Shifter (Graphic Novel) Review

The newest title from the groundbreaking Anomaly Publishing arrives. Shifter is one original graphic novel not to be missed.

Shifter is the new graphic novel from Anomaly publishing, and the minds that brought you 2012’s hit Anomaly the graphic novel. It’s the story of an everyday average joe, Noah Freeman. Noah is an ordinary guy working as a civil servant until, while on a vacation, his life is turned upside down by events beyond his control.

These circumstances lead him to a mysterious power, and a dark plot set about by a clandestine organization. Will Noah be able to wield this mysterious ancient power to stop it, and solve this great mystery that can give a normal guy like him these great powers?

Shifter’s story is that of Noah Freeman a lowly civil servant soon to be married, and an avid hiker. Before Noah prepares to tie the knot he decides to take a small vacation and go for one long hike, but little does he know the events that are about to unfold.

Shifter has an engaging storyline which will leave you wishing for more. It’s the very well balanced mix of suspense, mystery, and action that make the book one heck of a good read. The characters all bring a unique voice to the story, and each has their own individual personalities that really make them seem like fully developed characters. Overall the story is just a pleasure to read, and will keep you captivated till the very end.

The art of Shifter will take some getting used to if this is your first Anomaly graphic novel, but otherwise the style is fantastic. Shifter provides a vibrant array of colors and deep, rich, dark tones that lend well to the setting and story of the comic.

Shifter’s unique art style is something you don’t see all that often, and is an interesting mix of realism and a ‘sort of’ CGI look. This style fits the story very well and it even benefits from it in places.

One flaw in Shifter’s style is the lettering though. It’s too small in some places, and it gets lost on the page sometimes. This makes reading difficult on occasion, but it honestly only happens a few times, so it’s not a monster issue.

Another thing, and this really only applies to the physical version of Shifter, but it needs to be said so I’ll have to get it in here- the quality of this graphic novel is amazing. It’s solid, high quality fabrication and made to last. So if you can get Shifter on hardcover instead of digitally I highly recommend it.

There’s a companion app for the novel also titled “Shifter UAR.” It’s an altered reality (AR) app that adds more depth to the novel and all kinds of neat little flourishes. I however, did not use this app during my read through, but I’ve heard great things about it. The App is free by the way, and works on camera-equipped iDevices and Android.

Final Thoughts

I think overall, anyone who likes sci-fi, mystery, and action based comics will enjoy Shifter. The story is very engaging, endearing, and highly exciting.

The characters are all very memorable and you’ll be pulling for them to overcome their collective struggle. Style

Style-wise I think Shifter has a great feel and a terrific color palette that provides ample atmosphere to the story. It’s definitely a unique style, but a good one outside of that one drawback, meaning the lettering. It gets lost in all the grandeur of the art, so again, it can be hard to read sometimes.

I highly recommend Shifter to anyone interested- and trust me, you won’t be disappointed.