Customer Reviews

Priest, Vol. 1: Prelude for the Deceased, Part 1

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Since there is plenty of plot summary to be found in the reviews below, I'll concentrate on why "Priest" is a unique,moving and enthralling series.
My first bit of praise has to go to the artwork, which is hands-down the most 'western' of any manhwa/manga I've read. It defies both the typical Korean and Japanese cartoon styles, and indeed the author says that he was influenced by the stark black and white style of "Hellboy" and spaghetti westerns. Although I'm in love with the cover paintings, the inside art is equally as wonderful, even if it is different.
As for the storyline, in this first book there is precious little for a shoujo fan to look for, as it primarily focuses on violence, massive zombie slaughtering and vengeance. This may turn some off, but the tragedy that is Ivan Issacs life reveals itself slowly over subsequent books. There is a bit of romantic tragedy that I found was similar to that in Wuthering Heights even. And the religious politics and secrecy are certainly very realistic and true to life. But the supernatural is dealt with equally as well, as it appears that Hyung has done his homework in regards to apocryphal allusions. And lets not forget that this whole things plays out in a demented vision of the old west, which adds an unusual dimension to the story.
As the series doesn't have an ending yet, I find this to be a surprising and unique series in a genre filled with overused plots and ideas.

Though very little light was shed as to the over-all story of Priest, this volume did one thing that had me intrigued, and that was to present the darkness of the storyline that is to come. Using Christianity as a base, Priest follows Ivan Isaacs, a man possessed by a want for revenge and holding within him awful secrets that most religious men wouldn't want to know, including a glimpse into Hell. Now, serving his master Belial, Ivan journeys across the American West in search of a man named Jarbilong, fighting Jarbilong's zombie tools along the way. While on a train in search of this man, Ivan Isaacs's journey is interrupted when a group of bandits robs the train in order to save their wanted leader. Yet these bandits have no idea what waits for them in the darkest part of the train, and only the Priest can fight off the evil creatures that are ready to rise.

I think the best part about this volume was the way in which it begin. Very controversial, especially for a religious minded person; Ivan Isaacs hangs from a cross and faces his own resurrection of sorts, and ends up becoming the powerful, gun-toting, knife-slashing outlaw he now is. The agony of Ivan Isaacs is apparent in every action he makes along the way, and his history, which is explored only briefly, is enough to keep me reading this series. I just liked the character of Ivan and the setting in which he was placed.

Though absolutely not a perfect start, as this volume gets almost nowhere fast, it is definitely an intriguing beginning to what is shaping up to be a very bloody and mature series. While Priest technically isn't manga(it's Korean in origin) I would still recommend this to fans of mature manga like Hellsing, as it shares a lot of similarities with that series.

WARNING: This is not recommended for anyone who is sensitive to dark and disturbing themes, as well as sensitive to issues dealing with religion.

I had no idea what I would be reading when I picked this up. I had read the graphic novel, "Road to Perdition," and wanted to read more graphic novels. I saw this one and it seemed very interesting. In less than an hour I finished the book, feeling both amazed and very disturbed at the same time. Let it be known, "Priest: Vol. 1" is not for the weak.

It is a graphic novel, meaning that it is like a comic book, but in book length, and it is in black and white. It was written by Min-Woo Hyung, both story and artwork.

Here's the story, or at least how it begins: Evil and darkness lurks out in the west, and it threatens every living thing on the planet. Those who worship the archangel, Temozarela, are brainwashed and are nothing more but little minions carrying out horrifying and unbelievable tasks. The only man who stands a chance against them is Ivan Isaacs, who is a fallen priest. Torn by vengeance and pain, he sold his soul to the devil, Belial. Although he is now able to fight the evil that Temozarela is preparing for the world, Ivan is becoming more and more of the monster Belial is hoping for. This is the beginning of a dark tale of vengeance, lost faith, violence, and a lost love.

The pages really fly by, and the story is fast-paced and action packed. I just wished there was more dialogue and character development, but I think more of that will come to light in the other installments.

All in all, this was an interesting start to what seems to be a dark tale of blood-lust and pain. Again, this is not for the weak and sensitive. It is a very disturbing and shocking tale. I look forward into reading the others to come.

The original definition of the word "sublime" is something so terrifying that it becomes beautiful. Priest, then, is sublime. It takes place in an ambiguous time period: within the Wild West (1860s-1880s), with World War I era weapons (1914-1918), and yet is 300 years earlier than the "modern" day (1700?). Oh, and there are zombies. Lots of zombies.

Priest is a brilliant, original, violent, dark, creative, and incredibly enthralling work of fiction. Damned to Hell for unleashing the fallen angel Temozarella from his ancient prison, the late priest Ivan Isaacs sells half his soul to Temozarella's demon rival Belial. Belial returns Isaacs to earth as an undead gunslinger, armed to the teeth with an arsenal of guns, blades, explosives, sorcery, and demonic abilities. His mission: prevent the awakened Temozarella from conquering the world, beginning with the Wild West. While tangling with the walking dead and remarkably horrifying demons, Isaacs must also fight with Belial for control of his own soul -- all the while mourning the loss of the woman he loves.

Priest is told over the course of hundreds of years in a not-particularly-chronological order. The cast of characters is simply wonderful, and the way in which all the pieces of the story fit together is simply brilliant. This is a not a tail for those faint of heart -- or weak in faith!

This manga is a wonderful start to a series. The main character is a Priest who cursed God, and sold half his soul to a demon. In return, he was given immortality, and a quest to destroy a rival demon.

These facts are only sparringly revealed through short flashbacks, and this helps add to the drama. However, drama does not appear to be the main focus of this series. The focus is on action and no-holds-barred fighting, all of which takes place in a western setting.

This book is almost cover-to-cover action, from train hijacking to assaults by the undead. It is definitely not for younger readers due to the vast amounts of blood-letting, but there is no real carnage beyond this. Still, the book's suggested audience is 16+, and I whole-heartedly agree.

Beyond the violence, this is a great opener to what promises to be a very memorable series.

So I bought this Dream Theater album Systematic Chaos and I found that the lyrics to the most epic song was inspired by Priest. After I fell in love with the lyrics, I wanted to know the whole story.

The story is slightly different -- the DT lyrics are taken to somewhat more symbolic level.

I drowned into the world as soon as I read the first page, it is very catchy. The story is well written. There's a lot of blood, killing and dying but even the soon-to-die characters have enough space to have their personalities drawn. The drawing style is intriguing and delivers the atmosphere well.

Although it deals with Christian topics, it is viewed from a different point of view than most Christianity-related stuff you can find out there. The symbolism is shifted and you can smell the different culture from which it comes.
Almost everything is pretty dark, none happy. The main driving force for most characters is revenge, God is unforgiving and the main character's greatest desire -- to reunite with his love -- is without hope.

The story in Volume 1 is pretty short as you can expect from a comic book but given that, it is a very solid one with impressive delivery and will leave you with a lot of curiosity about the continuation.

I had never heard of this manga until I went to a used book shop and picked up the first 10 Volumes of this manga for $25 and I must say it was well worth the money. Anyway, this is my review of this wild and awesome manga.

Priest starts off with several small pictures depicting a man on a cross and a dark stranger in dialogue, but this mystery quickly takes a back seat as we see a priest reading from the bible, tons of flesh-crazed zombies, a stranger dressed in a long coat, and set in an Old West town. Quickly the action picks up as the zombies attack the man in the long coat who fights back with what can be best described as a "Tommy Gun" and a sawed-off shotgun, blasting the zombies with ammunition, but just as the stranger in the long coat faces off with the priest, the scene quickly changes to a train already in progress where several large, onimous looking boxes are heavily chained down.

The stranger in the long coat (who's named Ivan Issacs) boards the train that quickly turns into a bloodbath as an outlaw gang leader is led by Marshalls to stand trial for their misdeeds, but the gang has something to say about their leader's imprisonment. The train soon turns into a bloodbath for all the innocent's on the train, but the tide quickly turns as whatever is in the crates begins to come to life. Ivan Issacs does what he does best, and that's to kill, but these towering creatures are easily able to kill several men at once, what chance does one other man stand against such dire odds. Well, when you're armed with a Tommy Gun, a Sawed-Off Shotgun, and several sticks of dynamite, you can really level out the playing field.

This is one of the strangest stories I have read, vengeance, zombies, the old-west, and "new-aged" type of weapons all rolled up into one neat little ball, well, I guess you can't really call it neat because you're hardpressed to find any pages in this book that doesn't contain some sort of bloodshed. The drawing is amazing and the action sequences are masterfully drawn. Just the whole idea in this story is enough to grab hold of you and hang on. After reading this first volume, I was eager to read volumes 2-10 just to see what happened to Ivan Issacs and his journey, but those reviews are best left for another day.

In conclusion, if you like zombies, if you like the old-west, if you like to read about one man's quest for revenge on those who took everything from him in life, go out and get Priest (and yes, there are several religious tones to this story but nothing that is necessarily preachy).

This was a really great book i can't wait till i read the next one in the series. This book is about a priest named Ivan who sold half his soul to the devil. And in return he becomes imortal. He is trying to get revenge for his wife Gena. In this book he fights on a train with the "CHILDREN OF HELL".I suggest that mature readers should read this only.

I really like this guy's artwork. It's vivid and distinct and seems original to me, compared to other artists. Religion mixed in with gothic horror and a graphic portrayal of the way things might have been, Priest is one of my favorite stories of all time. This book isn't recommended for those who are offended easily.

Having just read the entire series 1-16 (although its not yet finished), I can say that Priest dramatically deepens in complexity and nuance as it goes on. The first 2 volumes have a heavy emphasis on action, and few comic artists do action as well as Min-Woo Hyung. But by the end of volume 7 Priest has also introduced a large cast of characters, followed them through multiple time periods, and touched on a variety of philosophical issues including the nature of god and the fallibility of faith. Highly recommended.