Lively and thought-provoking.
In Simonar’s graphic novel, an alien called God crash-lands on planet Earth.
The story, conveyed via a combination of text and photo-realistic images, begins in 2400 B.C.E. when a humanoid alien being arrives in Wiltshire to continue his slow experiments in manipulating hominid DNA. He’s already a figure of folklore in many parts of the world: “God’s wrath was legendary,” readers are told. “Untold armies died by his hand.” This godlike being is frustrated with humanity, lamenting that his subjects are “still struggling with their primitive genome.” Eventually, this prompts him to re-enter “cryo-sleep” for another 2,400 years. He awakens in the present day, a stone’s throw from Stonehenge. He immediately meets a sexy young woman named Amanda and is smitten. “God felt a certain rush of feelings … He had not enjoyed himself so in 5 million years.” This meeting introduces the element of frank eroticism that continues through the book as God’s “Children of the Light” movement does its part to combat declining birth rates (Simonar’s colorful illustrations grow correspondingly explicit when God’s adventures call for it). The narrative expands from sheet-scorching sex to international politics and the threat of nuclear war, always with God looking on with a sardonic smile, poking at human complacency. (“You study brains as hardware or wiring systems, ignoring the 35 trillion cells of your soul,” he tells one character. “Would you study MI6 command center without noticing there are a lot of humans involved.”) The story is a largely an effective blend of narrative elements from SF classics like Chariots of the Gods? (1971) and Stranger in a Strange Land (1961). Simonar’s artwork is unfailingly compelling (although his accompanying text has a distractingly high number of typos), and the characterization of his protagonist is ultimately touching. “Is this to be my legacy?” he asks himself. “A footnote in the annals of our galaxy? The man who created a new species that played with balls.”
Lively and thought-provoking.Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2025
ISBN: 9789198762945
Page Count: 196
Publisher: Eventhor Media
Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Using modern language, McDonald spins the well-known tale of the two young, unrequited lovers. Set against Nagar’s at-times...
A bland, uninspired graphic adaptation of the Bard’s renowned love story.
Using modern language, McDonald spins the well-known tale of the two young, unrequited lovers. Set against Nagar’s at-times oddly psychedelic-tinged backgrounds of cool blues and purples, the mood is strange, and the overall ambiance of the story markedly absent. Appealing to what could only be a high-interest/low–reading level audience, McDonald falls short of the mark. He explains a scene in an open-air tavern with a footnote—“a place where people gather to drink”—but he declines to offer definitions for more difficult words, such as “dirges.” While the adaptation does follow the foundation of the play, the contemporary language offers nothing; cringeworthy lines include Benvolio saying to Romeo at the party where he first meets Juliet, “Let’s go. It’s best to leave now, while the party’s in full swing.” Nagar’s faces swirl between dishwater and grotesque, adding another layer of lost passion in a story that should boil with romantic intensity. Each page number is enclosed in a little red heart; while the object of this little nuance is obvious, it’s also unpleasantly saccharine. Notes after the story include such edifying tidbits about Taylor Swift and “ ‘Wow’ dialogs from the play” (which culls out the famous quotes).Pub Date: May 10, 2011
ISBN: 978-93-80028-58-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Campfire
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2011
Lush visuals bring this thoughtfully constructed tale to life.
Wondrous visitors encounter a desperate pocket of humanity.
Lori, a white orphaned teen who’s finally been adopted after bouncing around various foster homes, awakens to discover that nearly everyone has disappeared. The rapture? Maybe. She runs into her classmate Annette, who has brown skin and curly black hair, and they partner up to scavenge for food. The pair tries to evade several threats, such as the large Wolves and a gang called The Dogs. Supernatural Giants arrive, seemingly from space, speaking an impenetrable language of “musical chiming and weird bass-rhythms.” Lori and Annette then meet Beatrice, an older white woman who shares important observations about the Giants and Wolves. The tone of the story then subtly shifts from post-apocalyptic desperation to one that’s somewhat playful. After a certain point, a visual element that appears early on takes on clear significance and meaning in the context of the story at large, offering a subversively humorous twist for readers to consider and a creative element that deviates from other alien invasion narratives. Hans’ artwork and paneling fill each scene with wonders. An interaction with a giant sees the red, violet, and pink figure standing against a bright, otherworldly white-and-blue backdrop with dark contours. Elsewhere, Lori and Annette pause at night as they behold ominous shadows, their foggy breath forming clouds, and they hear a “KRRNCH” sound. The quick-moving plot wraps everything up neatly.
Lush visuals bring this thoughtfully constructed tale to life. (character designs) (Graphic science fiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2024
ISBN: 9781534387072
Page Count: 104
Publisher: Image Comics
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2024
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