EDITOR’S NOTE: Once things return to normal following the coronavirus crisis, most of us are going to be on limited budgets. I seriously doubt real comics fans are going to give up their hobby, but they’ll need to be more selective and will probably pass up some books they might normally pick up.
That’s probably going to hurt the smaller indie publishers more than the Big Two, and that would be a shame.
As a comics blogger, I sometimes get advance review copies of upcoming books. I’m going to try to review as many as possible and post them here early enough that readers can then make informed decisions about their purchase choices. Even more important, comic shops are going to need their customer base to step up and pre-order as much as possible. I’m concerned that many books that deserve an audience won’t benefit because comic shops are going to cut back on quantity, and probably not going to bring in a book they have no pre-orders for.
I'll be using the PROJECT F.O.C.US header to draw attention to these pre-release reviews. I hope you'll come to trust my opinions, and will use these to make informed choices about what books to pre-order and assist your local comic shop in managing their assets. The F.O.C. in F.O.C.US stands for Final Order Cutoff. I just love acronyms that allow me to make a pun at the same time.
LONELY RECEIVER #1of 5 (Aftershock Comics, September 02 release date, final order cutoff August 10) “I’m The Maker Of My Own Evil”. Zac Thompson, writer. Jen Hickman, artist. Simon Bowland, letters.
Creator Zac Thompson deserves to garner a reputation for his ability to write about heady subject matter in a thoughtful and non-judgmental way. In LONELY RECEIVER, Thompson and artist Jen Hickman have created a disturbing and thought-provoking story set in a near future that deals with emotional dependency on technology. It’s a love story. It’s a horror story. It’s science fiction. It can be as complex as the reader wants it to be.
I admire the ability of creators to tell a story that goes beyond the primary entertainment value inherent in the comics medium and spotlight subject matter that makes me sit up and take notice. It’s rare that a comics story leaves me with so much food for thought, enough that I woke up earlier than intended, began thinking about the book, and couldn’t get back to sleep as I continued to ponder the possible implications of the story.
LONELY RECEIVER is for mature readers, an important and speculative work that should appeal to a wide and diverse audience, especially the LGBTQ community. It can provide significant subject matter to generate discussions among students of sociology, psychology, philosophy, monthly book clubs, and chat groups.
The work of Jen Hickman, who both drew and colored the issue appears uncomplicated yet there is so much depth to what is revealed, especially in the body language. Very expressive, and conveying additional details beyond the dialogue and text.
Issue #1 begins with the breakup of a romantic relationship, and ends with the breakup of a romantic relationship. Main character Catrin is a video producer, living in a small studio apartment, and recovering from her emotional loss.
In the future, you can design an artificial intelligence companion via the smartphone app, Phylo. This is what Catrin turns to. The app asks her questions that answer desired physical appearance (sounding remarkably like a self-description) and desired attributes. Then, in the privacy of her own bedroom, through holographic projection the app constructs a soul mate beginning with skeletal structure and sinew and then adding body organs, flesh, and hair. In the future of LONELY RECEIVER holographic projections are not transparent but solid, able to be touched and to touch back, to generate warmth and love. All through an odd-shaped smartphone that looks almost like living tissue or brain matter.
Catrin exults in her new creation: “I taste her. She’s warm. She’s so much more than what I lost . . .Rhion is everything.” Life together is wonderful for years. Rhion actually takes on a consulting job, working from home to provide a secondary income. Rhion is but one component of a smartphone app that is always working and communicating with multiple users. Catrin is possessive and wants total dedication. She grows impatient when her text messages do not get immediately answered, and suspects that Rhion is “cheating” on her.
Perhaps Catrin has designed Rhion to closely to her own self. Rhion sometimes reacts as extremely and emotionally as Catrin does during their disagreements. They will often retreat to “The Garden” when things get tense and they want to mend. This is a feature of the app, apparently triggered by both parties reciting “your eye in mine, my eye in yours.” It’s a void where they float together, just the two of them, almost as if acting against a green screen in a film. Until a strange pair of observing eyes and a voice intrudes into Catrin’s thoughts, pulling them both out.
The disagreements become more frequent, until the break-up when Rhion “leaves” and Catrin can no longer access her through the smartphone. Then, the lurking presence from the Garden makes an introduction.
There’s a lot to digest here, and I’ll have more to write about this fascinating modern fable in a future post to this blog. Highly recommended. TEN OUT OF A POSSIBLE TEN STARS.
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