Review of “Lycan” by Dennis Robinson et al.

Score: 95+/100 (9.5+ out of 10)

Lycan is a stellar, emotionally-riveting, gory, violent, tragic, and triumphant comic/graphic novel by the team of Dennis Robinson, Sal Donaire, Ezequiel Dominguez, Joel Saavedra, and Stephanie Crugnola! A Kickstarter-funded project, Lycan nonetheless exudes professional quality in terms of storytelling and illustrations.

We just have to say: we loved this book!

What really makes this book work is its main protagonist, Solomon. Solomon is the runt of his brothers, often overshadowed by his stronger, taller, more skilled, and more handsome brother, Kuwari. Solomon is a klutz who often slips, falls, and messes up things for himself and the village, but his undying effort and determination shine through. Furthermore, he has a loving, devoted, and caring heart. Not only do we see that in the way that he treats his family or his love interest (whom we'll get to soon), but we see it in how he treats his best-friend, Hikma, and other comrades, even when he lacks familial relations to them.

What really got us about this book is Solomon's love for (and relationship with) Zhara, who becomes his wife. First of all, Zhara is truly gorgeous, a definite candidate for “Hottest Character.” Her features are both striking and elegant, coming across as an exotic ethnic woman. Perhaps our favorite thing about her character design is her outfit. She wears a bright-teal outfit that appears both elegant and rugged.

Her relationship with Solomon not only highlights Solomon's caring/loving nature, but it also highlights many of his insecurities. Furthermore, it lets us see Solomon's admirable sense of honor and chivalrous nature. It's quite romantic!

You really get the sense that Zhara is too good for Solomon. You get the sense that Solomon feels unworthy of her.

In one of the key scenes early on, Solomon goes out to hunt and fight a wolf who is said to have attacked a villager. He does this not only to avenge the victim and protect the village (which is more so Kuwari's job), but to prove himself, his bravery, and his worth to Zhara. He doesn't want to be known as the village loser anymore. He wants Zhara to know and feel that she is married to a winner. He doesn't want to be seen as a beta male or secondary to his brother. He wants to be a great hero just like Kuwari, someone worthy of Zhara's affection and attention.

Speaking of which... another thing we really appreciated about the relationship between Solomon and Zhara is that it isn't easy or convenient. There is clearly tension between the two of them from the very beginning. Zhara seems put off and ashamed of Solomon, not just because of his constant failures, but because of his lack of confidence and self-esteem. In other words, she sees Solomon as not just weak but also weak-minded.

Throughout the book, we really got the sense that Solomon isn't as weak or incapable as he thinks he is. Even before his eventual Lycan power-boost, Solomon is able to survive fights with large predators and survive for days in the desert. He is able to dig graves and move loads of stones with his bare hands and brute strength/willpower. Furthermore, he's able to do the work necessary to provide for his wife and daughter. The character of Solomon really resonated with us because of how relatable his character, personality, and motivations are. Like a good parent, he's able to flip the switch and go 110% when it comes to his child, no matter how exhausted or busy he is. Like a good husband, he's always trying to demonstrate his love and affection to Zhara whenever possible.

Another thing we appreciated about this pairing is that it isn't solely built around sex or sexual intimacy. Yes, there's definitely some sexual tension between the characters, but that's not the focus of the romantic aspect of the book. The focus of the romantic aspect of the book is the emotional bond that the two characters feel for each other as well as the steep hurdles they had to overcome to get to that point. Indeed there's a huge wall between the two characters at the start. Seeing that wall gradually crumble is perhaps the most beautiful thing in the book.

This book is full of tension and conflict. Furthermore, there's a lot of action, gore, and violence. Where do we begin?

Well, there are several villains to note in this book. First and foremost, there's Maris, the demonic entity who strikes a deal with Solomon, giving him the power to save his family. Now, Maris is very interesting. He looks pure evil with the black cloak, red skin, red eyes, devil horns, and fire magic, but he actually doesn't act pure evil. We actually experienced a bit of cognitive dissonance with Maris. It's hard to explain, but think about it like this: Remember Mephistopheles in Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe? Do you remember when he kept hinting to Faustus that hell kinda sucks and that maybe he shouldn't make this deal? Well, Maris kinda came across more like an an anti-villain than an outright pure-evil villain. It really depends on how much benefit of the doubt you give him.

For example, some really terrible things happen in this book, and Maris says that he didn't mean for those things to happen and that they were unforeseen consequences.

He constantly reminds Solomon that he's not a god and isn't omniscient or omnipotent. Now, you could make an argument that he does this to make himself seem more sympathetic, approachable, and believable (as a rhetorical process). In other words, you could make the argument that he says these things as part of being a master manipulator.


However, some of us found that he's surprisingly fair. For example, he could easily just cash in on his deal with the protagonist, but instead offers him a duel to overturn it instead. Now, granted, he seems to have a huge advantage as a magical being (and knowing that Solomon would likely not have access to his full power), but just the fact that he gave Solomon an opportunity to fight for his freedom is surprisingly noble.

Another thing that stands out about Maris is that he seems to want something more than power or wanton destruction. He actually seems motivated by a desire to avenge a wrong that was done to him. He keeps saying things like “I truly understand your pain” and “with your help, my family will also be saved.” So, we're left wondering: is Maris really the big, evil, over-arching villain, or is he a victim of circumstance just like Solomon is? It sounds like Maris's family is in danger too. It also seems like Maris needs help. These aren't things that someone who wants world domination or genocide would say. On the other hand, again, you could chalk it up to him just being a great manipulator. We don't think this is the definitive end for Maris.

Anyway, Maris isn't the only despicable villain in this book. There are also the marauders who struck an unequal and unfair “peace” deal with the villagers. Basically, the villagers agreed to offer them tributes in exchange for not being raided. The marauders are ugly, evil, and despicable. They really take advantage of the villagers. In one of the most crucial scenes in the book, the marauders alter the deal to include the villagers giving up their women, including Zhara, whenever asked. This triggers a tragic scene that sees the village losing its leader and Solomon losing his brother and hero.

You really get why Solomon would strike a deal with Maris in the midst of all of this. In Solomon's mind, it's the only way to protect his family from these marauders. Furthermore, we've already seen how weak and vulnerable Solomon has felt throughout the book. For example, he was forced to witness the brutal dismemberment of his brother without being able to do anything about it due to being temporarily paralyzed by a blow to the head. Trauma like that is enough to send anyone to the dark side.

Anyway, this book is very dark, grim, and tragic. At the same time, there are moments of light, love, and happiness that are simply undeniable. Yes, you could argue that these moments add to the trauma and tragedy of the darker moments, but they also show something that we love to see in books... humanity. We've read two consecutive books that really seemed out of touch with the concept of humanity. Because we couldn't relate to the characters in those books, we lost the all-important suspension of disbelief. That's simply not the case with Lycan.

The characters in this book are incredibly deep and interesting. So, even though the book features magical and fantastical elements, there was still enough humanity to connect with.

If there's any concern we have with this book, it's that too much may have happened in it. If the creators were hoping to make this into a series, they may have used up all of their best ideas in this one issue! They've already killed off about 75% of the original cast, so are they going to have to rebuild and reestablish a new host of them?

We're also not sure if it started in the best way that it could have. The book is framed with the violent, disturbing, and gory climax at the beginning, then takes us back several years to before the incident. Now, this isn't unusual, however, it may give new readers the wrong impression of what this series is going to be like. To us (at least) this isn't a slasher/horror story. Yes, it has elements of horror, but it's more of a hero's journey and a character study.

Beginning with a guy urinating and a monster coming out of the wood works, killing everyone might be a great opening in some regards. We've seen it in Jaws. We've seen it in numerous horror movies and at the beginning of numerous CSI episodes. However, it doesn't seem to fit or match the beautiful, deep, and heartfelt tone of the rest of the book.

If the creators were going to make a scene like this, have it involve a major character finding another major character dead. Wouldn't that be more of a hook?

In any case, we're just nitpicking. We really enjoyed this book!

Check it out on Amazon!