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tshepiso 's review for:
Fine Print
by Stjepan Šejić
Fine Print is very sexy, pretty fun, but very messy. On a structural level this story is unnecessarily convoluted. Half of the volume is a fairly grounded drama about a woman trying and failing to recapture her lost love. The other is a supernatural romp in the underworld filled with succubi lore and immortal rivalries. For almost the entirety of volume 1 these two plots have absolutely nothing to do with each other and the jumps between underworld politics and earthbound character drama were continuously jarring.
Outside of the convoluted structure Stjepan Šejić's storytelling overall frequently wasn't very effective. This is most evident in the parts of the comic focusing on unlucky in love ex-model Lauren. Her sections are overwhelmed by grating and frequently unnecessary narration. The narration was in third person past tense as if Lauren was telling the story to the audience which only added distance between me and the narrative. This was most frustrating because I think Šejić is a great visual storyteller. His ability to capture nuanced emotion through expression and framing made for really solid character moments. Unfortunately those moments were constantly disrupted by garish pink text boxes filled with distracting snark and overwrought melodrama.
I had a bit more fun getting into the lore and politics of the fantastical half of the story. While worldbuilding and exposition was occasionally clunkily delivered I did find the concerns of the succubi and incubi of the underworld interesting. From forbidden love affairs to professional rivalries a lot of the plot threads set up there seemed to have potential for a very fun story.
I would say the main draw for this book is its copious amounts of smut. And I won't lie Šejić is a great artist with a particular talent for drawing hot people in hot situations. If your here for that and forgiving for some jany storytelling I think you'll have a good time.
Though I had my disappointments I'm not writing off Fine Print entirely. A lot of my issues with the story felt like the growing pains of the start of a series so if and when a volume 2 comes out I'll check out what's in store next.
Outside of the convoluted structure Stjepan Šejić's storytelling overall frequently wasn't very effective. This is most evident in the parts of the comic focusing on unlucky in love ex-model Lauren. Her sections are overwhelmed by grating and frequently unnecessary narration. The narration was in third person past tense as if Lauren was telling the story to the audience which only added distance between me and the narrative. This was most frustrating because I think Šejić is a great visual storyteller. His ability to capture nuanced emotion through expression and framing made for really solid character moments. Unfortunately those moments were constantly disrupted by garish pink text boxes filled with distracting snark and overwrought melodrama.
I had a bit more fun getting into the lore and politics of the fantastical half of the story. While worldbuilding and exposition was occasionally clunkily delivered I did find the concerns of the succubi and incubi of the underworld interesting. From forbidden love affairs to professional rivalries a lot of the plot threads set up there seemed to have potential for a very fun story.
I would say the main draw for this book is its copious amounts of smut. And I won't lie Šejić is a great artist with a particular talent for drawing hot people in hot situations. If your here for that and forgiving for some jany storytelling I think you'll have a good time.
Though I had my disappointments I'm not writing off Fine Print entirely. A lot of my issues with the story felt like the growing pains of the start of a series so if and when a volume 2 comes out I'll check out what's in store next.