Ravine Volume 1

As I was reading the glue binding of the pages came loose and now the book kinda broke apart. I’m not an expert but I don’t think this should’ve happened. Aside from that, the art and story is pretty great.

I have been a fan of Stjepan Sejic for quite some time, and I have eagerly awaited the release of Ravine as a comic book. Previously, all I was able to see was the artwork he had been posting on his Deviantart account for years. Now that Ravine is a published reality I am glad to report it was well worth the wait. I am not going to spend a lot of time speaking about the artwork. Anyone who has seen Sejic's work knows that his style is both beautiful and instantly recognizable as his. To see his work is to become a fan of it. Despite the incredible art, the world building and plot is where Ravine truly shines. Sejic and Marz have made a world that is clearly high fantasy WITHOUT making it derivative of anything else out there. The world of Ravine is creative and unique. There is a rich mythology being exposed in every page of this book, and every page makes you want to turn to the next to see what else you can learn about the deep history fueling the plot of this book. If there is a weakness to this issue of Ravine it is that this first graphic novel is mostly introduction, and it takes some time to arrive to the meat of the action. This issue is clearly meant to immerse you in another world before taking you on the bulk of the adventure. That being said, I don't mean to imply that this book is boring. It is far from it. The dialogue is well done and subtle, and I must repeat that the world that Sejic and Marz have created here is fascinating. I truly enjoyed learning about it and REALLY look forward to returning to it.In fact, the truth is that a large part of me ALMOST wishes that Ravine were a full fledged novel so I could enjoy this plot in a medium that grants me much more of the plot at one time AND allows me to dive deeper into the mythology in one sitting. Two thumbs way up.

Stjepan Sejic is one of my absolute favorite artists in recent years and this older series from him is a gorgeous example of his work. Ravine is a fantasy series set in a world populated by sorcerers and dragons where special individuals become "wanderers" whey they are embraced by fate and gifted powerful magical weapons. Wanderers travel the world affecting dramatic change in their surroundings and can either be amazing heroes or terrible villains. Ravine's primary protagonists (a loner who bounces between get rich quick schemes and a young woman training to be a dragon rider) both are marked by fate to become wanderers and can dramatically change the fates of various political groups vying for power. The upside to Ravine is the jaw droppingly gorgeous artwork, character designs, and beasts created by Sejic. There is a reason Sejic has recently be a star on the rise with work in mainstream series like Suicide Squad and Aquaman; he is a phenomenal artist. Ron Marz (Green Lantern, Star Wars) also helps out by co-writing the series, but despite his talents and Sejic's the series' major flaw is the absolutely crushing about of exposition that is stuffed into the book. Both creators are great writers, but in the push to establish the dense lore and backstory of Ravine's world the series' writing seriously suffers. So much exposition and background work starts to feel trite and cliche after awhile despite the fact that the co writers have some fantastic ideas line up and a world as dense and political as Game of Thrones' set up. Sadly, the series was eventually cancelled by Sejic due to power sales and the amount of time he was pouring into it. Despite this, I still highly recommend this book if for no other reason that to support Sejic and Marz's efforts; the art alone is worth the price.

There is a plethora of fantasy comics in France (Servitude for instance is such a masterpiece) where I come from, but since I moved to USA, somehow, I couldn't find many. I tried the horrendous DC Demon Knights, but it was so bad I just wanted to give up on Fantasy comics here.But here comes Ravine, and finally, a really good high fantasy graphic novel.First, the lore, mythology, and magic system is interesting and really intriguing. A lot of stuff is left in the shadow for now, but I like it, it's not spoon fed to the readers.Apparently 11 years in the making, and you can feel it, good world building, the characters feel right, but it's just an introduction, we'll see how the characterization evolves in the next books.The book looks gorgeous. Really fantastic, highly detailed, impressive, the colors are vivid, in one word: gorgeous. The character design is also top notch (except Stein's hat, what's up with that?).The book also includes a map at the beginning, and at the end a glossary, a short tale divinely illustrated and more lore. There is maybe 30 pages of added material, I hope the next volumes will continue on this trend.The very minor drawbacks to me:- Sometimes, the book tends do be borderline "info-dump". For example when Lynn receives the book of the old world's gifts, and you get a 2 pages spread of text explaining these gifts. I wished it could have been integrated more tastefully in the story without having to dump that much information on the reader in one go, but I guess that's the drawback of having a really rich lore/mythology.- Ok, I might infuriate some people here, but at times (rarely, don't worry) the art felt a bit unnatural and "digitally processed". It happens only here and there in an otherwise gorgeous gorgeous book. It's really nitpicking, it must be the most beautifully drawn comic I read this year.Anyway 5 stars, a lot of work went behind it, and it's a really promising start. 11 more issues to go!

I can understand why it got cancelled but I think in time it would have been awesome.Ravine looks amazing first off no if no ands no buts nowhere has looked this good since Barry Winsor Smith left ConanThe worldbuilding is impressive juggling all the usual fantasy tropes in invented new ways and the characters are .... there mostly.The world building dominates early issues leading to an almost inverse a Distant Soil were you got lots of character build up very little world here you drown in exposition between amusing set pieces which gicmves little connection to the characters.I came away from book 1 with the feeling very little had happened but rereading with this review in mind I realised that's unfair there's a good enough balance of action but so much exposition just kills the sensation of momentum through the narrativeI think once the knowledge had been passed to the reader the series might be really good fun but sadly it seems to have stopped atvthe end of book 2

Ravine is a really powerful fantasy epic. The story draws inspiration of so many mythologies and so detailed. It's of the same taste as epics like Lord of the Rings, really detailed in fantasy rather than 'A Song of Ice and Fire', which is more grounded. Though a very powerful element in the stories are dragons and wyverns. The creators put their own spin on them, which is quite original. All the characters and background are really interesting and going through the pages you keep learning more about them and I couldn't wait to learn more, especially concerning the two protagonists. One male and one female, which creates the perfect duo for a fantasy epic like Ravine. Even besides the main characters there are many other interesting characters that are spread over the story. The pages themselves are wonderfully drawn, because Stjepan Sejic is one of the best comic book artist and it keeps on delivering and certainly doesn't disappoint. A real must for every fantasy lover!

Volume 1 of Ravine is the first of a series of 12 (I believe) graphic novels set in a fantasy world created by Stjepan Sejic.I actually read it months ago so I'm not going to put details here for fear of getting them wrong, but I have had time to digest the book.I'm no literary critic, so I cannot really analyze in depth, however for me, the characters were interesting and flawed, 3-dimensional people, and the first volume merely cracks the door in to what they are like and what they will become. The world feels detailed and full of history, and I'm quite interested in finding out more.The artwork is simply beautiful, and very detailed and polished. Grand landscape shots earn a minute to look at when they come by, and the creatures within have creative designs. The polish of the artwork can feel overwhelming when depicting action, and might even require a moment to catch on to what is happening, but that is the biggest and only flaw that stuck in my mind. That said, Stjepan has put great care in to his characters and his dialogue, and ultimately, while there is action, I feel it is secondary to the dialogue and the journey and character development.For 60 pages, with appendices including artwork and history, I found this a bargain.

Brilliant book, for lovers of those who are fans of both sun and D &D, a must have for any fans collection

Great intro to a well thought out fantasy world. The story is intriguing and the art ravishing. Highly recommended.