I didn’t know what to expect going into Devoted. My experience with independently-made comics is very limited (read: nonexistent), so I thought it would be fun to give one a read. While I was only given the first two chapters of the Devoted graphic novel, what I did read definitely had me interested as to what the rest of the story had in store. The main character, Daniel, is a gifted architect who gets canned from his latest job and every night has been having dreams about the terrible rapes that have been happening to women around the city. I dig the story and can relate to Daniel, as the kind of guy that can’t stand to sit back and see others getting hurt.

The design for Devoted is interesting, both in the art style and the lettering. Those talk bubbles we’ve grown so accustomed to in comic books aren’t here. Instead, the text is cleverly placed within the artwork itself, be it “floating,” sitting on a table, curled up in smoke, etc. This is both Devoted‘s greatest strength and weakness. It’s really well done for the most part, and I commend them for trying something different; however, there were times that I felt I was actually searching for the text, or that I’d miss a line somewhere. It made certain pages hard to decipher. It’s by no means a deal breaker with me for the book, but I do wish some of it was easier to read. That aside, there was a very cool concept with the art. Several female figures make appearances through smoke lines which was a cool effect, with some more obvious than others. And, some shots of the city, or a row of buildings, made simple pen strokes into beautiful, nighttime scenes that I really loved.

Overall, I was impressed with what I was able to read. From the synopsis I was given about the graphic novel, it’s obvious I’ve only just scratched the surface, but the first two chapters were enough to pique my interest in what’s to come for Daniel.