This is, officially, my first graphic novel (Malice doesn't really count) and I can't wait to get my hands on Vol. 2.
I don't really have a good reason for having avoided comics/graphic novels -- my only explanation for keeping away is that when I've previously flipped through them, I 1) worried that I wouldn't know how to read it (right to left? top to bottom? across pages or page by page?) as the rules seem less than consistent and 2) I wouldn't know whether to go pictures first or words first. Since I sometimes like to have captions up on the television -- especially for heavily-accented shows -- I know how frustrating it can be when the captioning is slightly "ahead" of the on-screen action. When that happens, it's like having constant spoilers and I was under the assumption that graphic novels couldn't help but have the same problem.
But I'm quite won over. This was such fun to read and, though the art is rather samey-samey (to the point where I was getting a few of the characters confused), it was also approachable.
B+
