Victor LaValles Destroyer by Victor LaValle

Victor LaValles Destroyer Reviews

• 
  Chad

  This was decent but could have been great if it had been given more issues to flesh out the story more. A lot of the elements in the synopsis didn't come across in the story at all. Dietrich Smith's art was detailed and clean. I quite liked it. LaValle did do a good job of taking a classic story and merging it with modern social issues.
• 
  karen

  fulfilling book riot's 2020 read harder challenge task #2: Read a retelling of a classic of the canon, fairytale, or myth by an author of color
  
  review to come!
• 
  The Artisan Geek

  1/2/20
  Really enjoyed this comic. The synopsis however wasn't reflective of the story imo. Also I question the motivation of Frankenstein's monster, but other than - great read!
  
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• 
  Mir

  This Frankenstein-inspired story has solid art and a ton of great ideas and characters. Like my previous LaValle read, Ballad of Black Tom, I felt that it suffered by dint of its short length, which simply did not allow enough space for the developments that were needed. However, it is only the first book in the series so I'm hopeful that these developments will occur. I did enjoy this (I use the star ratings in the goodreads-designated sense, meaning 3 = I liked it) and look forward to both continuing this story and getting the chance to eventually read one of LaValle's longer works, such as Changeling.
  
  Here is a list of recommendations from the back of the book, only the first of which have I read myself.
  
  Irredeemable, Vol. 1
  
  Wild's End #1
  
  Strange Fruit #1
  
  The Spire #1
  
  The Woods, Vol. 1: The Arrow
  
  Hexed: The Harlot & The Thief Vol. 1 (Hexed
• 
  Rachel

  A six-issue series that should have been at least twelve. DESTROYER asks what might happen if Dr. Frankenstein really had successfully created his monster and a brilliant scientist attempts to copy him in the 21st century. Worthy of note are the nice and tight illustration and mention of current social issues in the dialogue. Without spoiling it, I love how the bride of Frankenstein was payed homage to, as well! The problem here, like with most short comics, is that there just wasn’t quite enough space available for character development, so I didn’t really find myself caring a whole lot about these people. LaValle did do better than most with just 160 pages, though.
• 
  Tyler J Gray

  This comic is an amazing retelling of Frankenstein! It has so much depth, social commentary and thought-provoking stuff packed into it that I feel like I got whiplash from it! That's my only complaint, I wish there was a bit more to it (and really, is that even a complaint?). This is one to take your time with, read not only the words but also the pictures. I'll be thinking about this for a long time (and might have to buy my own copy as I read this via Hoopla!). I am obsessed with Frankenstein, it's my favorite novel of all, so I hesitate to go into any retelling of it, worried i'll be let down. I wasn't let down here, not at all!
• 
  Rachel (TheShadesofOrange)

  4.0 Stars
  This was a fantastic scifi horror graphic novel that managed to retell the story of Frankenstein in a way that actually felt fresh. I loved seeing the ownvoices representation with well developed black characters at the center of the story. 
• 
  Devann

  I would have ultimately loved for this series to be a little bit longer but it's very good and the ending gives a good amount of closure. This story is yet another great example of what LaValle is so good at - taking classic SFF elements and merging them with current social issues and the art is absolutely gorgeous. I hope he does more comics in the future.
• 
  Jessica Woodbury

  I don't read a lot of books that update old plots or give them a modern retelling. DESTROYER is not actually either of these things, instead it takes place in a world where FRANKENSTEIN is fact instead of fiction, where people wonder where the monster is hiding and if anyone will ever duplicate the feat of its creation.
  
  What LaValle does so well is take the worlds of horror, fantasy, and science-fiction and apply them to the very real fears of our present day. The modern Frankenstein in this story is a black mother, overcome with grief after her 12-year-old son is gunned down by police officers. Her monster is powerful and angry, but also young and compassionate. There is a lot of worldbuilding done quickly and effectively. If the broad strokes are unsurprising, the details aren't. The details are the joy here, all the little ways in which LaValle creates this world and the characters in it.
• 
  destiny ♡ howling libraries

  This is genuinely SUCH a great concept... but I'm not ashamed to admit I had to put it down because it was honestly far too depressing for me right now. I would definitely pick this back up some time when I'm feeling a bit more stoic, but I only read the first half or so and cried twice (over painful "real world" issues) and I'm just not here for the Feels™ at this level right now.
• 
  Jacqie

  This graphic novel left me with bad dreams and a feeling of disquiet. I think that's what a good horror story ought to do.
  
  This is a Frankenstein retelling only this time the "mad scientist" is a black woman and the creature she's brought back to life is her son. The story kicks off with the original Frankenstein's monster coming into contact with humans after isolating itself away in the frozen South for a very long time. This contact goes badly, as it always does, and the monster starts heading north purposefully. A sinister corporation tracks the monster and decides that our rogue "mad scientist" needs to be brought back into the fold to help defeat the monster.
  
  Victor LaValle is making the point that we are all monsters complicit in the inhumaneness of the world and that racism plays a big part in dehumanization of our fellows. I ended up empathizing with the Dr. Frankenstein character more than any other- I couldn't blame her for her rage or the lengths she went to to protect her own. And her creation was the most humane of any creature in the book.
  
  I don't read a lot of graphic novels so I'm not sure how to describe the art. It was disquieting, emotional, and the artist could turn a character from a monster into a boy and then back into a frightening apparition again. It creeped me out. I do feel like there was perhaps a bit of anti-semitism woven into a couple of lines of dialogue or portrayal of a character, but maybe that was just me. I do think this book is well worth a read. It doesn't make you rest easy, though.
• 
  Lukasz

  An interesting, horroresque, take on Frankenstein's mythos. With nanobots and good art. Uneven writing and unsatisfying ending lowered the rating for me.
• 
  Kaethe

  LaValle never disappoints. Here he combines Shelley's Frankenstein with a contemporary story that is all too true in its horror. Smith and Lafuente have done a vivid job of the art. Micaela Dawn's cover are freaking gorgeous. Now I can't wait to get my hands on the rest.
  
  Library copy
• 
  Christine

  If Mary Shelley comes back and reads Victor LaValle’s Destroyer, his continuation, of her novel Frankenstein, she might be at first confused (I mean, would she have seen a comic book before) but I think she would enjoy it.
  
  Mary Shelley’s novel is largely a work that is cautious about science but also about the fears of becoming a mother as well as the fear of rejection by a parent. Frankenstein, as any reader knows, is not the creation, but the doctor, the person a reader could argue is a the true monster. LaValle draws upon that. Destroyer can refer to three of the characters in the story, but the story is really Josephine’s – not that of her creation or of the Monster
  
  It is Josephine’s anger, an anger that society tells her she is not allowed to have or else she is no more than a stereotype. It isn’t just what happened to her son that fueled that anger, though it is a driving force behind it; but it is also the years of the racism, sexism, minor that society has subjected her to over the years. She is what society made her. And towards the end of the story, when she justifies her actions, it is impossible not to see her point.
  
  But LaValle addresses the larger issues of science distrust, though considering our modern distrust of the government, of Big Brother, that also pays a part. And the Monster, well, the Monster comes back, and he too is what society has made him. LaValle plays with the demonization of the other. And it is Josephine who becomes both Destroyer and Creator.
  
• 
  Mikaela Garcia

  So good to read in "Black history month".
• 
  Lisa Lynch

  As I write this I wonder which seems more fantastical: that a woman could bring her dead son back to life, or that our country might ever hold itself accountable for injustices it has perpetrated. Technology is improving at an astonishing rate; honest conversation - and actual change - move at a much slower pace.

  
  
  Let me start by saying that the artwork in Victor LaValle's Destroyer is exceptional. I love the character design, color palette, and cinematic nature of this graphic novel. It is a beautiful book. It does something I've never seen before in graphic novels where some chains of text will fade from black to gray as thoughts or dialogue trail off. I found this to be wonderfully unique. It also uses different fonts and background colors, which added a complexity to how the text was presented. Like I said, it is a beautiful book.
  
  My favorite cell happens early in the book where the background shows a group of people on a boat at sea and one of the characters is looking through binoculars. There are two paired circular inserts that show what the person sees through their binoculars and it is a stunning image.
  
  The concept of this story is fantastic. It is a futuristic continuation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein where the monster from Shelly's book returns from his icy, isolated purgatory to wreak havoc on the human race. Our protagonist is Dr. Baker, who's narrative reflects that of Dr. Frankenstein himself.
  
  

  But what if Victor was just a young man who'd lost his devoted and wonderful mother? What if he'd been driven insane not by hubris but by something much more desperate?
  
  Grief

  
  
  Dr. Baker lost her son, Akai, a black boy, in a senseless shooting that, unfortunately, has become a common tragedy in today's culture. Baker herself is driven by her grief and this leads to an exploration of the question "who is the real monster?" LaValle shows us the complexity of the answer in this book.
  
  

  You [Akai] are the start of what will dominate as humanity declines. Global warming, rising, tides, none of that will kill you. But we'll by dying by the billions. Some will even blame you for our end. And for creating you, They'll label me mankind's enemy, too. The Destroyer. And I will welcome the title.

  
  
  Baker uses nanotechnology to bring Akai back to life, which gives him superhuman powers. The technology in this book is fascinating and I wish this book had spent more time describing and exploring it.
  
  I actually wish this book had spent more time describing everything. My main problem with this short graphic novel is that there just isn't enough of it. The story and the message of the tale is incredibly moving, poignant, and tragic. I'm wondering why it wasn't made into series of books instead of one short one. There is enough content here for a series, but it is all crammed together. It made me feel disconnected to the characters because we don't get to know them enough to really care about them. They are still good characters, but LaValle missed an opportunity to make them great.
  
  Another problem I had with this graphic novel is that the narrative is a jumbled mess. It jumps between several characters and timelines and I really wish it had been a simple, linear story. This doesn't detract from how wonderful the story is, but it makes it a bit of a chore to get through. I read this is one sitting, which I think everyone who picks this one up should do.
  
  I rated Victor Lavalle's Destroyer 4 out of 5 stars. If there had been more of it, I think it would have been exceptional. However, as is, I can't give it the full 5 stars.
  
  Would I recommend Destroyer? Absolutely.
  
  
• 
  Trike

  Black Lives Matter meets Frankenstein. It may be unsubtle and heavy-handed, but I don’t care. It’s the slap to the face some people need.
  
  I grew up in Beavercreek, Ohio. On August 5th, 2014, a white Beavercreek police officer murdered John Crawford III. His “crime” was being a young black man. He was in the Beavercreek Walmart looking at a BB gun, talking on the phone with his girlfriend. The white cop jumped out at him, gun drawn, startling Crawford, who bolted. A natural reflex that anyone would do when faced with situation.
  
  The officers said that he refused to comply with verbal orders and menaced them with the gun. That was a lie. You can watch the security footage online. If you start counting from the time the cop jumps out at Crawford you will be able to recite “one thousand one, one thousand t-” before that cop murders Crawford. The cop gave no orders. He shot that kid in cold blood.
  
  For holding a toy gun. In Ohio, which is an open carry state.
  
  (For those of you who aren’t familiar with the sickness that infects America, “open carry” means that you can freely and proudly carry your firearm into most places. Walmart was one such place. Walmart, in fact, sold the type of gun used in many mass shootings in the US. Legally, you could buy a weapon of mass murder in that store and then walk around with it if you chose. Unless you’re black.)
  
  I visited my parents back in late February 2020. Beavercreek is not a big city. I saw the cop who murdered John Crawford, still on the job. He received no punishment for what he did. Not for the killing, not for lying, not for trying to cover it up. He’s still on the job.
  
  And white people wonder why there are protests.
  
  I’ll tell you this for a fact: if my Italian relatives had been treated one-tenth as badly as black people have been treated in America, there would not be a single city on the east coast that hadn’t been burned to the ground. The restraint the African-American community has shown — for centuries — is superhuman.
  
  I absolutely believe the woman at the heart of this story would have done what she did.
  
  Listen to Kimberly Jones beautifully, justifiably angrily, articulate the injustice:
  https://youtu.be/sb9_qGOa9Go
• 
  ❀ iro ❀

  2.5*
  
  I feel bad for rating this story so low, as it definitely has some great ideas behind it and it comments on a lot of important social issues, but the actual execution was not the best.
  
  While the concept of Destroyer sounded amazing and the art was fantastic, the story didn't seem to know where it wanted to go. It tries to merge social commentary, a Frankenstein retelling, a vengeance story of a grieving mother and a coming of age story of a semi-artificial boy into one, tackling also themes like grief, parenthood, police brutality and systemic racism, the destruction of the environment, animal cruelty and the ethos of artificial intelligence. While all these themes are important in their own right, the story didn't give them the time or space to grow, resulting in a commentary that never broke surface level. Instead of forming a coherent storyline that balanced well between character development and the exploration of its themes, the plot was reduced to just travelling where the social commentary needed it to be. Unfortunately, in a mere 130 pages this only resulted in a story that seemed fragmented and unfocused. Everything seemed a little bit on the nose, and the ending felt rushed.
  
  The narrative style didn't help either. Even though I kind of understood what the stylistic choice of an 'indie film' (for lack of a better term) narrative tried to do, I didn't think it translated well on paper, where everything is so static, and instead felt confusing.
  
  Destroyer had a very interesting concept and an ambitious plotline, that was severely downgraded by its length, ending up looking hectic. I wish it had focused more on a couple of themes so it could delve deeper and develop its characters accordingly. Unfortunately, it didn't work for me.
• 
  Michael Hicks

  Lots of great ideas marred by a serious lack of development and depth, and a much too-rushed ending in an already too quick book. Not sure if I’m going to do a larger review of this one or not...I’d been looking forward to reading Destroyer and was pretty let down. Bummer.
• 
  Diz

  This is an interesting take on the Frankenstein story. In a world in which Frankenstein's monster is a historical reality, a black mother uses super science to revive her son who was killed by a police officer. The story could have been stronger if it focused more on the emotional connection between the mother and son, and less on the agency pursuing immortality that the mother used to work for. All of the agency stuff was quite boring. The story picks up though when it focuses on social commentary.
• 
  nadia | notabookshelf

  a BRILLIANT adaptation of the classic, modernized and focused on race-based violence and grief. super short but intricately layered. there is... so much in here that i will be thinking about a lot.
  
  4.5/5 because i found it a bit too choppy. otherwise the timelines merge almost seamlessly. my only real complaint is that i wish there was more of this, damn!
• 
  The Library Ladies

  (originally reviewed at
  thelibraryladies.com)
  
  Victor LaValle is an author whom I greatly enjoy, as I don’t think I’ve read one thing by him that underwhelmed me. I really liked his mental institution horror story “The Devil In Silver”, I found “The Ballad of Black Tom” to be a fun deconstruction of a racist Lovecraft tale, and I REALLY liked “The Changeling” and how it made a modern day dark fairy tale out of New York City. So when my friend Tami told me that he had written a graphic novel that decided to take on “Frankenstein”, I absolutely had to read it. It was a long wait at the library, but when “Destroyer” finally came in I sat down and devoured it in one setting. Even if it ran me through the wringer and then some. I guess I never thought about how “Frankenstein” could be combined with present day socio-political themes, and yet LaValle meshed them so well that I was blown away.
  
  The Monster has emerged from the Arctic in modern times, and his former longing of being included and understood has been thrown out the window. He is a beast that is intent on destruction of the human race, as he believes that it has wronged him, as well as everything else around it, and does not deserve to go on. In contrast, we meet a modern day descendent of Victor Frankenstein. Her name is Dr. Baker, and she, too, has her heart set on destroying the society that she has continuously wronged her. For her, though, that is mostly because she lost her son Akai after a witness mistook his little league bat for a gun, and police killed him. Her science experiment has brought Akai back from the dead, though her scientific genius has made him a wonder of modern technology as well as an undead twelve year old. It’s the perfect metaphor for the rage and despair that parents like her have felt over and over again, and her urge to destroy every part of the racist society that destroyed her life. Her rage and plotting is utterly terrifying, but damn does it make sense. I loved Dr. Baker, as you get to see her life before Akai’s death through flashbacks, including her time at a top scientific research organization (that basically fired her when she got pregnant, because heaven forbid a woman in a STEM profession want to start a family). That organization has also stolen her ideas and technology and intends to use it against her, which is another indictment of power structures stealing ideas from groups that it wrongs. LaValle does a very good job of showing how she could go from a bright eyed and enthusiastic young scientist to a revenge intent victim, and while I don’t think he ever makes it seem like her urge to kill everyone in society is correct, he makes you really understand why she’d feel that way.
  
  Dr. Baker a great juxtaposition to The Monster, who has also decided to take a path of destruction because of his grievances. It takes those themes of science gone too far and what makes a monster and applies them to a T. Hell, the other little homages are also on point, like the names of the agents Percy and Byron, named for the two men to whom Mary Shelley first shared her vision of a Modern Prometheus. The Easter eggs are plentiful, and I had a hell of a time finding them. It’s a really fun thought exercise about what The Monster would possibly be like today if it finally left the Arctic, and boy is it bleak. I don’t know if I really like the idea of The Monster being reduced to, well, a monstrous/brainless being, because far too often has Shelley’s vision been misinterpreted from the thinking, and therefore plagued, creature of her intention. But in this case, I think that LaValle does it in a way that would be a potential foregone conclusion, and it does add to the symbolism all the more.
  
  I really enjoyed the art work that Dietrich Smith brought to this story. It felt sufficiently comic book, but it also had bits of depth and darkness and shadow that conveyed various points of tragedy and sadness. I also liked the more abstract design of the cover (done by Micaela Dawn), though the drawing style inside was the design that I preferred. The details from the gore and the violence to the varied facial expressions are very well done.
  
  “Destroyer” is a superb reinterpretation of a classic story of horror and tragedy, and LaValle has once again shown his talent and retelling stories with a socially conscious lens that reflects today’s ills. It’s another update of “Frankenstein” that I think Mary Shelley would appreciate.
• 
  Jenny

  A former co-worker recommended this book to me. He was reading it for one of his graduate classes, and when he described it, it seemed right up my alley. In theory, it is: a modern-day retelling of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein that's also about civil rights? Yes, please.
  But I feel like the content didn't deliver to my expectations. First, the book starts in media res, and I found it very confusing and hard to follow. The plot does come together, and everything makes sense in the end, but at first, I was just reading the next issue to see if I could figure out what was going on. There are still some parts that I'm confused about. Second, I see what LaValle et al wanted to do with the book and why they used Shelley's story to do it, but I don't think the two threads are tied together very well for most of the book. Also, Jo doesn't want to be seen as an "angry black woman," but her actions and desires come off that way because she feels the need to defend herself to Shelley and Byron. I wish LaValle had created a grieving black mother who wanted to defend her son but didn't need to be talked out of what she had planned by her son's father. I felt that her anger was justified, but the other characters in the book didn't, so there was this weird hypocrisy to me. I couldn't tell if LaValle wanted us to sympathize with Jo or with her husband and her son.
  I like the ending. I think it's very touching, especially when you read LaValle's note at the end of the story. Like I said, I see what they wanted to do with this book, but it didn't work for me as well as it could have if it wasn't trying to be too many things at once. For instance, I wouldn't even use the original monster in the story at all, and I also would've done a lot more with the Director/Ma'am (who reminds me of DC's Amanda Waller) and put in more references to and explanations of what happened to Akai and what happened between Jo and Pliers.
  That's just me, though. Anyway, it's not the book's fault it didn't meet expectations. It's well-written and definitely interesting. I also enjoyed the illustrations. There are some gruesome bits (pun intended?) that reminded me of Frank Tieri's work in Jughead: The Hunger, and I overall liked the art style.
  I don't know if I recommend this book. It was interesting, but I'm not sure who would like it or whose reading needs/interests it would satisfy 🤷‍♀️
• 
  Bandit

  I like Victor LaValle’s writing. Liked it in short(novella) form, liked it in long (novel) form. And now I can say I liked it in comic form, also. This was one of those comics that had just the right diversity appeal for our library to acquire, it’s a conversation about race by an author of color but done in the context of a modern/near future Frankenstein scenario. I read this immediately after Riot Baby and it had the effect of juxtaposing how one should and should take on race relations in fiction. This is how it should be done, subtly, cleverly, without overwhelming the plot with an incendiary message, but registering loud and clear all the same. This is the story the punches up. And it goes like this…the last descendant of Frankenstein dynasty, a black female scientist, named Baker has been developing nanotechnology for years and has had some success, despite the various glass ceilings, etc. Then her son is brutal meaningless death by police forces her to put her theories to practice and bring him back. Simultaneously, the original Frankenstein’s creature awoke in the Arctic and has made his way back to civilization and, because his opinion of civilization hasn’t improved by his exile, he is deadest on destroying it. So it becomes a battle of Creatures, really, one created and powered by love, one by hubristic defiance of death. And along the way, there’s more tech, more characters on different sides of the power struggle, etc. The books (for some reason the library got this as individual comics instead of the collected edition) are excellent, great story telling and absolutely gorgeous art, Also some of the feature author’s thoughts on the subjects of this story, from updating a classic to racial injustices and police brutality and (loved this) on people who report things, the people whose own prejudices make them hide away and call the cops on others. The people who surely consider themselves innocent and are never talked about, but play a significant role all the same in an already drastically unbalanced system. So all in all, this was a very good read. Some reviewers have mentioned it seemed rushed, but to me it was just right, 6 comics told a story perfectly, dynamically and succinctly. I enjoyed this very much. Recommended.
• 
  Thomas Hartmann

  A very bleak yet appropriate follow up to the original that is wholly saturated and set in modern discourse. This short read is philosophical and scathing in its commentary on police brutality, specifically towards Black citizens, human nihilism, greed, grief, climate change, scientific advancement, what it means to be truly human... the list goes on. While it never really gives a definite answer to many of these concepts I believe the conversations it starts far outweigh its need for an answer. Highly recommended for fans of Frankenstein and other Sci-fi horror as this novel grabs a hold and won't let go until the last page.
• 
  Rebecca

  I'm absolutely astounded by how much LaValle packs into this oneshot volume. It's excellent and the third of LaValle's work that I have really enjoyed.
• 
  Dan

  Review -
  https://youtu.be/lLWreWc3xVY
• 
  Elliot

  This is a really interesting take on the Frankenstein story. It focuses in on the nature of monstrousness and uses the old familiar story to say some interesting things on themes of race and family. The art is striking, full of reds and sweeping brush strokes, and fits well with the story being told. A really solid addition to the Frankenstein mythos and standalone graphic novel in its own right.
• 
  Paul

  Awesome premise and great art but the panel and narrative flow just weren't there for me.