Numa. The Hunter.
Under the shuttered moon, on an alien world populated by giant insects and bizarre beasts, a young hunter embarks on a perilous journey to find his lost kin and save his race from extinction.
In vein of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert Howard, inspired by Frank Frazetta and Moebius we present you a vast new world to explore and a set of unique characters to love and hate.
Original Title: Numa. The Hunter.
Author: Stas Borodin
Illustrator: Stas Borodin
e-book: 50 pages
Edition Language: English
Publishing Date: 05/10/21
Publisher: Self published
ASBN-10: B09293V8LM
My Review
I’m a fan of the visual arts and have always been drawn to all kinds of different media/presentations. Graphic novels and book cover designs are something I enjoy with a fascination. As a total book snob who loves to read physical copies whenever possible, I have to admit, graphic novels and digital art are welcome exceptions to the rule to me since they just come across so much more vivid when looking at them on the laptop where I’m free to zoom in and enjoy the stunning vibrancy on display.
Stas Borodin’s art has captured my attention on Instagram for a while now as I like to follow different artists on social media platforms. When I was offered the opportunity to read Numa. The Hunter., I was definitely happy to do so since I really liked the art I had seen by Stas.
Numa. The Hunter. did not let down. I read it several times because there was so much to it despite the relatively short page count. This graphic novel is read without words and with a reader’s imagination in mind. Upon going through the pages it becomes quickly apparent, that just glancing over it will not do.
Numa is a hunter in a diverse world filled with all kinds of creepy crawlies from the tiniest forms to large, bloodthirsty insects of humungous dimensions. Among lush vegetation and overgrown old stone buildings that resemble a long-dead civilization, he is on a path of discovery with the purpose of saving his kind from extinction.
The art in this novel is kept in hues of black and white and all the shades that fall in between. This particular style worked very well for the story in my mind, as it presents a certain darkness and uncertainty to Numa’s situation.
Taking off with a bang, the reader finds Numa stepping right into a fight/chase scene with a monstrous bird-looking creature. If anticipated or not, Numa does some amazing maneuvers to keep the situation at bay...perhaps to appease other monsters. As the story evolves, it isn’t as clear if the things that happen to him are true, imagined, and/or parallel with certain creatures in the novel.
What is brilliant to me is that Numa’s story can be interpreted in a few different ways. On my first read-through, I picked up that there were things I wasn’t connecting but knew they were placed by Borodin with intent. I wanted to know why it was done so and my subsequent rereads allowed me to appreciate the depth that was cleverly given in a story so expressive without words.
In a sense, the ending presented a cliffhanger…which has me eagerly anticipating the next graphic novel in the series. I couldn’t even foreshadow at this point what will happen next, which is such a great quality in any story with sequels.
I am definitely eagerly awaiting to continue Numa’s journey.
Highly recommend!
I received a digital copy of this novel from the author in exchange for an honest, voluntary review.
All opinions are my own.
Thank you!
