Customer Reviews

Dungeon: The Early Years - Vol. 1: The Night Shirt

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love the main books in the Dungeon series, but had somehow never gotten around to reading the Early Years series despite the art being handled by Christophe Blain, who I am a big fan of. Unfortunately, the writing here is oddly not consistent with the quality found in the rest of the series. It starts out a bit disengaged from the reader and stays that way all the way through. Everything here seems to be a slightly diluted version of what is found in the other volumes of the Dungeon series. Despite being chronologically the first book in the series, I cannot really recommend this book as a starting point for some somebody interested in reading the series (for this I recommend Dungeon Zenith 1: Duck Heart, which is amazingly good.) Also, the book is not really for kids despite its all-ages appearances as there is a bit o' the sex in it.

A more focused Dungeon tale, it follows the evolution of the vigilante 'the night-shirt'. The book showcases the ever charming art of French artist Lewis Trondheim. The focused local and diverse cast of characters helps this tale stick out amongst an already impressive string of Dungeon collections. Erotic and dangerous, fantasy fans would do well to check out The Night Shirt.

I am very occasional reader of comics, but I thought this one
was quite entertaining. The series was recommended in a recent
NYT article, so I decided to take a look. The art does not compare
to the French greats like Moebius, but it fits the story. My understanding
is that this is not representative of the other entries in the series,
but I'd still recommend it.

artwork, story, characters, adventure, hilarious writing -- this has it all.

Joann Sfar, Dungeon: The Early Years, vol. 1: The Night Shirt (Nantier Ball Minoustchine, 2005)

Did you know Hyacinthe used to be a crimefighter? It's true! Sfar, Trondheim, and Blain give you the skinny in The Night Shirt, volume I of Dungeon: The Early Years, which deals with the care and feeding of the young Hyacinthe, who finds himself transformed (through no fault of his own, mind you) into a masked crusader for justice after going to the big city to live with his corrupt uncle.

My initial impression of the book was "starts slow and gets better as it goes on," but I've come to realize that "gets better" was not the book, it's me-- I got used to the layout, which is often mediocre at best, with everything crammed into far too small a space.

Not one of Dungeon's best volumes, but if you're a fan, you'll get a kick out of it. ** ½