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Raptor: A Sokol Graphic Novel
A visual tour-de-force graphic novel from artist and writer Dave McKean ( Black Dog , The Sandman ).
The Raptor, Sokol, flickers between two a feudal fantastical landscape where he must hunt prey to survive, and Wales in the late 1800s where a writer of supernatural tales mourns the passing of his young wife. He exists between two states, the human and the hawk. He lives in the twilight between truth and lies, life and death, reality and the imagination.
World Fantasy, Harvey, British Science Fiction Association, and V+A Book Award winner Dave McKean's first creator-owned character is a wandering spirit for our times.
The Raptor, Sokol, flickers between two a feudal fantastical landscape where he must hunt prey to survive, and Wales in the late 1800s where a writer of supernatural tales mourns the passing of his young wife. He exists between two states, the human and the hawk. He lives in the twilight between truth and lies, life and death, reality and the imagination.
World Fantasy, Harvey, British Science Fiction Association, and V+A Book Award winner Dave McKean's first creator-owned character is a wandering spirit for our times.
128 pages, Paperback
First published July 27, 2021
12 people are currently reading
355 people want to read
About the author
Dave McKean
451 books694 followersDave McKean is a world-renowned artist, designer, and film director who has illustrated several books for children, including The Savage by David Almond, and Coraline, The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish, and The Wolves in the Wall, all by Neil Gaiman. Dave McKean lives in England.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews
August 6, 2022
I'm a big fan of Dave McKean's work - especially the books he made with Neil Gaiman, and of course Cages, which McKean also wrote.
His work (and Gaiman's writing) was one of the first I read in the 90s that showed me how layered comics could be. To say it was an eye-opener for me, is an understatement.
So! A new book by McKean, drawn and written by the man. The pressure is almost unbearable.
And it's beautiful. That is to say, the art is, as always, extraordinary. It has McKean's typical style, of almost abstracted figures, of almost photographically realistic backgrounds, playing with colour and perspective.
And then there is the writing, and the story.. and it's not that great. It is very wordy, McKean clearly has gone out of his way to use outmoded words. Not a bad thing in itself, but its manneredness is quite in your face.
So we have a 19th century writer who has recently lost his wife, who is wrestling with that loss and his own writing. And there's another world where a being called Sokol helps villages with their monster problems (including one monster who cries "cofveve", to my cringey horror). They are connected, but not in a very interesting way, I found. The writer seeks out a cult, not so much to get back his wife, but more how cults prey on lost souls, I think..? It doesn't really go anywhere.
Come for the art, and resolutely stay for the art alone.
(Thanks to Dark Horse Books for providing me with an ARC through Edelweiss)
His work (and Gaiman's writing) was one of the first I read in the 90s that showed me how layered comics could be. To say it was an eye-opener for me, is an understatement.
So! A new book by McKean, drawn and written by the man. The pressure is almost unbearable.
And it's beautiful. That is to say, the art is, as always, extraordinary. It has McKean's typical style, of almost abstracted figures, of almost photographically realistic backgrounds, playing with colour and perspective.
And then there is the writing, and the story.. and it's not that great. It is very wordy, McKean clearly has gone out of his way to use outmoded words. Not a bad thing in itself, but its manneredness is quite in your face.
So we have a 19th century writer who has recently lost his wife, who is wrestling with that loss and his own writing. And there's another world where a being called Sokol helps villages with their monster problems (including one monster who cries "cofveve", to my cringey horror). They are connected, but not in a very interesting way, I found. The writer seeks out a cult, not so much to get back his wife, but more how cults prey on lost souls, I think..? It doesn't really go anywhere.
Come for the art, and resolutely stay for the art alone.
(Thanks to Dark Horse Books for providing me with an ARC through Edelweiss)
August 14, 2021
As with most of Dave McKean's comics, it's all about the art. He's a master at shifting styles and mixing media and layers. The story is honestly quite boring and doesn't always make sense. McKean likes to ramble on with flowery words that say nothing in that 90's Vertigo comics way. Oh, but that art.
September 7, 2024
Twenty Five 'Reviews' In One Day: Book 11!
Dave McKean is one of my favourite artists so any new book from him is met with great excitement from me. To find that said new book is intended to be the first in a series is cause for great celebration in my house!
The art is as stunningly beautiful as you'd expect from McKean. I'd happily have any page of this book blown up and framed on my living room wall. His use of mixed media to create scenes which straddle the border between reality and a hypnotic, dreamlike state is nothing short of genius. He's employing a limited palette here and the use of colour is truly sublime.
The plot is non-traditional, also as you'd expect from McKean, and leaves you wondering how much of what we're seeing is real and if those terms even apply in this scenario. It actually reminded me a little of Hellboy In Hell, without actually being much like it on the surface level.
I'll definitely be returning to this one again and again... much like I already do with his previous books.
Dave McKean is one of my favourite artists so any new book from him is met with great excitement from me. To find that said new book is intended to be the first in a series is cause for great celebration in my house!
The art is as stunningly beautiful as you'd expect from McKean. I'd happily have any page of this book blown up and framed on my living room wall. His use of mixed media to create scenes which straddle the border between reality and a hypnotic, dreamlike state is nothing short of genius. He's employing a limited palette here and the use of colour is truly sublime.
The plot is non-traditional, also as you'd expect from McKean, and leaves you wondering how much of what we're seeing is real and if those terms even apply in this scenario. It actually reminded me a little of Hellboy In Hell, without actually being much like it on the surface level.
I'll definitely be returning to this one again and again... much like I already do with his previous books.
August 12, 2021
After all these years, I'm still a little baffled by Dave McKean. His illustration for the Sandman series is iconic and his approach to Batman and his rogues gallery in Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth has stuck with me for a long time. However, once untethered from the DC Comics Label, his abstract artwork and solo storytelling make me feel like I've barely grasped the themes at play.
Raptor is a great example of this. This graphic novel merits multiple re-reads because of its resonant subtlety. There are two protagonists at the heart of it: Sokol, the travelling hawker-for-hire who will deal with supernatural threats for board and lodging, and Arthur, the bereaved fantasy writer who uses the pen to exorcise his intrinsic demons. One makes a violent discovery of a corrupting coin and the other has a profound experience at an occultist society ritual. Their narratives intertwine and what initially seems like one character forming another, suddenly goes both ways. Mirrors are a vital aspect of Raptor.
This is a book that requires the reader's full attention from the start. I struggled with the initial pages due to the prevalence of unfamiliar but beautiful words (e.g. 'imbricated', 'mycelial', 'oolitic', 'hummadruz' etc) and the surreal splashes of colour. Thankfully the plot became tangible soon after that, though still packed with meaning and mystery. By the halfway point, I was engrossed though not entirely comfortably.
Then again that's probably by design. McKean specialises in the stylistically crooked and blurry: every other panel looks as if it has been glimpsed in a dream. That is the allure of his art, why he is such a well-respected creator. Seeing McKean pioneer a graphic novel on his own is very pleasing to see though, like any great artwork, you need to return to it to update your appreciation. I suspect I will.
Raptor is a magical read with all the necessary bamboozlement. I recommend it to those who like their fantasy fiction existential and just a little out of focus.
Raptor is a great example of this. This graphic novel merits multiple re-reads because of its resonant subtlety. There are two protagonists at the heart of it: Sokol, the travelling hawker-for-hire who will deal with supernatural threats for board and lodging, and Arthur, the bereaved fantasy writer who uses the pen to exorcise his intrinsic demons. One makes a violent discovery of a corrupting coin and the other has a profound experience at an occultist society ritual. Their narratives intertwine and what initially seems like one character forming another, suddenly goes both ways. Mirrors are a vital aspect of Raptor.
This is a book that requires the reader's full attention from the start. I struggled with the initial pages due to the prevalence of unfamiliar but beautiful words (e.g. 'imbricated', 'mycelial', 'oolitic', 'hummadruz' etc) and the surreal splashes of colour. Thankfully the plot became tangible soon after that, though still packed with meaning and mystery. By the halfway point, I was engrossed though not entirely comfortably.
Then again that's probably by design. McKean specialises in the stylistically crooked and blurry: every other panel looks as if it has been glimpsed in a dream. That is the allure of his art, why he is such a well-respected creator. Seeing McKean pioneer a graphic novel on his own is very pleasing to see though, like any great artwork, you need to return to it to update your appreciation. I suspect I will.
Raptor is a magical read with all the necessary bamboozlement. I recommend it to those who like their fantasy fiction existential and just a little out of focus.
June 14, 2021
Though much of the art was really cool, I felt like I had no idea what was going on 99% of the time.
Read
August 4, 2021To some extent, if you know Dave McKean's solo work, you have an idea what you're getting here; the same gorgeous collage effects and sinuous lines that made his Sandman covers so eye-catching and mood-setting, deployed in the service of a story which has a deep air of dream and fable about it, but maybe not an enormous amount of momentum. In 19th century Wales, a writer called Arthur (no, not Machen, though that was my first thought) mourns his wife, his 'little bird'. In another, misty, monster-haunted time or world, the falconer Sokol* tries his best to fight evil without getting enmeshed in the lives of others, despite that being a hard circle to square even in a story where McKean is doing his usual strange things to shapes. That the two have some connection is clear from the off; what it is exactly, I probably couldn't put into words even having finished, but it makes emotional sense, which will do me. The writing is sometimes so determined to display a deep connection with the land that it feels like Will Self swallowed a shelf of nature writing: "Oolitic limestone and old red elastic sandstone ripple in soft folds. The sea spray at high tide, and the smirr rain at most times, have turned the surface slick black. Red veins of loose silt pulse and flow; the land is breathing gently." That's not without beauty, but if you're going to start deploying showy vocab, you need to make sure you're being precise about it. I'm pretty sure 'rain' is superfluous there as it it would be in 'mizzle rain', and there are other little glitches like that scattered around, as when Arthur seems to be calling his book 'Apophonia', then offers the definition for apophenia. Though admittedly, he is drunk, and there is a whole strand here about books changing when you turn your back on them, an experience I'm sure we've all had even without being authors dabbling in the occult and mystically connected to someone from elsewhere. Not an entirely satisfying read, but very much an intriguing one.
*His name has accents, but if the publisher page isn't going to include them, then I'm not digging through the keyboard to ferret them out.
*His name has accents, but if the publisher page isn't going to include them, then I'm not digging through the keyboard to ferret them out.
October 13, 2021
I came to myself. Jedna přečtená věta. Půl verše z překladu. Tolik stačí, aby to podnítilo neskonalou imaginaci umělce. A McKean to zúročil v dílo, kde střídá tři roviny, každá s vlastním stylem kresby. Jeden každý je svébytný (a to i na echt svébytného McKeana), jeden každý hodný údivu i obdivu. Pastva pro oči i prostor pro vaši vlastní představivost, kde každý panel je mistrovství kresby, kompozice, stylu, tahů štětce, perspektivy... Všeho. Hned mi jeden zvláště silný výjev skončil jako uzamykací obrazovka tabletu.
V čem je tedy problém? No, on je McKean, bohužel, i scenárista. Otřesný. A tak ta výše uvedená věta je zadaptována v otřesném (a co hůře až směšném) rádoby mnohoznačném podobenství "artu pro art". Ze tří linií je jedna čistě pro ono ukázání jiného stylu kresby a ty dvě jsou mlácení dávno vymlácené loňské slámy. Uvědomuje si to čtenář i nakladatel, který na přebalu láká předně na "visual tour-de-force graphic novel". A dobře dělá.
A víte co je nejhorší? Že ta věta z úvodu je zadaptována doslova a do písmene. Žádný přesah, nic navíc. To JE celý děj včetně zvratu a katarze. Ne snad že by nutně podobná záležitost děj potřebovala. Bohatě by si to vystačilo s vizuálem a atmosférou. Jenže to McKean ne, on potřeboval světu i něco (dle něj něco s velkým en) sdělit. A nestačilo mu to skrze tahy štětcem. Vizuál za 5*, vše ostatní za přesný opak.
V čem je tedy problém? No, on je McKean, bohužel, i scenárista. Otřesný. A tak ta výše uvedená věta je zadaptována v otřesném (a co hůře až směšném) rádoby mnohoznačném podobenství "artu pro art". Ze tří linií je jedna čistě pro ono ukázání jiného stylu kresby a ty dvě jsou mlácení dávno vymlácené loňské slámy. Uvědomuje si to čtenář i nakladatel, který na přebalu láká předně na "visual tour-de-force graphic novel". A dobře dělá.
A víte co je nejhorší? Že ta věta z úvodu je zadaptována doslova a do písmene. Žádný přesah, nic navíc. To JE celý děj včetně zvratu a katarze. Ne snad že by nutně podobná záležitost děj potřebovala. Bohatě by si to vystačilo s vizuálem a atmosférou. Jenže to McKean ne, on potřeboval světu i něco (dle něj něco s velkým en) sdělit. A nestačilo mu to skrze tahy štětcem. Vizuál za 5*, vše ostatní za přesný opak.
August 4, 2021
To be alive at a time that Dave McKean is creating art is a blessing.
November 4, 2021
Stunning!
January 25, 2022
Menuda obra de arte visual x dios, ha sido como estar en una exposición de arte contemporáneo
February 24, 2024
(Zero spoiler review)
Most two star reviews I read anger me, or frustrate me, yet this does neither. It is a work of considerable craft and care that just so happens to do absolutely nothing for me. A work so vague and so dense at once, as to likely mean a heck of a lot to a small number of people, yet most don't get it, or aren't entertained by it, and so we let it pass us by, moving on to other things. It was an impulse loan from the library I rather imagined wouldn't be for me, and here we are. I would have liked to have liked it more, although I didn't. 2/5
OmniBen.
Most two star reviews I read anger me, or frustrate me, yet this does neither. It is a work of considerable craft and care that just so happens to do absolutely nothing for me. A work so vague and so dense at once, as to likely mean a heck of a lot to a small number of people, yet most don't get it, or aren't entertained by it, and so we let it pass us by, moving on to other things. It was an impulse loan from the library I rather imagined wouldn't be for me, and here we are. I would have liked to have liked it more, although I didn't. 2/5
OmniBen.
January 18, 2022
Masterful art by Dave McKean, with an okay-ish plot. Feels like an amalgamation of most stories he has illustrated with Neil Gaiman and David Almond, with the most prominent ones being 'The Sandman' series and 'Joe Quinn's Poltergeist'. That's me nitpicking, however.
It is by no means a bad book. You can tell, however, that it is the illustrator's first attempt at writing his own story. It is a great attempt, and definitely worth reading.
(Full review soon)
3* for the art. 1* added for the story.
It is by no means a bad book. You can tell, however, that it is the illustrator's first attempt at writing his own story. It is a great attempt, and definitely worth reading.
(Full review soon)
3* for the art. 1* added for the story.
November 23, 2024
The art was amazing! The story itself was a bit confusing between the two worlds and filled with lots of symbolism that I’m sure I missed some deeper meanings. Unfortunately I had to make myself finish reading as I was not gripped by its tale and didn’t want to do research to understand the symbology. I would have loved just studying the art in this book.
February 9, 2026
An elliptical narrative where an author and his creation affect each other's world and provide insight into their respective challenges, one in moving on from loss and the other in facing the supernatural threat that plagues him.
This was really interesting, if not a bit clunky and opaque. While I quite enjoyed the character interplay, I also felt much of the poetic prose was a bit overwrought, the plotting a bit messy, and some of the symbolism lost on me (the coin, the bird device -- perhaps a metaphor for the author mourning his wife --).
The art was classic McKean multimedia fare and as always, superbly executed. Pen & ink, watercolor, and oils are used to great effect in defining the boundaries between worlds and the mix of color temperatures also provided for a lot of visual interest.
This was really interesting, if not a bit clunky and opaque. While I quite enjoyed the character interplay, I also felt much of the poetic prose was a bit overwrought, the plotting a bit messy, and some of the symbolism lost on me (the coin, the bird device -- perhaps a metaphor for the author mourning his wife --).
The art was classic McKean multimedia fare and as always, superbly executed. Pen & ink, watercolor, and oils are used to great effect in defining the boundaries between worlds and the mix of color temperatures also provided for a lot of visual interest.
July 6, 2025
Ainda pensando sobre mas é, provavelmente, o melhor quadrinho que eu já li na vida. Tem tudo que me toca esteticamente e tematicamente e o Dave Mckean é consolidado minha maior referência de artista. A forma que mescla pintura e digital para criar metáforas narrativas e contemplativas, é como eu nunca vi no corpo de trabalho de nenhum outro criador.
February 2, 2022
I really enjoyed this. Dave McKean is brilliant.
September 30, 2022
The visual style is gorgeous, but the story is sadly split into what seems to be two different realities, only one of which is interesting.
December 8, 2023
A beautiful book to page through.
December 23, 2023
Between his illustrations for Roadside Picnic and now this graphic novel, I have consumed some stellar works by Dave McKean this year.
May 7, 2024
La historia no me ha terminado de llegar, pero me gusta mucho la narrativa abstracta y onírica. El arte BOFFF 10/10
June 19, 2024
this graphic novel was just too powerful, i took emotional damage. the artwork and the prose hit a different place in my brain and now my perception of art is completely changed.
i am in love with everything dave mckean composes.
i am in love with everything dave mckean composes.
November 19, 2024
The art and story oscillated for me. But ultimately art doesn’t have to be pretty and I really like McKean’s style so I chose the three over two stars.
February 25, 2022
Absolutely beautiful—as all of Dave McKean’s work is. Do I think I followed the story perfectly to the T? No. Does that matter? Also no. It took me somewhere, even if I wasn’t sure where I was going, and I loved every second of it.
August 27, 2021
Disappointing. Whilst the artwork was pretty good the story really didn't amount to anything much
October 12, 2021
Imaginative but not satisfying
November 22, 2021
I'm not really sure what to make of this to be honest.
The art work was fantastic, unsurprisingly, but the story left me a little cold.
Maybe I didn't understand it? I will give it a re-read soon to see if I missed anything.
The art work was fantastic, unsurprisingly, but the story left me a little cold.
Maybe I didn't understand it? I will give it a re-read soon to see if I missed anything.
July 21, 2021
I ended up reading this twice in succession to better understand the plot and to look up all the words I am was unfamiliar with (smirr? hummadruz?). I believe this is McKean's first major solo comics work since Cages, and --- like that work --- there's a strong focus on creativity and artistry. We follow Arthur, a nineteenth century writer whose words, written in the midst of the grief of losing his wife, parallel or even narrate the actions of Sokol, a monster hunter in an alternate world. As genrified as that sounds, it isn't. McKean isn't so much interested in fantasy as he is in connection and relationship, and the ultimate tone is much more emotional and inward-looking than action packed.
Being a McKean work, the art is fantastic, changing from compelling pencil and ink work to much more abstract splashes of color and collage. But I found the plot meandering with a very interesting central point surrounded by bits that felt extraneous. The worst of those bits for me was a closing quote that took me right out of the work, but there's also a fascinating tarot-inspired scene that on the the second reading struck me as expertly written but doing nothing to further much of anything. And, like in Cages, female characters get short shrift, either appearing as muses or silent partners.
The whole work has whiffs of fascination, but I found the story underdeveloped. If you are interested in McKean as a writer and artist, I would recommend Cages over this.
Being a McKean work, the art is fantastic, changing from compelling pencil and ink work to much more abstract splashes of color and collage. But I found the plot meandering with a very interesting central point surrounded by bits that felt extraneous. The worst of those bits for me was a closing quote that took me right out of the work, but there's also a fascinating tarot-inspired scene that on the the second reading struck me as expertly written but doing nothing to further much of anything. And, like in Cages, female characters get short shrift, either appearing as muses or silent partners.
The whole work has whiffs of fascination, but I found the story underdeveloped. If you are interested in McKean as a writer and artist, I would recommend Cages over this.
December 25, 2021
I had no idea who DMK was when I read the GN, and upon learning of his accomplishments after, it all came together. The work was lazy- half thoughts, half-finished art, just half- assed. But he has a name.... & prizes, so it's called a "visual tour-de force". Commence eye-rolling.
Give me meat! Give me the whole thing. Stop calling a toad a Prince (I like toads- probably more than I would like a prince), but spare me all this pretentious tripe you are calling meat.
the cover was kinda-sorta pretty, i guess.
Give me meat! Give me the whole thing. Stop calling a toad a Prince (I like toads- probably more than I would like a prince), but spare me all this pretentious tripe you are calling meat.
the cover was kinda-sorta pretty, i guess.
November 1, 2022
Чому один з головних злодіїв виглядає як Путін? Мене це непокоїло весь час, тільки коли він помер прийшло полегшення.
January 21, 2026
Raptor, by Dave McKean, is a graphic novel built upon a constant tension between fragmented narrative and experimental imagery, making form itself the true core of meaning. Rather than simply telling a story, McKean investigates the limits of the comic medium as a language, confronting the reader with an unsettling and deliberately unstable aesthetic experience.
From a narrative standpoint, Raptor rejects linearity and traditional causality. The plot—centered on a man undergoing an emotional and existential crisis—unfolds discontinuously, as if composed of shards of memory, intrusive thoughts, and recurring images. There is no clear progression or definitive resolution; instead, the narrative functions as a psychological flow, closer to interior monologue or essayistic writing than to a conventional comic script. The “bird” of the title does not appear as a concrete entity, but as a visual and symbolic metaphor for surveillance, guilt, and self-destruction that haunts the protagonist.
The artwork, however, does not merely accompany this fragmentation—it intensifies it. McKean employs collage, manipulated photography, painting, and drawing in dense, often claustrophobic compositions. The pages rarely offer visual rest: layers overlap, faces dissolve, and text appears as a graphic trace rather than a purely explanatory device.
The image does not illustrate the narrative; it undermines the text, generates dissonance, and imposes ambiguity. At many points, it becomes impossible to distinguish memory from hallucination or immediate perception.
This conflicted relationship between word and image is the work’s greatest strength.
In Raptor, McKean treats comics as a hybrid space where literature, visual art, and graphic design collide. Reading becomes slow and occasionally uncomfortable, demanding active interpretation from the reader. Meaning is not given in advance; it emerges from the friction between what is seen and what is suggested.
As a result, Raptor is not an easily accessible work, but a coherent and profound artistic experiment. Its value lies precisely in its refusal of convention, asserting comics as a legitimate territory for introspection, visual poetry, and the exploration of contemporary subjectivity. It is not a work one simply reads—it is one that must be endured and traversed.
From a narrative standpoint, Raptor rejects linearity and traditional causality. The plot—centered on a man undergoing an emotional and existential crisis—unfolds discontinuously, as if composed of shards of memory, intrusive thoughts, and recurring images. There is no clear progression or definitive resolution; instead, the narrative functions as a psychological flow, closer to interior monologue or essayistic writing than to a conventional comic script. The “bird” of the title does not appear as a concrete entity, but as a visual and symbolic metaphor for surveillance, guilt, and self-destruction that haunts the protagonist.
The artwork, however, does not merely accompany this fragmentation—it intensifies it. McKean employs collage, manipulated photography, painting, and drawing in dense, often claustrophobic compositions. The pages rarely offer visual rest: layers overlap, faces dissolve, and text appears as a graphic trace rather than a purely explanatory device.
The image does not illustrate the narrative; it undermines the text, generates dissonance, and imposes ambiguity. At many points, it becomes impossible to distinguish memory from hallucination or immediate perception.
This conflicted relationship between word and image is the work’s greatest strength.
In Raptor, McKean treats comics as a hybrid space where literature, visual art, and graphic design collide. Reading becomes slow and occasionally uncomfortable, demanding active interpretation from the reader. Meaning is not given in advance; it emerges from the friction between what is seen and what is suggested.
As a result, Raptor is not an easily accessible work, but a coherent and profound artistic experiment. Its value lies precisely in its refusal of convention, asserting comics as a legitimate territory for introspection, visual poetry, and the exploration of contemporary subjectivity. It is not a work one simply reads—it is one that must be endured and traversed.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews