Cute but not great. Lovers of the video game will get a kick out of this, but I think the story creator didn't use the medium as well as they could. It felt more like a video game montage, where depth and details were less important. The art is beautiful and adorable though!

Thank you to Oni Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As someone that loves cult of the lamb and struggles explaining the game to people, this is honestly a great intro to the universe and concept. I loved this game and equally love this graphic novel. The art is beautiful but the story itself is basically a recap of the game.

Reminds me of Bone; dark but cute. Probably would have liked it more if I had played the game before reading. Still a fun read though.

"Not a temple... No. it was supposed to be a home."

Thank you to NetGalley and Oni press for this e-ARC. Cult of the Lamb Vol 1 contains the first four issues of the CotL comic and delivers a goregous graphic novel for fans of the rogue-lite game of the same name. I think you could enjoy this collection without having played the game; with four issues included, we have the time to briefly meet the Bishops, learn about the first major location in CotL lore, and meet characters who have a truly fantastic graphic novel adaptation.

Nana's arc was very well done and surprised me, and I loved seeing Ratau's growth and development as he starts out as a bitter, jaded, fanatical follower of Narinder/the chained god. I also loved the way Clauneck was depicted, as they're one of my favorite characters.

The graphics are just as whimsically dark and delightful as those in the game, and I would pick up future volumes. Happy reading!

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC for early review.. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.

As a disclaimer, I have not played the game, I am viewing this from the perspective of a reader. While I know of the game and am familiar with it enough to have some background context, I cannot compare the different medias to each other.

Cult of the Lamb is a solid introduction to the world of sacrifices, evil gods, and devil deals. A chibi art style is twisted by intense gore, cartoonish violence, and dark subject matter. This is a story of a creature who rises up against those who mistreated them and encourages others to do the same, but can we really call them heroes?

I think this is serviceable as a graphic novel, but unless you are a fan of the game, I don't see it having enough meat to really interest or hold attention. Perhaps in subsequent volumes, more story and plot will be explored, but it felt very much like coverage of the first hour of gameplay or a cutscene at the beginning of a game. I'm not sure how much of the story is covered by the game, but the motivations and major points of world building and the magic system are competently explained.

I don't find Lamb to be a likeable character. I think the only character that really interested me was Nana, but out of an already small cast of protagonists she struggles to stand on her own without being completely tied to Lamb in every way.

I don't think I will pick up volume 2, but this first volume serves as a good introduction to the world and characters, even if it is a little dull.

you definitely don't need to have played the game to enjoy this, but it does make the experience better being able to recognize the characters, lines, and little game mechanics throughout. I love that it is slightly darker and gorier than the game, delves into the storyline more, and makes the point of the game more tense. Also the writing was so much better than I expected. I do wish there was a bit more time spent building up the devotion between the followers and the Lamb, but overall such a solid adaptation

Absolutely adored this graphic novel! As a fan of the game this was a pleasure to read. The storywork as well as the artwork was beautiful and well fitting.

I thought this was a very good comic that fit with the story of Cult of the Lamb. I am a big fan of the video game and thought that this comic book did a good job of conveying the story! Thank you to netgalley for a free eARC, this does not affect my review.

First off, I know almost NOTHING about the actual story of Cult of the Lamb. I've seen some of the memes (Where's Tobias? Where's my husband?) but I just recently found out that it's actually a Rouge Like game and not a spooky Cult-themed life sim like I thought it was. This story was decent! There were some plot pacing issues, but apparently, this graphic novel is a collection of 5 comic issues in one volume. Makes sense there's a slight disconnect between each chapter. The overall story was good and was coherent. This story is always way darker and gore-filled than I expected it to be. They went very hard into the horror elements of the story. Somehow, the dark story elements but with cutesy characters work in a strange way. If you have never played Cult of the Lamb, but you were still interested in the story, I think this would be a good way to experience the story. However, I do know that the game gives you choices of how to take your Cult, and there are different paths. The book sticks to only one line of choices, which I think would be the Neutral ending or the Good ending path? But still, overall I liked it!

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

Animal Crossing meets God Of War!

A very enjoyable read, love the dark themes juxtaposed with the cutesy art style.

Will definitely be on the lookout for vol 2..

Thank you, Oni Press, for the ARC.

Sadly, the art has so many graphic details and the plot rather too dark for me. Otherwise, the video game lovers would really love this comic book.

This is a perfect accompaniment to the game, rhe art is rhe same and hits the same colorful dynamic feeling while still fully embracing the dark aspects of the plot. The comic basically is a fleshed out version of the games's plot, nit much new, but I do like the amount of character they give to the Lamb that didn't really come across in the game.

The combination aesthetic of cute + scary has me in a tight chokehold. What a great tribute to the video game! I appreciate how this work refreshes the original narrative from the game, while giving the cult leader Lamb more voice, more personality.

From the first page, the use of color as well as the narrative’s high drama caught my attention. I wished the story didn’t skip through the foundation of Nana’s devotion to Lamb as well as Lamb gaining more devoted cult members. The narrative felt rushed in some places where I am sure it was hard to fill in the gaps created in the storyline through gameplay time.

I recommend this graphic novel for upper middle grade and young adult audiences as there are complex topics involving devotion, sacrifice, and manipulation of power. However, any fan of the video game will appreciate the art and the character development. The creators’ strive to captivate readers as the videogame sucked in players was successful.

This was so cute and a fun read! I am very excited to play the game after this. The graphic novel was fun and exciting to look at and inspect the pictures! I absolutely adore the art style. The characters are lovable and silly. I am excited to see how much people love this once it comes out! ❤️

If you’ve never played the game that this graphic novel comes from, firstly why not? secondly you still can!

Cute and gory in equal measures the game is such fun and this has been wonderfully adapted into a graphic novel of the gameplay story line.

Lamb is the last of his kind and the Bishops of The Old Faith to stop a prophesy from coming true and ending their reign of terror and bloodshed.

Lamb doesn’t stay as dead as the Bishops would have liked and is returned to life by the One Who Waits chained for all eternity to create a cult that will bring back… well we aren’t quite sure as there is duplicity and shadowed meaning throughout their meeting.

Lamb then returns and whilst getting bloody revenge for their own death they start building a following from the innocents that they saved from the Bishops. Thus the Cult of the Lamb begins.

This was a fun read, with an artwork that really brought the game to mind throughout, popping with colour and gore this was a non-stop read for me!

I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I've heard great things about this video game which was why I was interested in reading it. Unfortunately, the attempt to translate the story into a graphic novel fell short. There was so much expositi0n. It felt like I was constantly being told things instead of shown them or given a chance to see the story develop on its own.

I got into Cult of the Lamb earlier this year and was one of the people who kickstarted this comic. So yes, I had my bias and expectations going into this read, and largely I was quite pleased. Especially because I learned an awesome new word - endling.

Overall, it's a tale of how the Lamb first grows into the role of cult leader, with some new backstory added of the lamb being betrayed by the farmer that protected them in exchange for shearing some wool. Starting out angry and vengeful, to where it's almost unsettling with how bloodthirsty the Lamb is, but ultimately wanting to be a kinder community leader than the gods of the Old Faith.

I did find it strange to see the Lamb and Ratau so at odds in the beginning, unlike in game, but it does make sense to introduce this as we make the Lamb more a character of their own and less a player vehicle. Less so is the change from Ratau questioning if the Lamb is worthy to being a truly devoted follower, which is a rather quick turn-around in these pages but is also in keeping with the game's brevity in its storytelling.

The differences aside, which Clauneck even notes asking if things are as we remember them being (and it's wild to learn he's a duck btw), there are clear nods to the game that make it clear how much this a labor of love. From the serious way the Lamb says they will not eat or sleep until their revenge is complete, a sly nod to how players don't have to do either, to the green slime in a cauldron that is grass gruel. And of course references to just how much the cult poops anywhere and everywhere

I do hope to see more such comics, as this and the recent Pilgrimage game update with an included motion comic shows there's promise to telling more stories in this world outside of the game!

This has me soooo ready to play the game! 🎮
I've heard many great things about Cult of the Lamb and it has always intrigued me. This volume offers the backstory that I don't know if we get in game. I think starting with this story and getting hints of what is to come plus the complex character building will make the gameplay must cooler for me.

Artstyle is amazing, the story is very cool! Highly recommend!