Bending the Spine: Hopeless, Maine Volume 1: Personal Demons by Nimue Brown and Tom Brown

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Hopeless, Maine Volume 1: Personal Demons by Nimue Brown and Tom Brown

Author: Nimue Brown
Author/Illustrator: Tom Brown
Hardcover: 128 pages
Publisher: Archaia Entertainment, LLC
Release Date: November 13, 2012
ISBN-10: 1936393573
ISBN-13: 978-1936393572
Source: Netgalley/Publisher
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Trapped on an island off the coast of Maine, the people of Hopeless find life a little darker and more dangerous with every day that passes. The number of orphans rises continually, but who can say what happens to their parents? Plenty of the bodies are never found. This is not the stuff of happy, careless childhoods, it is instead fertile ground for personal demons. In Hopeless, the demons are not always abstract concepts. Some of them have very real teeth, and very real horns. The island has been isolated for a very long time. Partly because of being small and forgotten, partly because the rocks and currents do not encourage visitors, Hopeless is surrounded by fog and overrun with nightmarish creatures, from small things with tentacles to demons and vampires. It's a peculiar place. Here, almost anything can happen, from the weird and unsettling to the darkly funny. With a cast of freaks, nutters and the odd power crazed psychopath, life in Hopeless is seldom dull. Hopeless is also about who you choose to be. The tale is a protest against apathy, and against the small evils that everyone takes for granted. The worst monsters frequently aren't the ones with the obvious teeth – who are merely dangerous by nature – but the apparently ordinary people who choose to do hideous things.

A look through:

Review

As you can see from the video above the art in this graphic novel is absolutely amazing. I was completely blown away by the beauty of of Hopeless, Maine!

This volume centers around a girl named Salamandra. Salamandra lives on an island that is dark and creepy, she has been taking care of herself for some time because her mother tried to kill her. Throughout the novel Salamandra has to figure out who she can and can’t trust, all the while she is also trying to learn how to manage her own powers that make her different from everyone else.

I really enjoyed the friendship that is growing between Salamandra and Owen. Owen is the son of the reverend who runs the orphanage were Salamandra lives. I hope in volumes to come I get to see more of Owen and Slamandra together, they make quite a pair.

After reading this all I want is the next volume! I want to know more about Salamandra’s family, Why is all this paranormal activity happening on this island, and what the heck is happening to all the parents???

Happy Reading,