The library’s collection of graphic novels has been growing steadily. There are so many new and exciting ones to choose from that it can be a bit overwhelming. In order to help narrow down your choices here are some new dystopian graphic novels to peruse!
Live Memorium, written Miki Makasu and illustrated by Benoit Bourget, is set in a world in which technology has greatly advanced–so much so that Thomas, an overworked accountant working for a sleazy and unscrupulous corporation finds himself dealing with highly illegal tech. After the death of his mother, Thomas chooses to visit Live Memorium, a company that offers the ability to relive your childhood memories. You can choose to be a passive observer, simply watching what has transpired, or, you can change it. Thomas chooses to rewrite his past, and in doing so, himself. The problem? The world does not change and what Thomas begins to find out, is that the more he changes, the more his reality, and the rest of the world’s, fail to connect.
Twin Lotuses is a graphic novel by the artist Zhang Xiaoyu set during 1930’s China, a time when war and political strife has caused lasting damage. Fan, an inventor with tremendous talent, creates an automaton, a doll capable of movement, in memory (and likeness) of the wife he lost. As his wife was a famous opera actress, so too is the automaton and is able to mesmerize countless audiences with its abilities. But the war is ever ongoing and with defecting soldiers, orphaned delinquents, and American men looking to make a buck, Fan finds himself in ever more growing difficulties. And with his country still rooted in superstition, Fan’s abilities are met with skepticism and distrust. Is imitation the sincerest form of flattery? Or is it an endeavor doomed from the start?
Bérénice Motais De Narbonne’s Metadoggoz is definitely a work of hard edges, deep human connection, and mind-altering art. The Metastation is a spiraling ever growing city. At its heart, is the ever-elusive elite living in comfort and cleanliness, and those with ever dwindling resources forced to live in the outer reaches. One of those residents, Gael, a teenager with no prospects, finds himself a new path, a world beneath the city. Here the hierarchy disappears and so with it the obligation to support those in the middle. As more characters find their way to the underground and to freedom, the more danger grows to this seeming utopia. Can Gael and the others find a way to protect their new-found home? An exemplar example of what happens when the have-nots fight to keep what they do.
Multi-disciplined creators team up in this new work set on the continent of Africa. Writer Saul Williams, along with artist Morgan Sorne, bring us Martyr Loser King. Set in Burundi, the work centers on a miner, Matalusa, who is forced to work on his family’s occupied land in order to obtain coltan, the material that is integral to cell phones and other technology. After his younger brother is killed, Matalusa begins his journey, meeting many who have been displaced by the destruction of nature for the profit of a few. One such person is Neptune, a creature unlike any Matalusa has met before and through their union, a new being, MartyrLoserKing, is created and with them, perhaps a chance to give voice to the suffering that has long been ignored.
Enjoy these graphic novels and many more at your local library!
-Ciara Lightner is a library specialist at A.K. Smiley Public Library and a huge comic book nerd…. unfortunately.