FRIDAY, VOLUME 1 - graphic novel


 Friday Fitzhugh is a young adult detective. She spent most of her free time with her best friend, Lancelot Jones - the smartest boy in the whole world - solving crimes and exploring the occult.  That is ... until she went off to college. But now Friday is back in town for the holiday and she immediately connects with Lancelot as something eerie is going on in their town.

I'm really not sure what to make of this book.

It took me awhile to appreciate the art.  It is highly stylized and it's not a style that I generally enjoy. Friday looks more like Edna Mode from The Incredibles movie than she looks like a teen girl. The art wore on my, though, and the further I got into the book, the less it bothered me.

The story ... well, there really is no story.  Not yet.  This volume, which is a compilation of comic issues, is still all set-up. It's the introduction of the characters and the setting and how they all work together. But as far as actually doing anything or getting anywhere in the story ...?  Not so much.

Because there's nothing here the reader discovers that they have read 120 pages only to find that the story is just hinted at as they finish. This was quite frustrating. Perhaps if I was so completely enthralled with these characters that I couldn't wait for the next installment, this would be fine. But I was not. 

This begs the question - why not wait until there was some story before putting together a graphic novel of the comic issues? 120 pages is relatively short for a graphic novel, so waiting for another one or two issues would not seem out of line. However, I am not a publisher or a graphic novel creator, so perhaps there are other factors involved. I am, though, a reader and I know what doesn't work well for me.

Looking for a good book? Friday, Volume 1 is a graphic novel that hints at some interesting things ahead, but fails to deliver anything other than an introduction.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 stars

* * * * * *

Friday, Volume 1

author: Ed Brubaker

artist: Marcos Martín

publisher: Image Comics

ISBN: 153432058X

paperback, 120 pages

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