Una terra fantastica, dove la magia prende vita, un gruppo di mercenari senza scrupoli, comandati dal capitano Ivro, viene reclutato per combattere nella guerra contro gli Elfi neri. Inaspettatamente, durante la battaglia, la squadra viene avvolta da una nebbia misteriosa che conduce a una strana terra ostile, dove i nostri dovranno ricompattarsi per difendersi da nuove inedite minacce. Una storia ricca di magia, portata ai lettori dalle altrettanto magiche mani di un autentico maestro del disegno come Enrique Fernández che si è ispirato ai racconti dello scrittore fantasy polacco Andrej Sapkowski.
If you're looking for a graphic novel with a unique style of artwork, keep Brigada on your radar. I'm not a massive graphic novel/comic book reader, but I have never seen artwork quite like this before. However, it didn't always work for me. It's definitely eye-catching. The bright colors and crisp lines worked for me, but it was often very hard to distinguish what was happening. And even though all the characters are from a fantasy world and are not real people, they were drawn in such a way that I could never imagine them as being real. They were like strange, squat, distorted figures that, for me, took halfway through the novel to get used to.
Another problem that I had with this GN was the plot. By the end of the novel, I was clear on the main storyline and world-building, but readers are thrust right into the story and it's not clear what is going on until that halfway point. In a regular fantasy novel, I have no problems with that. I think it was because the artwork was confusing as well that I had issues. The combined vagueness of the artwork and plot meant I couldn't engage at all the with story and that left me feeling bored and a bit frustrated.
I can see the potential in the story and think it's introducing a lot of interesting elements that I haven't seen that much before. But it's not a graphic novel series that I will be continuing. However, I would still suggest flipping through the first few pages, and if the artwork appeals to you, you might really enjoy it.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher Magnetic Press for the opportunity to read an advanced reader copy.
Riletto con grande piacere questo splendido lavoro, come si fa a non simpatizzare subito per la brigata di loschi figuri che Ivro cerca di tenere in carreggiata? Mettono in risalto gli aspetti più burberi e venali della loro razza, i nani - duri come la pietra e doppiamente testardi. Si muovono in un’ambientazione fantasy di stampo abbastanza classico (e cupo: elfi oscuri, streghe, …), dove ogni singola illustrazione è un capolavoro, eppure lo svolgimento della storia è alquanto originale. Il pezzo forte però sono i botoli protagonisti, ognuno con il proprio caratteraccio e i suoi demoni personali, se la dovranno vedere con una vera e propria forza della natura. Cruento, sensibile e…magico. Un’opera che giustifica pienamente l’appellativo per i fumetti di “nona arte”. P.S. Il mio preferito è l’impreciso cecchino Avian :P
The plot is amazing, I didn't give four stars because I got a bit lost and had to return one or two pages back to remember who did what. The story is about Ivro, a dwarf at the head of a convicts band, supposed to fight some kind of dark elves but when a strange mist appears, things get a little bit messy and the inside of your head too, you don't know who's fighting who anymore. The art work is original and stuning, caught my eye the moment I saw the cover. I'm gonna be reading the second volume, hoping that I would make "la part des choses"!
Provided by Netgalley (thank you!) for an honest review
Ignite your imagination. Rethink the world, and rethink what you've learned about dwarves, elves, and witches. I'm still amazed at the way Fernandez was able to capture the essence of such trope fantasy elements and twist them into ways that reawaken fantasy.
The artwork is visually stunning and stimulating. I admit that I initially had some difficulty distinguishing certain characteristics, even mistaking more than one female for male, occasionally having to backtrack a couple pages to remember who did what, and yet the artwork is incredible. I'll take the small confusion to be presented with such intriguing images. The few pages of concept art in the back of the book present an enjoyable journey through 'what could have been' to 'what is.' Anywhere along that journey would have been an appropriate stopping point, but there's something extra mystical about the final product. Sharp angular features, complexity of layers, misted backgrounds which remind me that there is more in this world and others than I can be entirely familiar with. It feels fantastical.
And the story... brilliant. At the start of the novel, I found the quick jumps slightly confusing, but as it progresses, the simultaneous action heightens the suspense and intensity of the situation. The Voirandeer, the mist, the witches' past, the separation of the dwarves, Ivro, the human children--each element blends in a beautiful tapestry which has me eagerly anticipating the next book. Especially with that ending... oh man.
From an analytical perspective, you'll discover themes of doubt in the face of the unknown as well as family strife/unity.
I give this book 9/10... or 5/5 (rounded up), and I recommend it to those interested in fantasy graphic novels. You certainly need to have a certain level of experience with the genre and style, or else threaten confusion to override the enjoyment of this graphic novel.
You can find this review crosslisted on Amazon, Goodreads, and NetGalley.
A very good first installment. I really enjoyed this story, worldbuilding, and the art. The narrative is sometimes on the edge of too much exposition but I think the author made a good job. The art is really different and more akin to some illustrations I have seen. It's good to see this kind of design being used in comics. The panels are very cinematic and the sequence of images is good... Sometimes the art makes it a bit hard to read the images, it's necessary to watch them carefully. I recommend this book.
Brigada é um projecto de banda desenhada do artista Enrique Fernandez. A edição do livro foi conseguida via crowd funding, em 2013, com o apoio dos fãs, e desde então o autor já conseguiu também a edição do segundo volume, em 2014. A campanha para o terceiro volume está a decorrer agora, em 2019.
Só li o primeiro volume. Talvez a culpa seja minha… nem sempre sou super inteligente… e tenho vergonha de admitir, mas o certo é que… não percebi nada da história ):
A arte é fantástica. As cores são maravilhosas e o estilo é tão único e interessante! Adoraria ter gostado deste livro, mas… não consegui entender nada do que se passa nele.
Quando li Monstress também tive alguma dificuldade em entender o enredo do primeiro volume, mas compreendi o suficiente para me sentir envolvida na história e ter vontade de ler os volumes seguintes. Com esta BD, infelizmente, sinto que não vale a pena passar ao segundo volume.
O que entendi até agora foi isto… trata-se de um mundo estilo fantasia medieval, onde várias raças coexistem, em sociedades separadas. No início há um rei ou um general que morre e depois não consigo entender se o filho dele volta a aparecer na história ou não… Há um exército de anões que estão em guerra, mas não entendi com quem, se é com uns elfos negros ou entre eles próprios. Há umas bruxas, mas não entendi se estão noutro plano de existência, e se sim, como é que o pessoal na terra as vai visitar às vezes. Existem umas criaturas que vêm com o nevoeiro e atacam as pessoas, mas não percebi se vieram do plano das bruxas, nem se as bruxas estão do lado das criaturas ou das pessoas… Há dois irmãos novinhos, um rapaz que gosta de histórias e uma rapariga que tem visões. Até tenho interesse em saber o que lhes acontece. Mas a história salta constantemente de personagem em personagem, e com tanta coisa a acontecer ao mesmo tempo, não só não consigo entender o que se passa, como não tenho tempo de me conectar emocionalmente com os personagens.
O resumo na página oficial do autor é o seguinte: “The veteran captain Ivro has been recruited to command a hard convict´s squadron, in the long war against the black elfs. During the battle a mysterious fog traps them on a chaotic strange land, where they will have to fight another war, this time to survive as a group.”
Talvez tente ler o segundo volume mais tarde… depois de reler o primeiro.
From what I could gather this graphic novel was about a Dwarf named Ivro leading a band of convicts to wage war against the dark elves when this mysterious mist separates them but as I got more into to it I wasnt sure anymore who they were suppose to be fighting. I actually had to go back to double check who they were waging war against. Reading it in pdf format with the very small writing made the experience unpleasant.
I had no idea what this was about when I started it but the art looked like something I would enjoy and I wasnt disapointed. I loved the color choice and the background details. The setting and the different creatures were compelling. I did feel like the artwork for the characters was missing something but it was still above average. The art was probably one of the things I enjoyed the most about this graphic novel.
I usually appreciated the skip between scenes as to not waste time on irrelevant matters. However in this graphic novel it made it even harder to follow, especially in the beginning when we're introduced to the characters and the world. We go from one place and character to another without warning. It also didnt help that the writing was really small. I spent more time trying to figure out what was going then actually reading the story. It was like trying to piece together a puzzle.
There was a good amount of dialogue which helped me get a feel for the depth of the world and the characters but I was still confused by the flow of the events. I didnt understand why the dark fae on page 10 warned the towns people about the mist if they're at war. The plot wasnt very clear besides them trying to find there way home after this mysterious mist transported parts of their group to different locations. I had to overlook the fact I didnt understand what was going on and keep reading in the hopes that Id be able to piece the story together.
“Tenés que leerte esto” me dijo Guillermo Höhn cuando me lo prestó “es una reinvención completa del género aventura”. Y vaya si tenía razón. La brigada del título es los últimos vestigios de un batallón de enanos, diezmados por el largo tiempo que lleva esta guerra con el Voirandeer -un ser mítico que avanza por estas tierras al ritmo de una niebla sobrenatural que desconcierta y extravía a todo aquel que se interna en ella- liderados por el escéptico Ivro. Ivro es escéptico por varias razones. La principal, que esta guerra sea ganable (o de hecho, tenga algún sentido); que sus aliados -los Elfos Negros- no aprovechen para degollarlos a la primera de cambio para poder quedarse con la tecnología enana (superior a la de todos los demás); que Las Hermanas -un grupo de brujas- que los lideran no tengan a su vez su propia agenda o que sus propios subordinados no tiren todo al garete y lo destripen (cómo posiblemente hayan hecho con su anterior líder). En este contexto brutal, desordenado narrativamente -queda en el lector armar mucho de este universo, sus reglas, su funcionamiento- es que Fernández brilla, presentando personajes interesantísimos, reconocibles (el género está ahí, presente todo el tiempo) pero reinventados a su manera, por completo bajo su óptica. Y qué decir del dibujo, parte fundamental para que esta reinvención funcione plenamente. Una pluma única y distinta, con estallidos alucinantes de color -y de diseño del mundo, sus criaturas y personajes- el trabajo de Fernández descolla por todos lados. Claro, no es un tomo que termine o cierre demasiado en nada -es el primero de tres, el segundo ya está disponible, el tercer actualmente en proceso- aunque acaso sí Ivro tenga su propia historia en este primer arco. A todos los fans de las aventuras fantásticas, se lo recomiendo encarecidamente. Y a todo el que guste de la buena historieta, pues a ustedes también.
Tout comme les protagonistes, j'ai eu l'impression d'être plongée dans un monde inconnu. Tout est étrange et flou. On ne sait rien ou pas grand-chose de la situation initiale qui a conduit à la guerre. Il est difficile de comprendre qui est qui. C'est très complexe.
L'ensemble reste très confus. Je ne me suis pas du tout attachée aux personnages, des barbares avides de sang. Il y trois sorcières qui ont l'air d'être au pouvoir mais dont le rôle n'est pas clair. J'espère que la suite apportera les clés nécessaires à la compréhension.
Par contre, côté illustration c'est plutôt joli. Il y a pas mal de détails notamment sur les casques ou dans les décors. La colo est sympa. Il y a un beau travail graphique. Je ne suis juste pas fan des traits des visages.
Splendido, un fantasy vecchio stampo che non ha nulla di vecchio, nel primo volume con la trama siamo ancora agli inizi, si inizia a capire qualcosa a provare simpatia per i membri della brigata, si capisce che si ha per le mani qualcosa di grande e bello che evolverà e migliorerà ancora. Ma soprattutto si resta colpiti dalle tavole, dei veri e propri capolavori per linee e uso dei colori, impossibile non rimanerne incantati.
As a comic book artist and illustrator, the style is simply stunning!
The story is well written, but could only give it a 4 because I had to go back and forth to piece it together, BUT still a wonderful job of writing and illustrating by one man.
Definitely makes you reimagine dwarves, elves, and witches.
A fantasy story of epic proportions, involving black elves, dwarves, and a the main villain “VOIRANDEER”, of amazing proportions. I’m already looking forward to book II.
No lo voy a negar. Al empezar a leer este libro me resultó bastante confuso. Me costaba situar las escenas y los personajes y no sabía si todo estaba ocurriendo en la misma línea temporal o no, y sin embargo, no me importaba. Incluso en ese primera lectura (en las siguientes me di cuenta que la trama estaba lejos de ser tan compleja como yo me la había imaginado), sin terminar de entenderla de todo, notaba que era una gran historia. Enrique Fernández ha hecho un gran trabajo dándole una nueva vuelta de tuerca a personajes e historias que hemos visto a menudo, con unos dibujos muy personales y sabiendo compilar en pocas páginas mucha información. Tal vez demasiada. Esa es precisamente mi única queja. Creo que el mundo que nos presenta Brigada es lo suficientemente interesante para profundizar más en él y es una pena que podamos disfrutarlo en tan poquitas páginas.
2023-07-17 Omläsning. Är fortfarande imponerad av Fernandezs illustrationer och kreativitet. Vi följer flera perspektiv under början som möts först i slutet, vilket gör läsningen förvirrande stundvis. Det funkar mycket bättre när en läser den samlingsvolymen eller alla album på en gång.
2017-07-20 Som vanligt är illustrationerna helt underbara, men jag hade problem med att hänga med i berättelsen. Det är flera delar av en berättelse som berättas parallellt och det blir svårt att få en djupare förståelse för mig då.
I picked up this graphic novel because the title sounded good and cover looked cool. I tried not to spoil myself with any blurbs so it took me a few pages in to understand what the story is about. Graphics throughout the novel are amazing – colorful and well thought.
3,5 GR stars from me.
Thanks to The Netgalley I received a copy from author in exchange for an honest review.
Comic de fantasía oscura con un dibujo que pota carisma y uno de los mejores coloreados que he visto, así en general. La historia es un poco confusa la primera mitad y se nota que es el tomo inicial de una historia, pero no le quita demasiado mérito. Es un mundo complejo repleto de personajes grises que estoy deseando seguir descubriendo.