April BotM Discussion - Pretty Deadly, Vol. 1: The Shrike

[Kate]

What did you think of Pretty Deadly, Vol. 1: The Shrike? Did you enjoy the art and storytelling style? How do you think Jordie Bellaire's color work influence the story?

Reminder: This discussion thread is FULL SPOILERS for volume 1! If you have read farther in the series, please be careful not to share spoilers for anything that happens after volume 1.

Tune in to the IRCB Podcast on Wednesday, May 2nd to hear our discussion of this book. If it's ok to read your comments on the show, please post them by April 28th and include "OK TO AIR" in your post!

[47Time]

I guess I'll have to read it soon and see what's what.

[Kate]

47Time wrote: "I guess I'll have to read it soon and see what's what."

It is a great read!

[Robert]

I enjoyed it. Took a bit to get a handle on the plot; but, that might be by design. Colors have lots of orange which invokes the sepia tone from old-timey photos, which helps set the mood as a "western." I didn't understand the subtitle "The Shrike." What did I miss? I did look up afterwards and found that shrikes are birds that impale their prey on thorns. I assume that's the connection, but didn't really see the connection in the story.

Overall I enjoyed it. I'm mildly interested in the continuing story. Only, not sure when vol. 2 will get to the top of my reading inbox.

OK TO AIR

[Daniel]

OK TO AIR

This book has been on my “to-read” queue for ages, someone gave me a copy of issue one and that cover got me really curious
And that being said all the covers are just so intricate that they just make you want to open the book

I enjoyed the story although at first there is a lot going on it is a bit hard to follow especially being distracted by the beautiful artwork

The last issue makes a really good job of brining all the pieces together and wrapping what seemed to be a pretty intricate story. Also setting up what seems to be the next step, almost feels like a prequel because the assumption is this happened some time ago

Glad to read this and will most likely keep reading, definitely put it into the reading queue

[Sammy]

I Read this a while ago and it was confusing. I may need to go read it again, I see myself getting something different out of it this time. Great art and I love the color palette.

[Chad]

Sammy wrote: "I Read this a while ago and it was confusing. I may need to go read it again, I see myself getting something different out of it this time. Great art and I love the color palette."

I didn't like it either when I first read it a year or so ago. But I do plan on rereading it again along with volume 2. I just saw the library has both of them waiting for me.

[Mike, Host & Producer of IRCB!]

I originally read this when it was coming out and didn't like it one bit. On this reread, it made way more sense story-wise. That being said, I have some issues with it. I'll follow up on the show. :D

[Mike, Host & Producer of IRCB!]

Hey! Our episode discussion for this BotM is up (if you want to hear my TRUE feelings about this book)! Check it out!!

[Francis]

I was not aware of this story before it was picked for Book of the Month. Ordinarily I'm really not attracted to the Westerns genre, but as I was aware of the author, Kelly Sue DeConnick and have read the first and second volumes of Bitch Planet, I was looking forward to reading it.

I really struggled with the first part and it took me till about half of the way through the second part to adjust to the artwork style, the colour palette did not feel naturalistic to me, although as I'm not a native of the US, I would be interested to know if it is reflective of an evening sky somewhere like Nevada.

The storytelling is very rich though, and by the end of the book I had the feeling it greatly deserves a rereading on my part to fully appreciate everything that is happening.

[kaitlphere]

I was also on the podcast episode where we covered this, so tune into that to hear all my thoughts.

I ended up skimming through this book again after I finished my reading of it. That really helped me put together all the subplots and metaphors that were hard to follow on a standard read through. I can't image reading this book issue by issue--I probably would have dropped it pretty quickly. For example, the bunny and butterfly narrators make no sense until the very end of the book, and I didn't pick up on that until I skimmed through.

The color palette did take some getting used to, but I ended up enjoying it. I lived in the New Mexico desert for a short time, and the colors in this book really reminded me of that experience--all oranges and browns. The blue tones reminded me of a very clear night in the desert where everything just glows in the moonlight.

I have so many questions and theories about this book. I want to read the second volume to see if it will answer or confirm any of them.

[Sara]

I'm a bit late. I also há histórias book in the to read list. I agreed with the confusion in the plot in the beginning. But, I really liked the story line, a beautiful tale, about harsh subjects. I'm gonna definatly read the second volume, although I also don't feel that is foi grande to be has good. Probably going to feel like a spin off.

Was also surprised to find out that the writer work e on planet bitch also, very different.