Spill Zone, 1

Title: Spill Zone, 1 
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Illustrator: Alex Puvilland
Colorist: Hilary Sycamore
Series: Spill Zone, 1 
Publisher: New York: First Second Books, 2017
Collection: Young Adult Graphic Novel
Resources: Novelist, Goodreads, The Spill Zone


Annotation:

“Nobody knows what the Po’Town Spill was exactly. A nanotech accident colliding with the local nuclear power plant? An alien visitation? Something spilling from another world?” These are the opening questions thrown up in the graphic novel. The disaster killed many and the few who managed to escape don’t speak about what happened. Barricades and military guards have been set up around the spill as danger still moves within the zone. The Spill Zone was Addison Merrick’s old hometown but the accident took her parents and left her younger sister mute from the experience. Now she is left alone to fend for herself and her sister. No one is allowed in the spill zone but Addison’s desperate situation forces her to sneak through checkpoints to snap photos for the highest bid.

Addison is not blind to the dangers of the zone so she follows a set of rules to keep her alive but an offer for a million dollars will force her to abandon these rules when she is asked to enter the epicentre of the spill.

She accomplishes her assignment but as she flees the scene she notices changes, she feels altered. “Everything feels wrong. The bike beneath me. The air slipping past. It’s all sideways now. Like I’m dragging the zone behind me….since when does the fucking moon have a smell?”

Alex Puvilland captures the unearthly, freakishness of the Spill Zone by using out of phase line work and a pastel / neon palette. Each panel is filled with meaning and emotion. The pace of the story is dictated by the number of panels introduced on each page. Sometimes large panels have smaller ones inserted that have close up images, creating focused drama. Other times Pullivand uses irregular snap shot like panels to reflect Addison’s photographic work and lending it to a more filmic quality making it easy for readers to follow the story.

Westerfeld is the popular author of the “Uglies” and “Leviathan” series and “Spill Zone” is the first novel of a two part series. The plot driven story keeps us wondering what Addison has brought with her from the Zone and you are compelled to read “Spill zone 2 ; The broken vow:” to find how the story concludes.

Godzilla Aftershock

Title: Godzilla Aftershock
Author: Arvid Nelson 
Illustrator: Drew Edward Johnson 
Colorist: Allen Passalaqua 
Series: Godzilla novels 
Publisher: United States: Legendary Comics, 2019
Collection: Young Adult Graphic Novel
Resources: Godzilla Fandom.com, Wiki Zilla


Annotation:
 
I would be remiss if I did not include a Godzilla graphic novel in this collection. This classic tale begins with wars and environmental destruction, when science went too far and destabilised the earth. It awoke giant monsters from their sleep. The age of men killing each other was over. The age of fighting against monsters had begun, bringing the world to the brink of total destruction.

“Godzilla Aftershock” is the latest graphic novel in the Godzilla franchise. It acts as a prequel to the Legendary Pictures 2019 film “Godzilla: King of the Monsters”, and a sequel to the 2014 film “Godzilla”.

Our hero lizard’s latest rival is Muto Prime also known as Titanus Jinshin-Mushi a giant Earthquake Beetle. This parasitic kaijū (Japanese for “strange beast”) will attack any human who stands in its way of a radioactive feed.

Every Muto Prime appearance is introduced by earthquakes as it travels the world devouring radioactive sources. In Russia he attacks a nuclear submarine and in France it’s a Nuclear Power Plant. Never missing a beat, Godzilla turns up at every location ready to engage in a fight sequence that would rival any WWE event, the only disappointment is that he uses his Atomic Breath but once.

Not far from the action is Dr Emma Russell from cryptozoological agency Monarch. She chases these beasts all around the world to find clues left behind by Muto Prime, piecing them together to find hidden secrets. The finding of ancient tablets in the Japanese imperial archives tells of a myth that has a connection to the MUTO eggs unearthed in chambers. An ancient history of apocalyptic proportions which threatens to return and exact mass extinction on planet Earth.

Johnson’s illustrations are very detailed and great care has been taken in the monsters depiction. The shading is dark and moody adding to the impending danger within scenes. You can see how this imagery could easily be translated to film.

While we don’t see many character arc developments, this is an enjoyable read.

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The Supernaturalist

Title: The Supernaturalist
Author: Eoin Colfer 
Adapted by: Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin 
Illustrator: Giovanni Rigano 
Colorist: Paolo Lamanna 
Publisher: New York: Disney Hyperion, 2012. 
Collection: Young Adult Graphic Novel 
Resources: Novelist, Goodreads

Annotation:  

Satellite city in the third millennium is run by the Myishi corporation. “A supercity of twenty-five million people with everything the body wants and nothing the soul needs”. This corporate run state has no welfare system so if you are an orphan like Cosmo Hill you end up at The Clarissa Frayne Institute for Parentally Challenged boys. The orphans earn their keep by being offered up for product experimentation. The testing conditions lead to short life expectancies and the only relief is escape.

Cosmo undertakes the perilous escape and almost dies in the process but is saved by the Supernaturalists also known as Spotters. Cosmo discovers that he possesses the same abilities as the other three Supernaturalists; they can all see these swarming blue Parasites that are invisible to most humans. Together they hunt down the parasites that show up at accidents or hospitals to suck the life force from human bodies. But they come to realize that the Parasites are actually not feeding on humans but instead they are an ancient creature – part of the earth’s ecosystem that help take pain away from people who are suffering and the real enemy lies elsewhere.

This clever adaptation uses detailed descriptions and concise dialogue to enhance the logically laid-out panels. Dark amber and khaki colouring is punctuated through bursts of neon colour introduced by lights, nuclear gadgets, weapons or the mysterious blue Parasites, highlighting the drama.

This is one for readers who enjoy a story line that has many twists -- never knowing till the very end who is good or evil and who will live or die.

Logan’s run: last day, #0

Title: Logan’s run: last day, #0
Author: Paul Salamoff 
Illustrator: Daniel Gete
Series: Logan novels 
Publisher: Vancouver, Wash : Bluewater Productions, 2010. 
Collection: Young Adult Graphic Novel 
Resources: Novelist, Goodreads, Comics Bulletin, Comixology

Annotation: 

The 23rd Century offers sophisticated technology and has created an automated world that caters to your every whim and pleasure. This world of tomorrow is filled with beauty, vitality and youth but there is a hidden cost. Resources on planet earth have been depleted and to be able to make this lifestyle available, everyone is only given 21 years to enjoy it. At the time of birth each person has a 'life clock' installed -- a crystal in the palm of their hand and when it flashes red and black it indicates your last day, at which point you have to report to a Sleepshop to be to be gently euthanized. Some reject this and run toward the rumoured “Sanctuary”. Logan is a Sandman who chases after these “Runners” and terminates them. The master computer that runs the domed cities sends Logan on a mission to destroy the “Sanctuary” but when he meets and falls in love with Jessica a Runner he begins to question his mission and he too is forced to now run.

Most people know the story either from the television series, movie or the original 1967 classic by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. This particular graphic novel contains issues 1 to 4 in the series but there are two more issues, 5 & 6 that follow.

Salamoff stays true to the original novel’s underlying plot and only tweaks a few details. There is more interaction with Logan and Jessica in this graphic novel than the original. His handling of the characters elevates the story to new heights.

Gete’s figures are heavily outlined in black and there is a lot of line work in facial expressions adding to the character driven story. The bursts of bright colour create light and drama within the panels. Gete’s rendering of sequences make this a compelling visual read.

To Terra, 1

Title: To Terra, 1
Author: Keiko Takemiya 
Series: To Terra, 1 
Publisher: New York: Vertical, 2007. 
Collection: Young Adult Graphic Novel 
Resources: Novelist, Goodreads


Annotation:

The future of Planet Earth (Terra) looks bleak. The air is polluted, fish can no longer swim in the oceans or rivers, trees no longer grow, and non-degradable toxins have built up underground. This forces the human race to temporarily leave for other planets and space station to allow Terra to heal. While in exile, humanity set up a safeguard, a new order called Superior Dominion (S.D.) in an attempt to prevent humans from making the same mistakes again. This is where the story is reminiscent of Huxley’s “Brave New World”. Humans are grown in artificial wombs, where decanted babies are raised by specially selected foster parents and attend highly regimented schools run by computers called Mothers. When the children reach the age of 14 they go through ‘maturing’ checks that place them in the hierarchy of human society and erase most of their memories from childhood. Only the elite, may return to Terra, where independence is valued above all else and no emotional attachments are made to anything or anyone except Terra.

There is an anomaly in the system and sometimes testing discovers that a child is a Mu, an uncontrolled telepath. The S.D. begins annihilating this mutant race forcing them underground. Jomy Marcus Shin is a Mu who has avoided detection. He is just shy of his 14th birthday when he will be scheduled for the next phase of his training. The Mu detect his potential and rescue him. He is destined to lead the Mu’s battle against social engineering of the S.D. and confront Keith an elite who has been singled out to recolonise Earth. The question is will Keith’s doubts about S.D. convince him to change sides?

The detailed imagery is exclusively in black and white and the cover echoes the feel of 60’s ‘Astro boy’ animations. Some panels are angled with figures crossing from one panel into an adjacent one and continuous overlapping --- all elements which aid the telling of the story.

Takemiya’s first installment in this sci-fi trilogy promises to intrigue teens with its topical themes of destruction of the earth by pollution and computers controlling every aspect of our lives including how we think.