Crowbound #1
/1.webp "Crowbound #1")
| Writer | Jeff Lemire |
| Artist | Dustin Nguyen |
| Cover Price | $3.99 |
SERIES PREMIERE
All is dark.
But all is not lost...
Rose isn't special. She works in the Factory just like everyone else—a dark, sprawling monolithic structure that runs along the coast and cuts the world in two. All that's left now are desolate settlements that exist in its shadow, made up of submerged villages, derelict woods, and deadly swamps. No one knows what's left of the world on the other side...
But when Rose's young daughter Ava is violently taken from their shanty town home a year before she is meant to join the work force, Rose will come face-to-face with the surreal, harrowing
more
CRITIC REVIEWS Back to Top
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10
ComicBook.com - David Harth
Sep 02, 2026Jeff Lemire is one of comics’ most versatile writers, able to give readers brilliant superhero, sci-fi, fantasy, and slice of life comics. As an artist himself, he knows how to work with his collaborators and let them shine. He and Nguyen have proven to be one of the best teams out there and Crowbound #1 is another example of what they do so well. This issue takes readers to a new world, establishes a flawless tone, and hooks you right away. It’s a perfect first issue, doing everything it needs to do to get readers in the door and keep them there. If Lemire and Nguyen’s previous works are any indication, Crowbound is going to fantastic. Read Full Review
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9.6
You Don't Read Comics - Russ Bickerstaff
Sep 02, 2026There's Rose. There’s Ava. There’s the overwhelmingly oppressive government. There’s the formless danger that’s roiling and coiling through everything beyond the city walls. It's all so simple. It's all so vivid. There's in such a strong sense of connection about it all. There's also one hell of a boom that it's lowered in at the end of the first issue. So things could go in a number of different directions. It'll be interesting to see exactly where Lemire and Nguyen take it next. This is going to be intense. Read Full Review
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9.0
Graphic Policy - Brett
Aug 11, 2026Crowbound #1 opens up a lot of questions and the first issue doesn’t give a lot of answers. What it does give is a very focused story with an emotional core many can relate to. It’s a story of a mother who fights to get back her daughter. It’s a story of a parent protecting their child. How that plays out will be the big question and with Lemire and Nguyen at the helm, it’s one I can’t wait to find out the answer to. Read Full Review
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9.0
AIPT - David Brooke
Aug 12, 2026Crowbound #1 is a haunting, beautifully constructed debut from Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen. The simplicity of Rose's motivation gives the strange dystopian world an immediate emotional center, while the supernatural elements offer just enough mystery to make its larger mythology enticing. Nguyen's restrained colors and dreamlike imagery make the bleakness beautiful, and the circular structure gives the issue a sense of inevitability. This is a confident opening that leaves Rose poised to become something far more dangerous. Read Full Review
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9.0
Comic Crusaders - Al Mega
Aug 31, 2026Crowbound #1 is exactly how you launch a new series. Give me people worth caring about. Give me a world I understand just enough to fear. Give me imagery I haven’t already seen fifty times this month. Then hit the gas right before the finish line and leave me yelling because Issue #2 ain’t sitting on my desk yet. Lemire builds the emotional bomb, Nguyen paints the fuse, Wands controls the countdown, and by the last page the damn thing is officially armed. Read Full Review
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9.0
Fanlight Zone - Richard Coryell
Sep 02, 2026Crowbound #1 is a strong and atmospheric debut that uses personal tragedy to open the door to a much larger world. Jeff Lemire gives Rose an emotional reason to fight back, while Dustin Nguyen’s haunting watercolor art makes the Factory and the Scarecrow Queen feel unforgettable. It is a mysterious, emotional, and visually distinct first issue that leaves plenty of questions while giving readers a clear reason to come back for more. Read Full Review
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9.0
Graphic Policy - Brett
Sep 02, 2026Crowbound #1 opens up a lot of questions and the first issue doesn't give a lot of answers. Read Full Review
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8.5
COMICON - Tom Smithyman
Aug 13, 2026This new series from the familiar creative teams offers up lots of questions, but doesn’t provide many answers. That’s fine for now, but the story will need some basic exposition quickly if it’s to grab readers like the creators’ other joint projects. Read Full Review
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7.9
Comic Watch - Marcell Hines
Sep 02, 2026Crowbound #1 looks to be a promising start to another collaboration from this creative team. Fans of their past works might also wanna check this one out. Read Full Review
USER REVIEWS Back to Top
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10
One of the best pairings in comics return.
Pure magic.+ Like • Comment• Likes (1) -
10
Love this creative team. This reminds me of Ascender and that’s a very good thing.
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8.5
A pretty strong start to this book. A lot of stuff here that I really enjoyed, and I do think it has the potential to be even better than this one issue was. The story's nothing all that complicated whatsoever, but Lemire & Nguyen make it work very well. Nguyen's artwork fits right in with the world we're introduced to here, and I thought Lemire established a really good tone for it. Very much looking forward to seeing how this story unfolds.
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8.5
Very cool debut.
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8.5
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7.0
2025 In Review:
