Setting:
(5/5) The graphic novel was set in the third millennium in Satellite City, a city completely controlled by a satellite called the Myishi 9 Satellite. The city is covered by a thick layer of smog and thanks to the chemicals in the air, raindrops are much larger than ours and can cause you to lose an eye if you look up. There also exist creatures, which they call Parasites, that suck life force from people but their existence is not known by most of the population, as you can only see them if you had a near-death experience. All in all, the setting was masterfully crafted, very detailed, solid, original and nothing less I'd expect of Eoin Colfer.
Story:
(4/5) Cosmo Hill, our main character, is raised in an orphanage. But since Satellite City doesn't have a welfare state, the orphanage makes its money by offering their boys to be used as test subjects, where products such as shampoo, toothpaste and medicine are tested on them. Cosmo knows he doesn't have long to live and so escapes. But a near-death experience makes him able to see Parasites and he gets saved by the Supernaturalists, a group of kids who hunt down Parasites. It was a bit hard to get into the graphic novel in the beginning, but I was soon absorbed. The story is wonderfully weaved and there were many things I never saw coming.
Artwork:
(5/5) The art isn't usually what I go for, as I'm more a manga lover than a graphic novel one. But even I appreciate the art in The Supernaturalist: The Graphic Novel. It's very unique and gives a nice, dark and dreary feel to the world. Everything is drawn with so much detail and consideration. I find no fault if someone bought the graphic novel purely for the artwork. The only real problem I had was that at the beginning, it was hard to differentiate between Cosmo and his friend Ziplock.
Main Character:
(1/5) I'm sad to say that the only real fault in the graphic novel was the main character. I know that this is based off Eoin Colfer's novel The Supernaturealist (which I have not read), and that Cosmo might have been a better character in the novel, but this is not evident within the graphic novel. He was boring, there really was nothing to his character. Which leaves me very disappointed as I loved the main character in Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl series and I've also read the graphic novel adaptation of the book, which did fine conveying Artemis' character.
Characters:
(5/5) Thankfully, the other characters were much better than Cosmo. The Supernatualists were made up of Stefan the leader, who's calm and dutiful, Dotti a sarcastic and smart young man that unfortunately has a child's body and can never grow (he hates being treated like a kid), and Mona, a former gangster with plenty of spunk (although I was confused of her age). Personally my favourite was Professor Faustino, she was a great character and very believable. All the other character were just as good and reminds me that Eoin Colfer gives all his side characters a personality and makes them interesting characters, no matter how short their appearance.
Originality:
(5/5) The idea of the world, Satellite City, the weapons, the Parasites, the satellite itself and organization (basically everything of the setting!) was original, extremely detailed and very well done.
Other Comments:
As I already mentioned, I did not read The Supernatualist novel, which the graphic novel was adapted from but I did enjoy it nonetheless. A lot of times, manga and graphic novels adapted from books end up being too confusing and cramped, but this one turned out just fine. And for those that are interested in more graphic novels similar to this, there is Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel by the same author and artists with a very similar style to The Supernaturalist: The Graphic Novel.
Overall:
(25/30) The main character wasn't anything memorable, but The Supernaturalist: The Graphic Novel had a masterfully crafted setting, a story with many twists and turns, and stunning artwork!
