Skip to main content

Raiders, Vol. 1

Review

Raiders, Vol. 1

Irel makes a discovery that ought to rock the known world. By going into a secret part of a church, he finds a little bottle that supposedly holds the blood of Jesus. He isn’t too impressed by his find, but someone else is…and she wants the bottle all for herself.

Her name is Lamia, and she’s some sort of zombie creature. She used to be human, they say, but now she survives by eating human flesh. Her cannibalistic existence doesn’t exactly get her many friends, and she believes by drinking the blood in the bottle, she can regain her humanity.
 
And she’ll kill to get that bottle. She stabs Irel to try to wrench the bottle from him, but things don’t work out as planned. Irel isn’t killed instantly, and, knowing the legends of what the blood is supposed to do, he quickly drinks it. It works. He would have died from what Lamia did to him, but by drinking from the bottle, he stays alive.
 
So now what? No one is certain what was in the bottle. Some people say it was the blood of Jesus; others say it was some kind of magic. Whatever it is, it works. There are rumors that more bottles exist, and more than one person (and demonic creature) is hot on the trail. Everyone wants to be immortal.
 
Though it has some basis in theology, Raiders is not a spiritual book by the very least. It’s an adventure story with some references to theology to back it up. It can also be fairly gory (like when Lamia indulges in her anthropophagical meals, including gnawing on Irel because the flesh grows back). Some readers might be turned off by all this, but those who aren’t can enjoy the quick pace and interesting characters.
 
Raiders is fast, slick, and gratifying. Lamia is an ambiguous creature, because she might not be all bad, but so far she seems, well, pretty bad to the bone. Irel is mostly going along with the flow, never all that shocked by whatever happens. And a lot of strange things happen. There are other mysterious characters, like a cute looking little girl who means to take Lamia out. This girl doesn’t look like much of a fighter at her small size, but don’t be surprised by anything in this manhwa series.

Reviewed by Danica Davidson on July 13, 2012

Raiders, Vol. 1
by JinJun Park

  • Publication Date: December 15, 2009
  • Genres: Graphic Novel
  • Paperback: 176 pages
  • Publisher: Yen Press
  • ISBN-10: 0759530491
  • ISBN-13: 9780759530492