Let’s start with what works here - the art is tremendous. There are so many details to get lost in and so many evocative panels that I enjoyed my time with. The writing, on the other hand, suffers greatly from something being lost in translation - the dialogue is too often stilted and unnatural, and tends towards exhausting exposition dumps instead of letting things emerge more naturally. The cosmic horror story lurking in the margins is compelling, but the conspiracy sci-fi occult direction this takes was ultimately not for me… a shame, because I think there are some really cool ideas here that don’t congeal into a truly compelling or worthwhile story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Nakama Press for the eARC.

Una reportera descubre que es la clave del destino no solo de la humanidad, sino también de la Tierra y del universo entero. Ella es reportera de una revista ocultista y lleva una vida aparentemente normal. No es muy buena relacionándose con la gente, pero tiene la habilidad especial de, a veces, saber lo que piensan los demás. Además, posee una sensibilidad extrema que le permite comunicarse con plantas y animales. Un día, Ella se entera de la extraña muerte de su profesor y mentor, quien parece haberse suicidado. Su instinto la lleva a investigar la causa de la muerte, lo que gradualmente desata una serie de misteriosos incidentes que superan su imaginación.

Siento que la estructura y desarrollo de la trama no fueron en nada satisfactorios. Fue una mezcla de ideas que no lograron convivir en armonía. Me entristece mucho que no me haya gustado más ya que tenía muchas esperanzas por el blurb.

2.5/5⭐

Gorgeous art, but massive fail. I wanted to like this one. I don't know if it was the over abundance of scifi stuff crammed into the book, bad translation, or a runaway plot, but this was a mess. This book heavily relies on exposition and the readers just trust whatever the characters are saying.

A confusing mess.

In Indigo, reporter Ella Summers investigates the strange death of her old professor and stumbles into a tangled web of alien conspiracies, psychic powers, and a mysterious galactic treaty. She may just be the key to saving Earth—and the universe.

The premise had so much potential, and the art is genuinely beautiful. But the story was confusing and rushed. New characters and concepts are introduced with little context, and significant plot points fly by so fast they barely land. I often felt like I’d missed a previous volume.

Ella’s powers and backstory are mentioned but never developed, and the story leans heavily on the “Indigo Child” and “Chosen One” tropes without explaining or grounding them. It reads like multiple ideas jammed into one volume, without enough space for anything to fully unfold.

Sadly, despite the striking art, this was more frustrating than fun.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The premise and initial set-up of this were masterful. I was hooked until the 50% mark.I lost interest in the conclusion and story after that. Overall, it has beautiful artwork and a compelling main character.

Indigo is my first read from this author/illustrator and if I were judging just off of illustrations, this is a 5/5 stars. Wow, I loved all of the art and especially the colorful pieces.

That said, the plot to this graphic novel is unorganized and confusing. Several times while reading I had trouble connecting what was going on, at one point a person explodes with no warning, some seem to shoot lasers, creatures appear from nowhere, and the protagonist is an indigo child (?).

The protagonist of this story is Ella Summers, a reporter investigating some otherworldly going-ons. This happens to take place in space but also all of the legends she was investigating turn out to be said creatures following her. The pace in this graphic novel is fast but because action scenes and story points happen quickly without us digesting what happened, it felt a little too rushed. I think the dialogue exposition missed an opportunity to make sure the reader understood the message instead of continuously introducing ideas. This graphic novel is a good read for the vibes and visuals.

Thank you to Mad Cave Studios, Nakama Press, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this graphic novel.

A pretentious sci-fi yarn that desperately wants to be Arthur C. Clarke, but fails because of unbelievable plotting and ridiculous heavy-handed dialogue. It doesn't help that the author has written several (!) overly earnest author's notes in the back, explaining what he was trying to do.

There's some nice art, but this is a stinker, I'm afraid.

Indigo moves at a breakneck pace, cramming in exposition after exposition of conspiracy theories without a coherent thread to tie them together. The story feels jumbled and confusing, more like an abstract fever dream than a structured narrative. Someone described it as a story that makes sense while you're dreaming but falls apart the moment you wake up, and I couldn't agree more. It jumps erratically from one idea to the next, making it difficult to follow or invest in.

The only truly redeeming quality is the art, which is undeniably striking. The visuals are compelling and well-crafted, but they ultimately feel wasted on a story that lacks clarity or direction. Indigo reads more like an experimental project for an art class than a fully realized, publishable work. If you're here for the story, you'll likely walk away frustrated—but if you're just here for the visuals, you might find something to appreciate.

2.5 stars rounded up

Even the nice art couldn't save this mess.

This sounded like it was right up my alley. Sci-fi crime thriller? Sign me up. I couldn't say no to that gorgeous cover either.

But the more I read, the more idiotic this turned out to be. It felt like a ten volume series squeezed into one volume. There were so many ideas, and definitely not enough time and space for everything to play out in a remotely decent manner. It desperately needed a developmental editor.

You've got:

❗ indigo children
❗ Chosen One
❗ terrible dialogue ("Ella Summer" is repeated like fifty times)
❗ lizard people (?????)
❗ aliens on Earth
❗ aliens in space
❗ some kind of space-Earth alien treaty

This entire thing ended up feeling like one of those conspiracy theories about lizard people/aliens from outer space hiding on Earth as sleeper agents for some future alien invasion mashed with a story about some pretty blonde young woman as the Chosen One. Why was she the Chosen One when the other Chosen Ones were actual historical figures? Who knows.

Although I did like the author's note on using Cantonese vs. Mandarin. But that's just a me thing.

Thank you to Nakama Press and NetGalley for this arc.

Sadly I found this confusing, but the art was gorgeous! Felt like it started in the middle, and didn't give enough context

The art was nice, but it feels like 10 volumes were made into one.
It ended up feeling like a conspiracy theory about lizard people/aliens from outer space hiding on Earth for some future alien invasion mashed with a story about some pretty blonde as the Chosen One. Why was she the Chosen One when the others were actual historical figures? Who knows. Maybe, somehow she is related to one of them but it's not mentioned (which would have been great).
It felt rushed.

Yikes.
This is a religious manifesto thinly veiled as a story. The authors are just info-dumping their belief in aliens and indigo children and pretending there is a plot. The 'storytelling' is jumpy and chaotic with almost zero follow through. They introduce a mysterious death and then never explain it. This book feels like when you have a dream that makes sense while you're dreaming, but later when you try to explain it you realize it was really just a nonsensical string of images strung together. I'm sure this book makes sense to the authors, but they never connect any of the dots for their readers.
Single star for decent artwork.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mad Cave Studios for the eARC!

I love the idea of the story in Indigo, but everything happens too quickly. Every time I thought I understood the plot, what Ella was thinking, and where the overarching story was taking us, we were immediately thrust into another jarring plot line, with either new characters, or a new, sudden, and intense supernatural element.

The books opens with Ella being told that she must soon make a choice. I still don’t really understand why she was the chosen one, why she was or wasn’t special. I think this story would have been better delivered as a number of volumes instead of in just one volume. The art is beautiful, and I think the story was interesting, but everything just happened too quickly. It felt more like the pitch of a story than the fleshed out story itself. Perhaps part of the reason the story felt so fast and at times disjointed was due to it being a translated text from Cantonese, but I don’t know that for certain. I’d be interested to read more of Chi-Ho Kwong’s writing in the future!

Thank you for Netgalley for a copy of this ARC!

Indigo hooked me with the cover and the idea of the story. The illustrations were nice, especially the ones about animals (so I give the sole star for the illustrations), but they started out colourful and suddenly switched over to black and white - without any reason I could discover.

Sadly the concept hasn't delivered for me either.

I still say that the idea of the story was great, but it was rushed too much. We barely scraped the surfice of the characters. We got to know something about them and BAM we were speeding somewhere else on a motocycle, meeting up with other characters or BAM getting a flashback and just... overall bouncing around in this universe.

This story had everything, but only on a shallow level. I think it would have been best to choose just a few for a first issue and develop the rest slowly, over time.

Another story that inevitably shows there’s no point in life. And yet, at the same time there is, if you want one. A never-ending wonder of: Why? And then what?

Which is not an insult to the author(s). Their idea is good and interesting, and could be totally plausible. (Even though very ironic.)

It’s fast-paced and tackles some things only superficially, but that’s not an issue. There was enough answered for the reader to make up their own minds. It’s relatively self-explanatory. I have my theories. And I get their perspective, it makes sense, even though I partially disagree with their views – too cliche. But that’s alright, kinda the point.

Beautiful art, especially the colored prologue.
Reflective.
Not very deep characters and heavy with dialogues, but that’s pretty much the point of this book. I didn’t mind it.
Recommended.

4.5/5 stars, because even though a melancholic emptiness encompassed me after finishing, and the indigo vibe has been captured relatively perfectly, 5 stars feel too much. Not a masterpiece, but worth consuming.

~

Thank you to Mad Cave Studios for an e-ARC.

-12.03.25

Beautiful, strange, and poorly paced. My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this in advance!

'Indigo' is a beautifully illustrated and interesting story let down by poor pacing and dialogue. Whether the dialogue is just a problem with the English translation I'm not sure, but the final acts of the book were the most engrossing. The art creates an ethereal and spacey experience, really cementing the narrative and capturing the reader. I think if the graphic novel had another 100-200 pages it could be a personal favourite but, as is, I was let down. There was very little build up and the progression felt forced and rushed. Sadly this made the illustrations feel a lot more clunky in combination with the dialogue and made the entire plot feel disjointed.

I wasn't the biggest fan of this one. It felt so slow and info dumpy and I struggled to keep my attention on the characters and the situations that they were finding themselves in.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A Beautifully Crafted and Intriguing Story

Indigo by Chi-Ho Kwong is a fascinating and visually striking graphic novel that offers an immersive experience from start to finish. The artwork is beautifully done, and while I initially wished it had been in color, I understand that black-and-white is a common stylistic choice in manga. Even in monochrome, the illustrations were captivating and added depth to the story’s atmosphere.

The story itself was engaging and creative, offering a unique blend of mystery, occult themes, and self-discovery. I found it easy to follow, though I did have a few lingering questions—such as the significance of the strip across Ella’s nose. Additionally, I believe some nuances may have been lost in translation from the original Cantonese to English, which is no fault of the author but simply something that happens in the process of localization. Despite this, the storytelling remained compelling, and I appreciated how well the narrative unfolded.

Overall, Indigo is a solid four-star read for me. It’s a creative and intriguing graphic novel with stunning artwork, an engaging plot, and a well-executed setup. I would love to explore more of Chi-Ho Kwong’s work in the future!

A huge thank you to NetGalley, Mad Cave Studios, Nakama Press, and Chi-Ho Kwong for the opportunity to read and review this book!

I have chosen not to rate this book because I do not feel my rating would properly reflect the story, as I don't think I'm the target audience for this work. The artwork throughout this graphic novel is beautiful and compelling, but the story itself is reminiscent of the short stories I'd sometimes read in random old SciFi anthologies as a teen, where it felt like I only got a glimpse of the full story through the couple dozen pages provided.

The plot of this novel swirls around Ella, the central character, in a way that evokes many questions while answering very few. Though she herself tries to seek out some of those answers, Ella mostly finds herself dragged along by various supporting characters, her questions largely unanswered, until she is given an impossible choice by beings she can't even be sure she can trust.

Readers who enjoy open-ended stories inspired by conspiracy theories and the unknown may enjoy this graphic novel.