SILVER: OF TREASURES AND THIEVES is a graphic novel that desperately needs to be in color

I was recently sent a copy of the graphic novel Silver: treasure and thieves to review. The story of Stefano Franck is about a group of thieves trying to steal the ultimate treasure, the silver dragon hidden in the depths of a castle full of vampires. Set in the pulp noir era of the 1930s, the book has some fun hints to Bram Stoker’S Dracula. This is the first part of two books and overall I think it will be much better once the second part comes out.

I wanted me to like this book more than I did in the end. I think the idea is funny, it combines main character James Finnigan with a Van Helsing descendant along with a diverse group of scammers. My problem is that at this point I don’t feel like I can tell you much about any of the characters. James is greedy, another member is an actor, another a gruff old forger, a psychic boy, a stoic vampire hunter, and various other characters that are hitherto forgettable. And that’s it, not much has been revealed about the characters, which is disappointing. There have been a lot of preparations for the robbery and the book ends with them successfully infiltrating the castle, so it feels like a prime spot for book 2 action to start from. There were a few things in the end that drew me a little more into the story, but it took me a long time to take care of them.

I think the main thing for me about the book is that it would have much more dynamic colors. I understand the financial restrictions of being able to get a good colourist for the whole thing, but I think even if it was just as snap as for the silver and blood pieces, it would have gone a long way. I just think it would have been possible to create more dynamic pages if at least some of them had had some color. Some of the action sequences felt a little flat to me.

That said, I really like the artwork. The character design is fantastic and I really like the variety that can be seen among vampires. You have the whole scale of stunningly beautiful vampires up to the terrifying Nosfertau style that I like.

Overall, I think the book is ok, you just want to dig deeper knowing that the second part will come out in the future. Being a book in its own right, this wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be based on the description. I think the story as a whole will be great once completed, but I’d give this book alone a 6/10.