This graphic novel is the perfect gift for a middle school child of 11 - 12 who is getting into experiencing adolescent angst, heavy metal, Goth culture, and fantasy fiction. The story is a time-worn one: a young orphan and outsider, Kriss, the son of a vanished king, is raised among incurious Medieval village folk and must come into his own. Black haired, pale, and running around in torn black clothing, he discovers the power of three supernatural beings -- Borgir the Blood Drinker, Erikk the Dark King, and Tove the Mistress of Sabrecats, and suspects Erikk is his father.

My inner 11-year-old enjoyed this a lot, but even she became tired of the three-times-you're-out trope: Kriss is betrayed not once, but twice, by the villagers and/or the local Duke, and against all common sense, sets himself up for a third betrayal, after he is strung up and whipped. Like the Incredible Hulk, he explodes in white-hot rage, takes revenge, and goes into exile in search of his heritage. He leaves his childhood sweetie behind, who is now pregnant with the odious Duke's child, another betrayal.

It sounds like every anime ever created, but there's a reason for that -- it's readable, even if I wasn't too happy with the yearning naivete of the hero and the obvious hostility of the villagers.

I thought the illustrations were perhaps stronger than the story. They were the sort of thing that would appeal to a middle schooler, and also the sort of thing they might doodle themselves -- but imbued with an adult's sophistication, no small feat on the part of artist Warren Wucinich. I had lots of fun drawing analogies from it to the 1970s costuming of the rock group KISS, to Gwar, to Northwest Coast Indian art.

Unfortunately Kriss, though intended to be a series, seems to be a one-off at this point, so it's anyone's guess where the story will go. ( )

I do not have a lot of feelings about this story. If this is a standalone, it is lacking something, but, if it’s only volume one, then I would like to see Kriss discover his origins. One thing I enjoyed about this story was the implications. Everything didn’t have to be spelled out. Like, Anja being pregnant? All of the characters speak with an old-timey accent which was fine. I think the cartoony art style is cute, but when it came to dramatic moments where we were supposed to see brutal wrath displayed, we are left feeling like a frozen slice of pizza. Like, we should be able to enjoy it, but we cannot in this format. I think some speed lines or giant exclamatory marks might have made the punches and whatnot feel more dynamic. On the other hand, the sabertooth spirit looked perfectly creepy.

Despite the rumors and predictions, it’s nice that Kriss and Anja were simply just friends (tho I wouldn’t have minded the cliché route. boy and his childhood friend? Come on, that’s just too cute). Kriss seems like a little sad-sack, emo-boy, but I did not dislike him. Anja was vaguely interesting, but we didn’t see enough of her. Vanya, the older brother, had Kriss in his head rent-free. I don’t know why he had such raging jealousy toward Kriss, but it was annoying to watch his shenanigans.

Overall, the pacing with the time skips just felt too fast. Still, I'm game for a volume two tho. I think the last few pages were fitting. ( )

A moody emo kid from the north grows up in a southern village but doesn't fit in. He slays a beast whose spirit gives him the 'gift' of rage. Angry emo coming-of-age ensues. ( )

The graphics where amazing in this novel, however I wish Kriss's background would have been explored a little more. I did like the story line, it left the ending wondering, "what will happen next?" I usually don't read graphic-novels but the cover alone is what caught my attention.

Over all rating 3.5, this is my honest opinion! ( )