The Axolotl Familiar

The Axolotl Familiar
Written and illustrated by KuroKoneko Kamen
(2025)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

I looked on Amazon for free graphic novel that I might use in my Graphic Novel class -- either to assign because they're free or to grab a screenshot or two for presentations. This book popped up. I was a little worried by the cover. Having no knowledge of this book, I didn't know if it might get explicit or exploitive. That was not an issue.

The bigger issue was that this was just bad. Sad, even, not for the story, but for the presentation.

As I posted on social media about a quarter way through the book, some days I can read stories set in undersea castles where witches mix potions and their familiars read paper books, and others when I wonder what the hell am I reading?

That's the case here. And don't let me forget the fire spells.

Some of this is addressed later on, when Axol is trying to reach the surface because he wants to see the sea of stars and the rabbit on the moon. Serina tells him that he wouldn't be able to breathe the air up there like merfolk can. He is able to breathe in school (Selina is 14) because of enchantments. Likewise, there is one class in school where there is no water and the students (merfolk) all sit on bubbles because there need to be able to take notes and the teacher needs to be able to write on the chalkboard.

So it's implied that there are no such enchantments at the castle and it's filled with sea water.

This comic is based on a novella (by the author) and is meant to be three issues long. The novella might be a better read without the visuals, which are the biggest problem.

Many pages only have one or two images on them, and it seems like every image is vying to be the cover, which isn't the way you want to illustrate a comic. The title character, Axol, appears to have a single pose with slight variations. He's always facing forward (or almost forward) looking straight ahead (or just slightly off-center) even if the character he is speaking to is next to or behind him. Many of the other characters have similar issues with their eyes and where they're facing and looking.

Axol also has a size issue, where he's small enough to fit in a bird cage with disappearing bars that sometimes appear so close together that you wonder how he squeezed his head through. And if his head can squeeze through, why can't the rest of him?

Let's just say that despite the merits of any one individual panel, the artwork was incredibly distracting and laughable.

I don't think I'll look for the second part of it.