Hedra #1

Jesse Lonergan's Hedra is a wonderful comic that'll have you rereading to appreciate its stunning art and incredible story. Read Full Review

Hedra is a visual treat and is unlike anything I've ever read before, but part of the experience here is that you're not really reading anything at all, at least not in the traditional sense. Read Full Review

Hedrais a beautifully rendered, retrofuturistic tale that reminds readers that there is always hope even in the grimmest of circumstances. Read Full Review

A deceptively simple story meshes with beautiful art and stark colors to create an amazing experimental comic that pushes the boundaries of how comics can tell a story. Read Full Review

Hedra is a masterpiece devoid of the distraction of dialogue and exposition. It is a story told in an amazing visual narrative that is heads above the usual comic book fare. Read Full Review

There's a point where you start to realize through the book's ostensible simplicity that it's far from simple, and in its complexity, there are more layers still to enjoy. If you're at all interested in how a comic book can tell a story, or if you're looking for more variety in how stories are told in the format, do not miss this issue. Read Full Review

Hedra is a story that rewards patience and the appreciation of small details. For those who take this deep dive, there is plenty of emotion, imagery, beauty, and inspiration to be found in these pages. Read Full Review

Loafy Trophy

May 18, 2022

Hedra is a technical masterpiece, beautiful in it's style and simplicity. It's almost impossible to overstate how creative the layouts are and it allows Lonergan uses the negative space between panels to create a sense of movement is second to none. The book focuses on a nuclear war and an intrepid space travel searching for a cure for the fallout on her planet. She comes across all manner of strange (robots, scavengers, magic hedras) as she explores further and further into space. It's relatively simple but what makes it a stand head and shoulders above most comics is the art, particularly the way it's laid out. Each page is initially broken into a 35 panel grid that provides a base for Lonergan to work with and the gutters between pane ls aren't the only white space he employs. He opts to use arching trajectories of bombs, rockets, and space travelling orbs to direct your eye from panel to panel. It creates a brilliant, nontraditional sense of movement as you read through the page. One of my favorite sequences involves the space traveler exploring a cave full of a race of scavengers. The panels are laid out and curved in a maze that somehow manages to evoke the feelings of being lost while still reading perfectly clear. It's really impressive stuff and nearly every single page has that sort of unique-to-comics magic. I can't recommend tracking this one down enough. more

Liem Duong

Jul 31, 2020

Wow. One of the most innovative and unique comics I have ever read, pleasure to Image and Jesse Lonergan for the phenomenal comic. Hedra is a one shot extra-size comic that really strips down the art of comic-book story telling to its bare foundations. First off, the art in this book in fantastc. Lonergan is the perfect artist for such a surreal experience this issue was. This comic is all visuals, no writing. It really breaks comics down into its core components of pictures telling a story. The imagery, the dark hues starkly contrasted with the pastel colors, the LINEWORK, omg the linework in here is so 200 IQ. The panel-layouts as well, such intricate design and well placed panels and using different size panels that really layer on t he flow of sequential story-telling so damn well. How Lonnergan utilizes spaces and lines and paneling in this book to build a narrative is so top notch, I have never seen an artist use art and visuals quite like this. Its really a beauty to behold and appreciate how you can find such complexity in simple ideas with Hedra. more

Gizmo

Apr 03, 2021

I'm always impressed with comics that communicate so clearly without any text.