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Cursed Pirate Girl #1

Cursed Pirate Girl

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The Cursed Pirate Girl is on a quest in search of her father.

A journey filled with adventure above and below the mythical waters of the Omerta Seas. A nautical fairytale of strange creatures, whimsical characters, swashbuckling danger and the most bizarre pirates you could hope for, Cursed Pirate Girl is certain to amaze and captivate adults and children alike!

148 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

29 people are currently reading
1403 people want to read

About the author

Jeremy A. Bastian

12 books60 followers

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5 stars
477 (34%)
4 stars
468 (34%)
3 stars
329 (24%)
2 stars
75 (5%)
1 star
14 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 278 reviews
Profile Image for David Katzman.
Author 3 books536 followers
August 27, 2013
Cursed Pirate Girl is stunning. There is no artist today in comic books who can draw like Jeremy Bastian. When the first issue of this collection came out years ago, it immediately caught my eye. The detailed black & white line drawings are irresistible. The main character and the story line are at once unique and familiar. Cursed Pirate Girl has an aura about it, that of always having been trapped inside our heads, and Bastian has managed to conjure it like Michelangelo freed his sculptures from marble. I would roughly describe it as a more elaborate, weirder Alice in Wonderland on the high seas.

cursed pirate girl 1

The plot: Cursed Pirate Girl is stranded on an island after having been abandoned by her father, but she does not remember him or know why he left her there. She befriends the daughter of the pompous, aristocratic governor the island and institutes a rebellious streak in the daughter that results in a humiliating interaction (for the governor) with a visiting dignitary. The governor sends an old pirate to kill the Cursed Pirate Girl, but instead, she escapes with her faithful parrot sidekick and heads off in search of her father whom she asserts is one of the greatest pirate captains sailing the Omerta Seas—mystical oceans teeming with bizarre creatures. Apparently, she has some mystical powers herself thanks to being the daughter of a true pirate captain, including the ability to breathe underwater and fearlessness. Adventure ensues.

cursed pirate girl 2
Thematically, the story is straightforward. There is a sense of Robin Hood. A sense of the underdog as the hero, the rich and powerful as the victimizers. Pirates aren't necessarily good, but they are the counterbalance to the arrogance of the merchants and aristocrats. Pirates are not strictly idealized, although the heroine certainly is. Cursed Pirate Girl encounters sleazy, ugly, vicious pirates and noble ones as well. I also note a comfort with the strange. Strangeness as normal.

cursed pirate girl 3

Cursed Pirate Girl is just so damn fun, so damn creative, and so damn beautiful that I urge you to pick it up. The hardback collected edition is wonderful to hold. The quality of the paper is impeccable with tactile deckled edges. There's even a few extra snippets of story and a four-page fold-out "Wanted Poster" of the Cursed Pirate Girl. When I met Jeremy at two different comic book conventions, I snapped up some limited edition prints he was offering. He's a laid back and very pleasant person. I suspect he's going to be a sought after fine artist for the rest of his life, but I hope he'll have time to continue this comic.

cursed pirate girl 4
If you have any interest in graphic storytelling, if you have any interest in illustrative art, if you have any interest in black & white ink drawings, if you have any interest in adventure stories, if you have any interest in young female protagonists of heroic stature, if you have any interest in oddity and the surreal, if you like Alice in Wonderland, if you have any interest in any of these, then I urge you to get this book! You will not be disappointed.
 cursed pirate girl 5
Profile Image for Dov Zeller.
Author 2 books123 followers
December 27, 2015
The art in this book is stunning and I love the Pirate Girl's fearlessness and swagger. I wanted to really be drawn into the story, but reading it, I felt pulled in a few directions. The detail and richness of the art can distract from the narrative movement and there's no rhythm of down-time and character building. It's just event after event after event, without pacing; no building of momentum in a kind of wave-like, tidal, motion.

This book is in some ways light and funny, with physical comedy and great characters, and it also has its depths -- a great, belligerent but thoughtful pirate girl, looking for her father. She comes across creatures who she treats with a kind of kindness it seems they aren't used to. But with a structure both feathery and unsurprising, a story whose velocity doesn't really change at all, I am not so drawn to turn the pages and I could see them just as easily being a series of related images on a gallery wall. Gorgeous, intriguing, captivating for their artistry and individual narrative weight more than for their sequential narrative direction.

Goodreads reviewers have compared the story and the art to a lot of great previous works and artists (including Lewis Carroll AIW and Hieronymus Bosch ). I can see this artist doing wonderful illustrations for Alice in Wonderland and other trippy and piratey novels. But there is a difference between illustrating a prose book and creating a sequential art novel. This often felt more like illustrations. That said, the art is wonderful, and the book itself as an artifact is really well put-together and fun. Not sure if I will read the rest of the series, but I'm glad I got this one out of the library.
Profile Image for Sanaa.
456 reviews2,534 followers
October 5, 2015
[3.5 Stars] This was pretty cool! I think the artwork is really what stands out because it manages to be beautiful, detailed, and grotesque all at the same time. The story is a bit off the wall and pretth whimsical, but I actually really liked that. I do really wish that the artwork had a bit more contrast. Everything was so detailed that it was sometimes difficult to figure out what your eyes were supposed to rest on. All that said and done, I do think this could have used just a little more of "something" you know? May be more depth to the characters and story? Regardless, I'll be interested to see how this story plays out.
Profile Image for Chad.
10.2k reviews1,050 followers
May 31, 2019
A pirate themed Alice in Wonderland. Cursed Pirate Girl is full of dark whimsy and fanatically detailed art. The ink art looks like drawings from a newspaper form the 1800's. It's incredible detailed, sometimes too detailed. There are some pages that must have taken days but unfortunately, it all blended together due to the sameness of the line throughout. Bastian would have been better served to have used pens of various sizes. The font and lettering were terrible, almost to the point where I gave up and tossed this aside. Sometimes it pays to hire a professional.
Profile Image for Stewart Tame.
2,465 reviews118 followers
April 5, 2013
Beautiful, beautiful book. Bastian's artwork is sumptuous, reminding me at times of John R. Neill, Windsor McCay, Tony Millionaire, Dame D'arcy, Bob Burden, S. Clay Wilson and Eric Shanower. There are incredible amounts of detail on every page. The story is like a child's fantasy of pirates. It almost reminds me of the One Piece manga in some respects. This is impressive stuff, and I eagerly await volume 2. Special kudos to the designer of this book, as it's a work of art in itself (take that, ereaders!). Intentionally crafted to look like something published in the early 1900s, this book features an embossed cover, ragged-edged pages, and a foldout poster in the back. Definitely a volume worth owning.
Profile Image for Drew Canole.
3,088 reviews41 followers
April 25, 2023
I need to read this one again. The artwork completely took over the story for me.

Bastian puts so much into each and every page and panel, its incredible.

Some of the pirate scenes reminded me of something S. Clay Wilson would do with his wild illustrations in Zap Comix.
Profile Image for Tony DiTerlizzi.
Author 99 books2,204 followers
April 20, 2011
Jeremy Bastian may not be a name you are familiar with in terms of comic lore, but mark my words: he soon will be. The Hieronymous Bosch-like ink-work alone in this sequential masterpiece makes this artist green with envy, nevermind the Alice-in-Wonderland-meets-Treasure-Island story. Curse you, Jeremy Bastian!
Profile Image for Kitty G Books.
1,684 reviews2,970 followers
May 25, 2016
So I just read this in one sitting and I came away with a feelings about Pirates-Victorians-Alice-in-Wonderland-Underwater-Adventures-&-Beautiful-Art; essentially this book has a lot going on...

I picked this up after reading the Mouse Guard where Jeremy Bastian did some guest artist work becuase I immediately loved his style of drawing and line-work and it reminded me a lot of the style I love to draw in. Therefore, I could really appreciate the LEVEL of detail within this story. This book, every page of this book, is meticulously detailed to the extreme. It's all in black and white and the style is both mystical and never-ending, constantly drawing you deeper into the madness and fun that is the Cursed Pirate Girl's story. I found myself pouring over pages for minutes at a time and still definitely not spotting every little thing. This will 100% be a book that deserves multiple re-reads just to spot everything that's packed inside.

I would definitely recommend this if you like old, over-exaggerated comic strips, Pirates or Alice in Wonderland becuase I do think that there's clearly inspiration pulled from that. This is a wacky all-ages story with so much happening it's exciting to investigate and be pulled into the fun. You won't want the story to end, and I definitely am excited for the next volume (whenever it's coming). 4* overall!
Profile Image for karli.
330 reviews179 followers
September 15, 2019
2/5 stars!

This art is so beautiful (besides the dialogue bubbles which are almost impossible to read at times), but this story just never had any sense or structure. I was more confused on the last page than the first. Very disappointed.
Profile Image for All Things Urban Fantasy.
1,921 reviews620 followers
September 7, 2017
Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy

It’s rare to find a book that feels darkly grown up and enchantingly child-like at the same time. CURSED PIRATE GIRL is spooky, touching and intricate, luring you into a topsy-turvy world with detailed images that pull you in.

The art ranges from the charming to the disgusting, with a distinct Alice in Wonderland sense of the grotesque, especially in the humanoid characters. They have large heads and out of proportion features, much like the humanoids in Sir John Tenniel’s original illustrations.

As the Cursed Pirate Girl dives deeper into the magical seas, she meets duelling knights in swordfish armour, giant sea-puppies and all manner of pirates. She loses an eye, gains a talking parrot, and searches for the one thing she really wants: her father.

The story can be ridiculous, but remembers to veer back to the serious a few times, including one time that made me gasp out loud. There are moments of nonsense but the book does a good job keeping readers on track.

CURSED PIRATE GIRL is amazing, and if you haven’t read it before, pick up the latest copy (beige cover, instead of blue) which includes an amazingly funny artists’ gallery at the back, where a man tasked with getting a portrait of the pirate girl gets descriptions of her from various sources, leading to the different artists takes. My favourite is Mike Mignola’s.

Profile Image for Elliot A.
704 reviews46 followers
April 29, 2020
I got the first volume of Cursed Pirate Girl as a Christmas gift and I finally took the time to read it.

I snuggled up on the couch, ready to dive into this adventure story about a pirate girl and before I knew it, I had finished the book.

It was a great read that grabbed hold of me and didn’t let go even after I had finished. I want to know more. I want to read more.

Unfortunately, under our current circumstances with comic bookstores and libraries temporarily shut down, I have to ignore that itch in my fingers to get them on a copy of the second volume for the time being.

One of the promotional review snippets that was included on the back cover of the volume mentioned that this story felt like something from the 1890’s and I have to agree wholeheartedly.

It has a flavour of Treasure Island, of the good old-fashioned adventure stories, with a dash of the bizarre storytelling of Alice in Wonderland…with pirates.

It worked wonderfully. It was able to transport me into an exciting world of fantasy that breaks down the barriers between the human, animal and fairy tale worlds.

I appreciated making the protagonist a feisty pirate girl, who is afraid of no one and nothing. It gave the classic adventure story a refreshing new perspective.

The artwork was absolutely stunning. I can’t remember the last time I read a graphic novel that included so much detail in each frame.

A lot of thought, effort and love went into bringing this story to life.

The only comment I need to make is that because of the many details included in each frame and because the entire story was only drawn in black, it got a bit busy at times.

I had difficulty distinguishing all the important details that were so carefully drawn, because there wasn’t much contrast between the black and white sections.

A little colour to help with the contrast would have made reading it a bit easier on the eyes, because I was curious about all those little gems that were included in each frame and I wanted to give the artist the attention he deserved for all the work he put into this great story.

Overall, I still loved it and hopefully I can find a copy of the second volume in the near future, because I’m very curious how this story ends. I would recommend it to anyone, who loves adventure/pirate stories, fantasy and graphic novels.

ElliotScribbles
Profile Image for Maria Kramer.
681 reviews23 followers
February 3, 2014
This book left me torn. On one hand, the art is top-notch, face-meltingly amazing and deserves five stars. The story is what took this down to three stars. It felt like Alice in Wonderland, but without the whimsy or charm. The titular Cursed Pirate Girl is hard to get attached to -- she's not very human, she doesn't have much of an emotional range, and she's too good at everything. But the art is good enough that you should read it anyway -- It's surreal, Heironomous-Bosch-like in its hallucinatory feverishness, and amazingly intricate.
Profile Image for Adam M .
656 reviews20 followers
May 18, 2016
The story and characters are whimsical and engaging, but it's the art. The art of this book, for me, is unlike anything I've seen in a very long time. I find it captivating and almost overwhelming in detail at times. I would re-read pages just to try and take in the scope of it all. Truly an enjoyable story that I hope has many follow up tales.
Profile Image for Naja.
148 reviews7 followers
August 13, 2022
I quite like the art style for this comic but it was just too busy to really follow the important actions.
My favourite stylistic choice was changing the text bubbles to shapes relevant to the story (e.g. someone talking about men being thrown overboard and the text bubble is shaped like a drowning man).

not sure if I will continue.
Profile Image for Paul.
Author 130 books11.7k followers
February 7, 2014
So much fun and the art is an explosion of details on the pages. You could pour over the illustrations for an afternoon. Read it with my 9 yr old daughter. Great fun. Did I say it was fun? It is.
Profile Image for Jillian.
39 reviews
December 26, 2021
Amazingly detailed artwork, I think I almost spent more time admiring the artwork than I did reading the actual story! Can't wait for the 2nd one!
Profile Image for Pikobooks.
469 reviews85 followers
June 20, 2018
une héroïne entraînante, des pirates, la liberté et des prouesses artistiques époustouflantes !! Que demander de plus ?!
Profile Image for Brittney.
99 reviews14 followers
September 29, 2013
The Cursed Pirate Girl is a mind-twisting trip through the adventures of a young girl looking for her pirate father on the Omertà Seas. It has been compared to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which I can see, but I enjoyed this WAY more.

Starting out, you meet Apollonia, the Govenor's daughter, who witnesses a fight between three rough looking boys and young girl. After the boys get thrashed, the young girls tells Apollonia to meet her the next day & she would tell the tale of the Cursed Pirate Girl. This starts the wild and odd tale of a girl on a quest to find her father. Apollonia doesn't seem to have much of a roll beyond this, but that could change. CPG continues on her journey with the help of her parrot Pepper Dice. A wide cast of characters is met, some staying, some going, mostly head scratching. My favorite was the potato with a mustache (he's dangerous.) Each page is filled with highly detailed drawings and there are elaborate backgrounds with the quirky characters. It's takes a moment to adjust if you aren't used to it.

I wasn't planning on reading this, or even liking it as much as I did. While waiting at the library I randomly grabbed this, planning to put it back before leaving. Instead, I checked it out and sat in my car later finishing it! Sadly, this is the first vol. I want to know what happens!
Profile Image for Cale.
3,913 reviews26 followers
July 6, 2016
First off, the art in this book is the high-point - all ink work with a level of detail rarely seen today, and with lots of details buried in it, for readers who want to just luxuriate in the art, this is a book for you. And the story has a definite appeal; it feels very much in the Little Nemo in Slumberland mode, a child going through absurd situations with absolutely no concern of how strange things are, as our Cursed Pirate Girl searches the Omerta Seas for her pirate captain father. It mostly comes across as innocent fun, even as she faces down despicable pirates and strange animals.
So why only three stars? Two factors for me - one, the font work is not great; especially in the prologue and epilogue I found it nigh unreadable on some pages. And even when it is readable, the page layouts make the flow of the story choppier than it needs to be. Also, that insane amount of detail manages to overwhelm several pages, hiding the actual plot (or narration in some places) behind a wall of decor. These are minor complaints, though. It's a nice enough book with a lot of imagination; it just doesn't quite feel finished to me.
Profile Image for Heather.
379 reviews13 followers
December 29, 2016
My coworker lent this to me when she found out I love pirates. The illustrations are intensely detailed—sometime distractingly so—and the story had a sort of Alice in Wonderland on the High Seas vibe. It's fun enough, but I probably won't pick up the next collected volume. It doesn't read enough like a well-illustrated story for me. There are odd jumps in the narrative, stilted dialogue, and a general disconnect between the quality/efficacy of the words and the pictures.
Profile Image for M.C. Chronister.
450 reviews15 followers
February 9, 2022
This was just okay. The artwork was interesting and I really wanted to enjoy the storyline but just didn’t. The font of the text made it really difficult to read and I had to strain my eyes to understand it. I had higher hopes going into this and now feel slightly disappointed that I wasted my time.
Profile Image for Caitlyn.
153 reviews3 followers
April 9, 2015
The sheer detail on every single page of this book is stunning. I found myself holding the book weirdly close to my face just to see all the hidden elements which are just so elaborate and amazing. Plus the story is kick-ass and features two little girls.
Profile Image for Dawnblackbird.
13 reviews
November 8, 2016
Tout simplement magnifique ! Mon souhait serait de vivre cette aventure, à travers ce dessin minutieux et si beau...
Profile Image for Jennifer Blair.
173 reviews7 followers
December 27, 2016
The artwork and writing in this book are absolutely breathtaking. (And it's about a fierce pirate girl, so it was kind of a given that I would love it.)
Profile Image for Sucre.
546 reviews47 followers
May 18, 2025
this was a reread for me, though its probably been like a decade since I first read it (it's not even on my goodreads!). the art is stunning and the story is very fun. it's a shame there hasn't been any more printed for this comic, though I imagine the amount of time it takes for a single page is intense and possibly not "worth it" monetarily. I'd love for it to be picked up again someday.

edit: apparently a new volume came out this year? but looking it up, retailers have it listed but most of them don't have any images. it's on the artist's site with photos and everything, but I'm still curious if this thing really exists and people have it in their hands! I would think this getting another volume would have been a huge deal, but it hardly seems to be talked about. very strange.
Profile Image for Rachel.
348 reviews3 followers
April 23, 2025
I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that every square centimeter of this book is absolutely stunning. It’s like poring over the most immersive I Spy book. WOW. Wowowow. This has all the fine detail of Levi Pinfold’s ink drawings, the humor of caricature, the grace of antique engravings and the earnestness of our heroine in every panel. It’s like nothing else you’ve ever picked up.

Our heroine is lively, determined, and not going to be stopped by the little hang-ups like getting imprisoned or walking the plank. The painter Gail Potocki stated that “‘Cursed Pirate Girl’ is our generation’s ‘Alice in Wonderland,’” and I couldn’t agree more.
Profile Image for Kari Rhiannon (Moon Magister Reviews).
332 reviews258 followers
January 3, 2019
A wild hazy dreamscape of a graphic novel about a young girl who is searching for her pirate father with page after page of astounding art. This is not a story you should try and rationalise too much but just let it sweep you away with its bizarreness and charm.
Profile Image for Wadi Hisham.
150 reviews
December 16, 2022
Liked the concept, enjoyed the story, but boy the layout was disorienting as hell. I understand what Bastian was going for with the folktale immersion into the art and structure of panels themselves but it gave me a headache.
Profile Image for Devin.
265 reviews1 follower
September 6, 2025
The art is incredible and very detailed, sometimes to its detriment. Trying to focus on the dialogue and where the story is going becomes kind of difficult when you are also trying to look at every panel and admire the detail.

As for the story i didn’t realize this was more for a YA audience, so not my jam. I can definitely see a younger audience (12-18) enjoying this book very much.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 278 reviews

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