Sisterhood: A Hyde Street Story by Maytal Zchut... A Review

It’s a friendship to die for… or at least everyone else will.

Writer Maytal Zchut delivers a beautifully dark, atmospheric story about toxic friendships, revenge, and pure evil. Add in horror and the supernatural, and you get Sisterhood: A Hyde Street Story. The artwork by Leila Leiz is absolutely gorgeous and perfectly complements the haunting tale of Sophie and Violet—lifelong friends, closer than sisters—until a tragic accident leaves Violet dead.

Sophie is devastated beyond measure. Her life unravels… until she stumbles into the hands of the Sisterhood, who promise to help her heal. But as always, be careful what you wish for.

That’s when the story truly takes off. I was flying through the pages, completely hooked. I loved these girls and their story—dark, tragic, and yes, violent. It begs the question: how far would you go for your BFF?

Sisterhood: A Hyde Street Story collects all five original comics in the series and includes a chilling bonus story, It Happened on Hyde Street: Devour, where it’s “get fit or die trying.” It’s an equally twisted tale that tackles body shaming taken to horrifying extremes.

Put this on your TBR list! You'll have to wait a few months though... Image Comics will be releasing this on April 28th, 2026! 

I want to thank Image Comics for the eGalley of Sisterhood: A Hyde Street Story! I really loved it.

Graphically Speaking… Mind the Gap Volume 1: Intimate Strangers, a Review

Sometimes it's nice to take a little break from my more "serious" reading and open the pages of a graphic novel. Not that graphic novels are "light" reading, because some of the plots are just as complex as my "normal" reading, but I suppose they can be more like picture books for adults.

Recently I saw Image Comics letting reviewers download a graphic novel called Mind the Gap Volume 1: Intimate Strangers by Jim McCann. What struck me first was the cover, which I thought was stunning. So, I had to take a peek at the rest. I never heard of the author, Jim McCann, but learned that he had won an Eisner award for an earlier work called Return of the Dapper Men. The Eisner award is like the Pulitzer for Comics, so I was up for reading the story…

It starts out with some girl getting a phone call from her BFF, but the connection is lost. Girl tries calling BFF back with no answer, so girl call's Bff's boyfriend, who has no idea where she is either and decides to presumably go to where BFF lives to make sure she's ok. Then the scene cuts to people (Mom, Dad and Brother), getting phone calls that BFF has been hurt and is in hospital. Come to find out BFF is Elle  Peterssen who is beautiful, from a wealthy family and in a coma because someone tried to kill her on a subway platform in NYC. But everything seems a little suspect. The family doesn't seem very concerned and the circumstances are strange. Even the medical staff at the hospital seem a little off. And better yet, Elle plays a part in all this because even though she's in a coma, her spirit is hanging around, trying to remember. And so the story starts to unfold…

And it's a great one! Everyone is a suspect, and there are secrets, strange alliances and hidden agenda's. There's a reason Elle was attacked and she's determined to find out and save herself before the person can finish the job. Her BFF wants to know too, AND one of the doctors that got pulled from the case because she was asking too many questions wants to know what's going on. The paranormal take is so interesting too. What does happen to a person in a coma? Is there a place in-between life and death? That's what "The Gap" is here, but where Elle is, is for comatose people waiting to either go back into their physical bodies or move on. She has some great conversations about that with what appears to be her "host". AND, Elle has a special gift… she can slip into the body of someone who is just about ready to move on to the afterlife and communicate with the living for just a bit.

My final verdict? One and a half thumbs up! The plot is interesting, and I love that Elle is hanging around trying to solve the mystery too. The characters are developed well and we get a feel for them and what makes them tick. The artwork is nice, but a bit stiff, meaning that I don't "feel" the emotions so much from the characters visually. The story is what makes me want to read more, because I really want to know WHO DID IT! But I'm going to have to read quite a few more issues…

Mind The Gap Volume 1: Intimate Strangers is a trade paperback that collects issues #1 - #5. The story is up to issue #17 now, with some question on the series continuing because of a bit of a hiatus. Issue #16 came out in December of 2013, and then 5 months later the next issue came out with nothing since then. Usually, issues are published monthly. BUT, with the publisher releasing, or kind of re-releasing, the first issues for reviewers to share, I think Mind The Gap will be starting a regular run again. It figures I have to read 12 more comics now to catch up, but if you wanted to give this a try, I've read that issue #16 is the beginning of a new storyline and a good place to start reading. They supposedly do a recap so the reader will be familiar with the characters and take it from there.

Into mysteries? Like a little paranormal with your tea? This series should satisfy your hunger.

Strange Girl by Rick Remender… A Review

Imagine being an average teenager, riding your bike, hanging out with your friends, getting asked to the school dance by Jeremy Tays… and then something strange happens… it's call the rapture and YOU are not invited...

That's right, the day of the rapture begins and all the faithful are lifted up towards heaven. Bethany Black is not one of them. While her family sits down for their daily bible study, Bethany is out hanging around with her friends, drinking coke and smoking. No surprise she's not going anywhere…

In Strange Girl by Rick Remender, as soon as the rapture happens, Demons swoop onto earth and enslave the rest of humanity. Bethany is swept up by a pretty mean demon lord named Belial to be sort of a pet, and the story shifts to 10 years later, where we find Bethany working in a bar, still serving Belial, and best friends with a wise-cracking dwarf of a demon named Bloato. Tiring of the rat race on Earth, Bethany and Bloato soon hatch a plan to find salvation, or in other words, to find the one last secret doorway to Heaven that's been rumored to still exist. Bethany steals a little magic from her boss, steals some transportation and off she goes on a road trip through Hell (literally) with Bloato by her side. It's some adventure too…

Rick Remender uses Strange Girl as a catharsis for his feelings on organized religion. There are some deep conversations along the way between the characters about Religious Dogma, atheism, ethics and even the afterlife. But as readers we don't feel put upon, we are more part of the debate. And, the story is great! It's funny, and sad, and thought-provoking at different points in the story. Rick Remender does a good job of making his characters come alive off the pages and into our hearts. Especially the friendship between Bethany and Bloato.

The Strange Girl Omnibus collects all 18 issues of the Strange Girl comics into a beautiful full color hardcover book. Really the best way to read this. The artwork is great and then, not so great. Eric Nguyen starts out illustrating Strange Girl, (chapters 1 - 6) and then is followed by 7 other artists. Some are definitely better than others, but the story itself is what makes you come back for more. High speed adventure with a great storyline.

Would you enjoy Strange Girl? If you like graphic novels and adventure stories you'll enjoy this series. Great plot, well developed characters, good flow to the story, and nice artwork(but sometimes inconsistent). Bethany is a great female protagonist too, so I give the story an extra thumbs up for that. All the makings for a memorable read, and I really enjoyed it.

Graphic Novel Saga Vol.1… A Review

Romeo and Juliet in a space odyssey vaguely familiar to any Star Wars fan, but with such wonderful characters and storyline that all similarities are long forgotten after a few pages. Written by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by artist Fiona Staples, Saga is a Comic book/Graphic novel. Saga Vol. 1 (which is what I read and am reviewing) collects the first 6 issues of the comic book.

Saga opens with the galactic war raging between the plant Landfall, the technically advanced people that have wings enabling them to fly, and the orbiting moon Wreath, where the people can wield a pretty good sword and have magical powers to enhance their abilities. Alana, a soldier from Landfall, and Marko, a soldier from Wreath, fall in love ( a big problem for the powers that be) run away to the distant planet Cleave and have a baby (an even bigger problem). Not only are they trying to survive the devastation of the war that is raging on between their people and planets, but they are trying to survive the posse of soldiers from both planets who want them dead because of their forbidden love (and their desertion). This is what great stories are made of! Love, tenderness, revenge, adventure, fantastic worlds and believable characters; And that's what makes this a winning series. It has won an Eisner award for the series when it came out in 2012, and a Hugo award for Best Graphic Story when the first trade paperback came out.

I don't read a lot of Graphic novel series, I basically enjoy the stand alone Graphic novels like Blankets, and Mail Order Bride, but I had heard so many amazing things about this series, plus it was on so many "best of" lists, I had to check it out for myself. I was not disappointed! The artwork is great, but typical of your "superhero" kind of comic book. The text is not hand written like I like, except for when Hazel their baby narrates part of the story, which is great. But the story, that is what makes this worth reading.

Saga has 18 single comic book issues out now, and 2 Trade Paperbacks, which collects the first 12 comic books. Trade Paperback vol. 3, which will include issues #13 -18, is due out in March. So, there is plenty of time to catch up and enjoy the story from the beginning! This just may be the beginning of something wonderful...