Review by Ian Keogh

Virgil is a boastful e-sports talent, highly ranked and competitive, and he’s a domineering brother, although from the best of intentions. However, that’s not Virgil on the cover, but Vicky, and she has a secret. When he’s not around she’s also among the best hundred Xenith Orion gamers in the USA, but operates under an alias that serves to maintain an anonymity not just from her brother, but from online presences who target female gamers.

There’s a strong emotional pull from the start, Velinxi (Xiao Tong Kong) characterising the cast well, and quickly introducing additional complications to Vicky’s life. However, it’s also rapidly apparent that DPS Only! originated online intended for scrolling on a phone panel by panel. In print the result is a constantly awkward placement of panels on a page, often looking very similar, and surrounded by large areas of white space. It’s especially a hindrance during in-game sequences running several pages at time. They ought to flow from one panel to the next, but are instead a series of static illustrations. Individual panels are technically well drawn, but dull pages never overcome their limitations.

While there’s never any great surprise to where the plot heads, and there can be moments of contrived predictability – Vicky agreeing to enter a competition at the last moment despite her reluctance – the emotional resonance remains strong. The spine holding everything together is Vicky gradually overcoming her subservient nature via the empowerment of gaming successfully, and Velinxi ensures talking points are up front. Poor attitudes to women are sadly so commonplace, so the gaming world serves as a microcosm, and one of the strongest scenes has Virgil called out on his bad behaviour.

Over the course of events Velinxi fleshes out backgrounds, explaining the history between people in ways slightly mitigating their behaviour. Pointing out the pressures some people are under is one of the best aspects.

There’s still a novelty to a graphic novel about e-gaming, so DPS Only! should find an audience on that alone. However, art that doesn’t shine as it should, and too many predictable moments mean it’s never going to transcend a young adult audience.