"Mystery City is one of those rare things: a perfect comicbook. "
— Mark
, badlibrarianship
"Ladronn's detailed, thick, imaginative, powerful art is astounding, whether he's drawing anthropomorphic zebras or huge time traveling devices."
— Will Moss
, Nashville City Paper
"The striking designs of the characters are matched only by the hugeness of their personalities, and it makes for delightful reading."
— Don MacPherson
, The Fourth Rail
"Starkings spins a great yarn about a brave new world, one unlike anything else I've read lately. He also does what I thought was impossible: he makes me care about anthropomorphic characters. Starkings makes his elephantmen more human than humans, and makes each character feel like an old friend or grievous enemy no matter how briefly they appear. (5/5 stars)"
— Adam White
, Comic Critique
"Undoubtedly one of the more unique offerings of 2005 and well worth it for fans of the out of the ordinary."
— Alex Kennedy
, Buzzscope
"Fans of science fiction or cyberpunk as well as detective noir should enjoy the story of Hip Flask: Mystery City."
—
, SheSaid
"The kid in me - the one that scrambled for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics like they were oxygen - is going nuts."
—
, Sean Maher's Quality Control
"To create a story starring humans crossed with hippopotami, camels, zebras, and elephants is, in and of itself, an accomplishment in terms of concept. But to create a world in which such characters live and breathe and show real emotion, characters that invite the reader to suspend disbelief and actually care about them, is an accomplishment on an entirely different plane altogether."
— Jim Witt @
, Comic Book Galaxy
"Just some of the coolest science fiction we've seen in comics in some time. Bravo!"
—
, Scoop
"This is the most gorgeous comic being created today bar none. (Verdict: Awesome)"
—
, Hazylium Consumes Pop Culture
"Holy shit! Check this book out."
— The Heathen
, AintItCool news
"Jose Ladronn's art sports the lush, ultra-heavy look that marks quite a few European productions, and his style is perhaps the book's trump card — it's not just that his visuals are smooth and pretty, it's that he approaches the story's many anthropomorphic beast characters with such seriousness, such a drive to forge 'realism' from the fundamentally silly, that he winds up with a uniquely cracked accomplishment in visual world building."
—
, Jog - the Blog
"It's difficult to describe how meticulously gorgeous the art is."
— Allan Muenzler
, the Haul
"Cross Rising Stars with The Secret of NIMH and toss it into a vaguely noirish future."
— The Shrew Review
, Cranky Comics Commentary
"Ladronn's vast vistas of science fiction splendor cannot be contained by the double-page spread — they feel infinite in their depth and magnificence. 'Big' ideas, including ethics in science, loyalty, and the inherent rights of sentient life, all make Hip Flask entertaining and thought-provoking." (5 out of 5 stars)"
— Adam White
, Comic Critique
