Heathen by Natasha Alterici || Quick Reviews

For how much I talk about anime and manga, I’m surprised I haven’t written a post about graphic novels or manga yet. At least one that discusses reviewing them. However, Netgalley has been generous and I’ve been given a few graphic novels to look at and review. Before we begin, I want to thank Diamond Book Distributors, Vault Comics, and Benitez Productions for giving me a review copy of these graphic novels.

Heathen is a graphic novel that will intrigue those who love Norse mythology. It centers around a girl Aydis, a young Viking, who has taken it upon herself to prove to the world that she is stronger and braver than any man by rescuing an exiled Valkyrie after she’s been outcast by her village.

The art style of this graphic novel is really unique. Even though I read it in a digital format, there were a lot of traditional techniques used in the comic and I really enjoyed it. The color palette can be a bit monochrome, but I think it fits the setting and I really enjoy the palette generally.

On top of that, Aydis is gay! Which is something I did not expect and it was a wonderful surprise. We get a female-led warrior story who’s totally into girls? Uh, count me in! In the four chapters we get in the first volume, we get a lot of topics touched upon and I think it does a great job of marrying these topics with the overall story. It starts off with really great exposition and then ends with a really strong cliff hanger. I can’t wait to see where this story goes.

Stats for Heathen:

Author: Natasha Alterici
Pages: 108
Published: August 8, 2017* by Diamond Book Distributors and Vault Comics
*The pub date on Goodreads is different, but I think this might be a volume version of the comics rather than the singular chapters as comics themselves.
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