Attain The Escape (Snowpiercer #1) Expressed By Jacques Lob Conveyed As Booklet

nah, fuck it. I went and read more reviews and got even angrier so I take back that pitystars,star, screw this book

Yeah I'm gonna be honest, this sucked, Badly. Only giving it two starts because a drawing a graphic novel is a ton of work and I respect that and b I still love the concept of an apocalypse train and my enjoyment of the show makes me enjoy this to some degree as well.
But let's get into it,

First of all, every single female character who showed up on the page was drawn with her tits out.
This happened to every. Single. One. There was only one woman who even got a name in the entire book, but that's it's own can of worms.
There was no narrative purpose for any of it, it felt so dehumanizing and gross, I didn't go into this with high expectations considering it was scifi written by a man in thes, but man.
If the bar was on the floor, Jacques Lob came prepared to dig,

The plot was also paperthin, They somehow

hadplotlines going on at once and none of them were fleshed out or made sense.
I understand you have a bit less room to work with a graphic novel but it felt like there were zero stakes for ANYTHING that went on here.
Even cutting off the entire tail There was no emotional response or reaction to that, It just happened and we moved on, Despite already having a preformed attachment to the story, I simply could not bring myself to care about anything happening here given how little emotional weight was thrown behind anything.
Character relationships were cheap and underformed and even the characters themselves barely had personalities, I couldn't even tell you one true character trait of the main character whose name I can't even remember because I think they said it like.
Maybetimes. And his relationship with his love interest was stupid, there was no reason for it, and then afterdays of instalove, she dies because of something stupid that he did, her death only serving to further his plotline.
I hate it here.

Jacques Lob set out to use Snowpiercer as a critique of a capitalistic society, yet managed to say absolutely nothing of value inwhole pages.
Not one single point was made, Painfully simplistic and poorly executed,

The book was also just super jumpy, It felt like scenes cut out before they should be finished and things were left very uexplained/unsaid.
It was so bad that I actually got concerned that I might have a misprint of this book that was missing pages, but I wasn't! I don't know if this was a result of poor translation from French or what, but it was very frustrating.


The one thing I did enjoy was seeing how elements of the train were described compared to the show ex.
their systems of meat development are different and frankly FAR more unsettling, It was neat.

All in all, I'm angry because I really wanted to like this book, I got allfrom the library because I wanted to get more Snowpiercer because of how much I like the show.
And this was just terrible, I can't decide if it's even worth reading the otherbooks or not, or if this is just going to tarnish my view of the story.
Ugh. After writing this review I'm wondering if evenis a generous rating, Very, and I mean veery, European graphic novel and that's a good thing, It has that specific quality of being 'real' and slightly dreamlike at the same time,

It shows its age in how female characters are handled, basically they're there to be used or abused, and the main female character's story goes out with a whimper.


Overall the story feels rushed, especially knowing there are volumes following this one,

That said, lots of lovely European dystopian angst, endearingly hamfisted political commentary, and a decidedly downbeat ending, just how we like 'em!

.
stars

Received a review copy from Titan Comics through Edelweiss I fail to see why people rate this book so high.
I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it either,

That said, this isn't a groundbreaking story and comparing it to Orwell's Animal Farm is not only wrong, it's embarrassing.


The only reason I give this two, is because most of what I didn't like could be due to a bad translation, but I highly doubt it.
For example, I read a bad translation of Beowulf my first time through and I hated the book.
Years later I icked up the Seamus Heaney's version of Beowulf and fell in love with it, That too, could be the case with Snow Piercer, but again, I highly doubt it,

SPOILERS AFTER THIS

My issues:
, The story is very disjointed, Many little plots are scattered throughout the book, but none of them are followed through with and the main story becomes nothing more than a Michael Bay race to the front of the train.
Boom! Boom! Some sex. Boom! Weird science. Sex! Boom! SexBoomSex! Old man living off crackers,
. The men in this book are either mindless military or religious drones or bad Eastwood "Man with no Name" ripoffs.

. Whereas the men are mindless, the women are merely in the story for sex and to die at the hands of men.
Yeah, women love sex as much as men, but this book is a "Good grief" wrongful representation of that.
. . completely. The women are either sexual hounds who not only let every man they meet hump them like horny dogs whenever the horny dogs want, but the women do so as if their whole purpose is to have a man hump the living hell out of them.
Then, if the women are not the whores of the book, they're sex slaves literally, For example, the "first class" men raid the "second class" cars to bring back girls against their wills to be used as sex slaves.
Yes, I'm serious. Also serious, no one seems to care that this sex slavery is going on, No one. Not the men doing it, Not the men watching it, Not the men who you would assume think it wrong, No one. There is one female protagonist who starts out strong and seemingly intelligent, but all that goes out the window when she ends up banging the thirdclass criminal man the first night they're locked up in a cell together.
After this, she's somehow in love with the "third class" criminal man a few hours later, After she falls in love with him, she becomes a typical maiden in distress throughout every scene she is in.
I kept expecting her to faint and drop a handkerchief from her delicate hand, :
. This train is on the same "experimental" track, going around the world, or some continent, nonstop for YEARS, yet they always have water not explained.
Always have food explained, but corny, Always have heat not explained, And no one seems to notice that they've probably passed the initial train station they got on, or any other landmark for that matter, while on this nonstop trip.
Don't tell me it's because everything is buried in snow, because several pages show fence posts sticking up through the snow.
If you can see fence posts, you'd be able to see a landmark or two,
. I don't care if there are swear words in a book, but when they are overlyused, or used continually, it really ruins the story.
One swear word in this book is used simply as a title for the "third class", I thought it was a joke, but I was wrong,
. The characters are superficial and care nothing about each other, or themselves, Therefore, I cared not for them,
. Multiple plotholes that would take much too long to mention,


OK, I need to stop, I'm starting to irritate myself,

Anyway, if you're wanting to read a book that reads like a highschooler wrote it for a writing class, this is your book.
There's a movie staring Captain America that came out in South Korea last yearand is supposed to be out in the US this yearthat I'll most likely go see at a dollar theatre simply to see how different the writers and director make it from this book.
I'm crossing my fingers until then that the movie is much better,

If you're looking for a scifi or dystopian book novel or comic avoid this one and pick up "V for Vendetta", "Wasteland", Orwell, Dick, Heinlein, Lowry, or other and you can't go wrong.
This is a unique situation for myself, I have found that elusive case of a film actually superseding a book, or in this instance, a graphic novel.
I discovered Snowpiercer on Netflix a few years ago and fell hard, The haunting cinematography and fast paced dystopian plot impressed, It also happens to boast a favorable cast, So I picked up the graphic novel with a pretty high standard in place,

The plot offers a potential that was better executed onscreen and failed to fully come to life within the pages of this first volume.
The blurb is pretty definitive and there is no need to explore the concept indepth, Perhaps the biggest barrier standing between myself and possible love for this post apocalyptic story would be dialog.
It leaned heavily towards dry and flat, There seemed to be a lack of real depth within the story, yet so much was happening,

The artwork was the one element that actually carried me through to the end.
Had it not been for the bold, greyscale illustrations offering a simplistic yet fitting representation of this bleak and dismal situation, I may have shelved this one.
I struggle to imagine this story unfolding in full colour, Even the film was visually drab in the best of ways,



The characters play their part but offer little in terms of interest.
Again, I have to blame dialog, I found myself disappointed with the portrayal of women within this container like society, viewed more as sexual objects and contributing little of value.
To be fair, that could be the result of the current societal structure in such confined spaces, but I could not get into or support the idea.


While this was certainly not a terrible read, it failed to be an impactful one, I do feel that the GN places more emphasis on the political aspect of the story and manages to convey this successfully which was appreciated.
But there were a lot of lack luster moments that struggled to capture just how dire the situation has become.
I have read that there are some translation issues that might be at fault, but I honestly cannot offer any insight into the truth of those comments.


The end result for myself was “okay”, I dont believe I will pick up the second volume right now, This is a series that boasts a fascinating storyline but is moving at a very leisurely rate, If you dont mind the pacing, perhaps test the waters, For now however, I recommend the film which happens to be a favorite of mine,

You can also find my reviews on sitelinkBooks, Vertigo and Tea, Great idea. But not impressed with the execution, Yeah, no. I was soooo very excited to read this after watching the killer trailer for the movie coming out this summer.
But, ugh, such a disappointment, Flat characters, so very very much misogyny, and despite the interesting idea/setting, it's, . . boring. I don't know how you make a story like this boring, but he managed to, Too rushed, too thin. I feel malnourished after reading it, sitelink

A violent, classbased dystopia set after a cataclysmic climate event is certainly something that resonates with our modern day fears and Snowpiercer, the graphic novel by sitelinkJacques Lob and illustrated by sitelinkJeanMarc Rochette, examines these fears in a thrilling and hardhitting way.
Most will be already familiar with the story, as it has been adapted to film by sitelinkBong Joonho, which covers the events of this first volume of the graphic series, as well as a recent miniseries.
There are some great ideas contained here and the political struggles and messages are quite well done, though the book itself fumbles in its execution being a bit clunky and not giving enough room for its story to breathe.
That said, and despite a few other issues, it is still thought provoking and worth a quick read, as it is certainly one you can rip through in a single sitting.


The premise is fairly simple yet fun: after “the great white”a planetkilling climate event that has covered the world in ice and likely was set off intentionally due to a warthe last remnants of humanity are traversing the globe on a massive train withcars.
The rich enjoy the front of the train with their wealth and comforts, while therd class passengers are oppressed in the rear of the train.
The book follows Proloff, who after being caught attempting to flee the horrors of the back of the train, is being escorted to the front to be questioned by the President.
Accompanying him aside from the armed military is Belleau, a woman fromnd Class who is a leader of an activist group that advocates for therd class passengers.


Much of the story involves them traveling to the front, with the brief glimpses of the different cars doing some heavylifting world building.
They witness mechanics who are religious fanatics that worship the train Saint Loco, rumors of it slowing down, the vast hunk of meat that replaces itself they call mama which feeds everyone on board, and witness the class dynamics as they move forward.
While much is left implied and you get a sense the world is much bigger than what you see, this section felt rushed and painting in broad strokes the impressions of the various communities.
What we do see, however, is that in a train that is designed to be fully selfsustaining and provide any passenger needs it was a vacation train for the super wealthy before the collapse, it is now maintained through massive inequality.
Though even the front doesnt seem terribly great beyond simply not being oppressed like those behind them, They seem to do nothing but drink, drugs, and have sex, its the best thing theyve found to fight the fear and boredom.


What works best here is the classbased fears and the ways those who wish to help the poor are demonized as much as those they wish to help.
There is also the paranoia that attempts to help the poor are merely a disguise to eradicate them as it becomes clear that those at the front violently value their material needs at the cost of their humanity.
There is also an epidemic that might be spreading through the train, which is also being weaponized against therd class passengers.
Which definitely hits differently inthan it probably did inwhen this first appeared in French, The plotline about turning thend class against therd class instead of their shared oppressors, the elites inst class, is pretty well done though underexplored.

sitelink

So much of the bones here are great, but the execution leaves much to be desired.
The frames are clunky and often tricky to follow and the segues are often too jumpy, It can be unclear what is happening and who is who at times, though I do like the rather grim artwork done in stark black and white.
While the classbased revolutionary plot is cool, it also feels a bit overly simplistic, The train is almost exclusively white people and the handling of women in the novel isnot great, Women exist almost entirely for sexual purposes in the novel, It is observed that men fromst class abduct and rape women fromnd class all the time, though nobody seems to care or think its all that bad.
And even Belleau is pretty flat as a character, wanting to sleep with Proloff within frames of meeting him and her activism is approached as seeming not that deep and her really only existing in the story as a prop for his development.


Its a fairly fun story, but the actionthriller pace without actually much action seems to push too fast and nothing really develops, breathes or has enough attention to really hook into the reader.
Major deaths are brushed aside in a single frame, for instance, I also might be coming to this having seen the film years ago and basing my impressions using that as the model, so take everything Ive written here with a grain of salt and read other reviews too.
It is short, and I would encourage you to read it if you are interested,

./.