I'm hoping with time we'll see more depth and world with them. I can't wait to find out there motives and need for Sunny

I thank the authors and netgalley for giving me the chance to read and review this book.

I received an advanced copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Ezra isn't your average exorcist; instead, with no faith in God, he hunts demons from killing humans with his close team. Ezra uses his archangel-based tattoos with his partner Samson to conjure holy weapons to fight against evil. But with a higher church against them, Ezra is suddenly tasked to help Sunny from the demonic forces in town. Time is running out, and can Ezra save Sunny and also gain his conviction?
It is fast-paced and full of stunning action scenes; Covenant grasped me from page one. Ezra's relationship with his team is endearing, and the one with the archangel Gabriel is hilarious (as seen through his dreams). The several demons in the first eighteen chapters are horrifying, but the designs are unique! I really enjoyed this volume and will continue reading more through the Webtoon app.

I love Covenant! I read the webtoon a few years ago so I was delighted to be picked for an ARC of this first published volume. It's a very fun, very queer adventure story, with a cool and dynamic art style. I find Covenant difficult to talk about sometimes, because the concept to me is just SO cool to me that I just wanna point and go, "look at it!!", but I love our protagonist Ezra - I just think there is something very charming about characters who are really determined to help and do good, not because they are naive but because they KNOW that the world is dark, and they want to try and make it better.
My favourite thing about this series, though, HAS to be the character designs - i can think of at least three people off the top of my head who give me gender envy. (Also Samson I am free on thursday night please let me know if you want to hang out on thursday night when I am free).
My only gripe with this is that, despite the fact that obviously some edits had to be made to adapt the very vertical webtoon format to a normal graphic novel format, there were still a couple of typos from the original webtoon that made it into the ARC version - I hope these get fixed before the comic actually comes out, they always take me out of the action and it's such a shame to have such a small detail bring down an otherwise really good comic.
Overall, though, I love Covenant, and I'm excited for the next volumes!

If you like darker and religious themes, this is a great story for you.
I think is a great introduction to the world, the chapters explain very well everything going on, in an easy way to digest, and it hit right where my little gothic heart lies.
I enjoyed the characters and even with those darker tones, the story manages to make you laugh with the dorky personality of Ezra, and his relationship with his fellow exorcist(mostly Samson whom i looove) even Gabriel (the arcangel) is very funny.
This is light and easy to read, the art is amazing with panels that have great details and i really liked that, the action secuences look really dinamic and easy to follow, can't wait to read what happens next

Covenant presents an interesting concept in plot and world building combined with art that I found really pleasing.

Ezra is an exorcist demon fighter dude that doesn’t have trouble believing in Angels or Demons, but struggles to believe in God. He is told by an Angel that he needs to look out for Sunny, but isn’t really give much more context than that. Sunny, meanwhile, is the total grump to Ezra’s sunshine. Which is the kind of heavy handed humour that I like.

There is also some world building around tension between other religions structures, and it really hits at the core issue of a lot of high stakes suspense, what is good? Because the good for an individual in front of you might not be the greater good for the larger population and vice versa. A bit of a power struggle is set up between two religious factions with very different answers to that question.

I hadn’t expected this to be the start of a but it’s a solid set up and I’m interested to see where this world takes us.

Thank you netgalley for an advanced ARC of this graphic novel

The art qork f0r this novel is stunning and the storyline is addictive to where u cannot stop reading and want to know more, I have fell in love. The story grips you, showing how well written it is with the characters and the dangerous atmospheres you arise though fighting demons in order to save humans and the world from ever ending darkness to fall.

I liked that the main character is someone who is chosen to have the powers 2 fight demons by a certain angel of God, while he struggles in his faith to believe in God, showing an internal struggle with himself and how his dealing with that.... so by seeing him in fights with demons his also fighting with his own emotions by saying to himself that he gets his power from doing what's right.

I highly suggest this

Please! You need to read this - a message for anyone who will listen to me

Okay so this was so good and I’m obsessed and I need more! The art is amazing the story is really interesting the plot just keeps you wanting more and the characters are each so unique. Definitely a must read!

I’ve never read this web toon before but now I am hooked! This volume left on a big cliffhanger so I am impatiently waiting for the next one.

Ezra and Sunny give off such golden retriever/black cat energy. Ezra is so sweet and awkward and energetic and loyal. And Sunny is the broody emo boy of our dreams. Add in demons, priests with hot tattoos, and some warring church politics and this is absolutely phenomenal. Can’t wait for the next bit!

4 stars

Absolutely amazing.
The artwork was fantastic. The characters leap from the pages. The storyline was enthralling and interesting.
I'm a new fan and now I can't wait to read more about them.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Okay I need more of this ASAP!!

This was so good! I am not religious. I am not spiritual. But I can appreciate a great story and the lore is fun to dissect. This was fantastic.

With great art and funny dialogue, this immediately pulled me in. A group of tattooed exorcists, part of the Church of Providence, a form of Christianity separate from the rest of the church branches, fight demons and serve the snark by the bucket full.

Ezra is dealing with his inability to believe in god, but when he is told by Gabriel himself that he needs to protect someone important, Sunny comes into his life.

Sunny just wants to live a normal life, but he is dealing with demons (literally) from his past hunting him down yet again. He wants nothing to do with Ezra, but Ezra is as cheeky as he is relentless.

This volume ended just as things started heating up and I need more!!