The Hunger and the Dusk has a beautifully illustrated and promising first installment. I loved the high fantasy setting of this graphic novel. While the story is character-driven, the world-building is immersive. I especially liked how expectations are subverted in this novel - most obviously in the opening sequence, where we form incorrect opinions of the orcs and see that incorrect lens applied throughout the novel. Using the reader's point of view to introduce the biases against orcs was a well-done little twist. While it took me a bit longer to get a hold on this novel, the pacing was engaging. The full-color illustrations and paneling compositions are well done, and the graphic novel has a good balance of text/illustration. I really enjoyed the character designs throughout the novel and felt the characters had distinct personalities. Tara was definitely my favorite character, and I look forward to how her story emerges in the next volume.

The Hunger and the Dusk is a pure fantasy comic with orcs and whatnot. The world is dying and humans fight with orcs and they both fight Vangols. The humans and orcs need to form an alliance in order to fight the Vangols, since they are ancient humanoids and hard to kill because they can move without getting noticed. But the alliance is hard to keep, everyone has their own agenda and they all fight for the power. This first part mostly sets the story, but the beginning is somewhat scattered. I hoped Wilson had explained the world more and the political system in it. The transitions between what happens aren't seamless, which was a shame. Towards the end the comic starts to find a path to follow and everything gets that much interesting.

The art is fitting for the story and the characters are lively. The color world is great, but the text in the speech bubbles is too thick and somewhat hard to read at times. It's interesting to see where this story goes, since this felt like a snippet of it all. I'm intrigued surely!

G Willow Wilson and Chris Wildgoose's The Hunger and the Dusk (Vol 1) (June 2024 - ARC)

For a high-fantasy comic about humans, orcs, and climate change (and those driven mad by it), the art is really pretty: the colours! the beautiful landscapes! the clean action!

I loved the hot orcs more than the humans (!?) which is not surprising as I feel like G Willow Wilson does too. Their side of the story, their characters, their history is so much more layered and interesting.

This first volume is definitely fascinating enough to hook me in for the long haul. Excited to see where they take it!

3.5 ⭐
I found it hard to get into it at first but started liking it rather quickly after it clicked. I think the volume was a great start, we get an idea of how the world works and what’s the situation at hand without any info dumps.
The art style was great too, can’t wait to keep on reading.
Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Reading this graphic novel half a year before its publication surely made it even harder for me to wait for its continuation. This first volume contains six chapters that introduce us to the human and ork characters but already gift us with adventures and battles. It took me four pages to be fully involved, which was mostly due to the amazing illustrations. Soon after, I also felt sympathetic towards the characters.

Two races, one enemy
This story issues a alliance between generational enemies, humans and orcs. An agreement and ambassador is supposed to bring peace and help both races to survive their common enemy. This enemy long stayed somewhat anonymous and became only visible in a later chapter. Its luring danger was quite vivid nonetheless. I also enjoyed the peaks onto the magic that is present in this world as much as the love stories beginning to bloom in these chapters. More that that, we get a lot of interesting characters that will surely enrich the upcoming volumes. Friendship and romance will ground the lethal encounters. I loved the balance between dialogues and traveling/fighting.

A great start
The story seems to be narrated by one of our main characters. We get to know not only him on depth though. Nonetheless, there are many backstories that I am looking forward to discover. Especially Tara's relationship to her cousin is teased at this volume's ending though moving illustrations. The illustrator surely depicted an abundance of emotions without needing any words to convey the story and thoughts of the characters. I had a lot of fun and feelings while exploring this world for the first time. And I surely cannot wait to dive deeper into the reasons for the enemies' invasion and their (hopefully) eventual decline.

I thoroughly enjoyed this graphic novel.

The world building was enjoyable, I really felt immersed in the environment.

The story was exciting and kept me going till the end. I'm looking forward to reading the next volume!

The artwork is beautiful, I love how unique each of the characters are and the environments are amazing.

I would definitely read more from this series.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and IDW Publishing for providing me with this arc

This volume collects the six numbers published so far of the series, in what seems like a reissue of the Viking invasion of Great Britain, with its Highlands and Lowlands, its orcs/picts, British/humans and Vikings/vangols, putting a little bit of dwarves in the shaker and giving it an air that also recalls the Lord of the Rings and the beginning of the Arthurian legends, peppering it with some sexual tension.

It's entertaining, but I'm not too excited. Too many standard fantasy topics for something whose selling line is a Hugo Award winning author. Maybe that lead me to expect more of the story.

Very reminiscent of World of Warcraft. Humans and Orcs have been at war for hundreds of years, both figthing for fertile farmland to combat the looming threat of starvation. But when an old enemy returns to both their lands, its either ally or die.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel! The art style is gorgeous and the story is hella compelling.

I'm actually so excited for this graphic novel! I can't wait for it to release and then the next vol to release.

I love how we got introduced to the world, it really tells you a lot about what's going on.

I love how everyone looks and how the world looks, the art style is truly amazing.

The action scenes were so good!! Like holy fudge! I absolutely loved them.

The characters were awesome as well and I really loved getting to know them little by little. I know it's only vol 1, but the author really does an amazing job at helping you get to know them.

I absolutely love the Orcs!! They are so amazing and I love the little bits of magic we get to see. Ugh I can't wait to read the next vol.

I highly recommend this graphic novel!! I know I'm looking forward for this series!! I can see it becoming a bestseller + becoming popular!

I mean look at that cover!!! It's absolutely gorgeous and it's definitely what caught my eye and then I read the Blurb and knew I had to read it!

Thank you so much @netgalley and @idwpublishing for giving me a ARC of this graphic novel for a honest review!

The Hunger and the Dusk comes out June 11th, 2024! Don't forget to mark your calendars for this one! You don't want to miss it.

3.5⭐️

“Bravery is a small word. But it requires a big heart.”

In a dying world, humans and orcs (traditional enemies) have to work together to vanquish an even bigger and more dangerous foe.

This was definitely an interesting graphic novel. I mostly enjoyed the story but at times I wished the characters and the bonds between them had been given a bit more time to flourish. The action scenes were exciting though, and I really liked the illustrations.

This book compiles Vol 1-6 of this series and I’m definitely curious about what will happen next.

Thanks Netgalley and IDW publishing for letting me read an early copy of this graphic novel. The Hunger and the Dusk is out June 11th.

Wow this graphic novel really captivated me! I can’t wait to read more!

The graphic novel „The Hunger and the Dusk“ by G.Willow Wilson and Chris Wildgoose is set in a dying world that is inhabited by humans and orcs that have been at war with each other for centuries. Faced with a new mutual enemy they form a fragile alliance.

The story is told from the orc and human perspective which I really liked! The insight into the orc culture was phenomenal. I immediately started to care for both sides due to the exceptional character work done in this. The story was engaging and fast paced while still taking its time to explore the characters‘ relationships and backstories.
The world felt organic and interesting which was enhanced by the beautiful artwork by Chris Wildgoose. There even was a solid dash of romance in this that really hit for me!

I can wholeheartedly recommend this series and I’m eager to read what happens next!

A big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher IDW Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I do not think I have ever read anything with orcs in it, at least not in this scale, puttnig them in the frontlines and not simply having them as a species that someone needs to fight to pass a challenge. But I saw G. Willow Wilson's name and I like her work, so I gave it a try. When I did, I also found out I was also familiar with the illustrator's work (Chris Wildgoose), which was really nice.

I liked the dynamics and the stakes of this first volume. What I most appreciated is how we were thrown right into the storyline, giving us just tha information we needed in order to understand characters' motivations and where they came from. I thought I would get a bit lost or confused with such a big cast, but it was actually very easy to follow and understand.

Since the book follows and alliance between two species it did get a bit political, but I thought all storylines were thrown and alternated quite nicely, making you get a bit from the history, alliances, relationships and politics in bit pieces instead of focusing 20 pages on a single thing.We were also moving back and forth between the humans and orcs stories.

I was a bit hesitant to both pick this up and continue with the second volume, as it is not something I usually enjoy, but after finding out there will only be 12 issues (this volume collects the first 6), I will have to check it and see how the story wraps up.

What a great story. Loved all the characters and how they develop throughout. Interesting to be learning about history that is still mysterious.

Excited for a lot more of this series. Highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley, IDW Publishing, G. Willow Wilson, and Chris Wildgoose (illustrator) for the opportunity to read this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.

The Hunger and the Dusk Volume one is an amazing installment to a new high fantasy graphic novel series. Featuring the race of orcs and men, alliances must be made to fight of a greater threat. With the political intrigue that comes with high fantasy, as well as brilliant artwork, this series has a lot of potential to be something epic.

I like the art style and the story is very well put together. I enjoy the dynamic between the orcs and humans, for what it has going for it in this volume, as well as the creatures that pose a threat to both. A great start to a fantasy series that any high fantasy, lover of Tolkien, or D&D fanatic will enjoy.

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

I am honestly surprised by how much I enjoyed this. The concept was interesting and a lot of the characters were both believable and likable. However, I noticed very early on that the Orc culture seems to be largely based on Mongolian culture in real life. The plot of the story seems a little disconnected going from chapter to chapter, but seeing as it's technically a collection of six volumes of a comic, that stands to reason. I do enjoy that there is some political intrigue to this as well. It also handles switching perspectives between the two groups very smoothly. I really liked the art! The color palettes were very pretty, and the designs of different locations were beautiful. I also really liked the character designs and how diverse the body types of both the men and the women are, for the Orcs and humans alike.

The only side thing I take issue with is the whole "We know you wanted to marry your cousin" line. Which...uh. I still can't figure out if she's ACTUALLY his cousin or just like, a family friend from childhood. I am hoping that it's the latter cause I don't know if I can handle it if it's the first one.

I love G. Willow Wilson, she's one of my favorite comics creators. I love this book and I am very sad that it's only going to be 12 issues. Highly recommended to anyone who loves fantasy.

I requested this based on the cover and the description, and the contents did not let me down! The illustrations are beautiful, and the story is captivating. The fantasy elements are easy to understand, and the plot gets you hooked into the story rally fast! I finished this quickly, and immediately wanted to know what was next. Will definitely keep an eye out for next issues!

Summary:

The world is dying. There are only two races left. Three, depending on how you look at it. The humans and the orcs have always been enemies, but they might just have to work together to eke out an existence.

Certain groups are willing to work together if that means winning against the Vangol – a deadly and ancient race. Will this be enough? Worse, what happens should these groups fail? Will the rest ever consider trying again?

Review:

Okay, so there was a lot that drew me to this series. First, the dystopian vibes intertwined with a fantasy setting. Second, the author! I love G. Willow Wilson (famous for Ms. Marvel), so I had pretty high hopes for her new fantasy series.

The Hunger and the Dusk Vol. 1 is and isn't a strong start to the series. I know that sounds strange, but hear me out. On the one hand, a lot of it feels too rushed. The stakes are set, the characters introduced, and then we're off to the races. This sounds good in theory, but we didn't have time to connect with the characters, so the stakes felt shallow.

On the other hand, there is something really compelling about this world. After I finished reading it, I found my mind wandering back to it again and again. This likely means I was invested by the end, so I take that as a good sign. And to be clear, this story has some solid elements so far. We have a classic-looking D&D party (archer, bard, leader/rogue, a cleric, etc.), a forbidden love subplot, a dangerous enemy, and so on. I'm curious how these elements adapt and grow as the series continues.

Highlights:
New Fantasy Series
Dystopian Fantasy
Dn&D Vibes

This comic has a lot of potential, I think!

For what I liked, I will say there's a LOT of world building. While it builds off pretty standard fantasy lore, it is still pretty original, and the idea of common enemies forming alliances is awesome, I feel like there's not enough of that kind of thing. The characters are neat and fairly unique as well. As someone who usually reads manga and is used to that type of drawing style, this was a bit of a curve to get used to, but I love the colour, it makes it a lot easier to really understand what's happening in fights and such than traditional black and white.

Now there are a few things I was less into. First of all the incest (or desire for there to be) could have been left out, it didn't add anything and it's a weird trope to begin with. Aside from that, my only other complaint really was that it felt like there wasn't really fleshing of or explications for characters, they just kind of existed. Like, there is enough time timeline wise for people to have gotten to know each other better, and it seems like the characters did, but I didn't.

Still, it was entertaining and felt fairly original, it was a good read.

All opinions on this review are my own and I want to say thank u so much Netgalley for this Advanced copy

Reading this I highly enjoyed, the pacing was nice and the art was beautiful and made it a treat from the first page to the last to read. I enjoyed this graphic novel so much that I look forward to Vol2 when it comes out,

I will.look into more writing from.this author