Afar
Leila del Duca, illustrations by Kit Seaton
Image Comics
Fiction, YA Fantasy/Graphic Novel
Themes: Aliens, Diversity, Dreams, Girl Power, New Age, Post-Apocalypse
****
Description
The girl Boetema and her younger brother, Inotu, struggle to survive in a drought-blasted future, moving from town to town with their artist mother and hack engineer father. After a fall from a tree, Boetema discovers she can astral project into other bodies on other planets in her sleep, experiencing a bizarre array of existences... journeys that carry real consequences, as her interference inadvertently puts one of her hosts and its loved ones in danger. Back home, her life is about to get more complicated, as her parents leave the pair alone for a few months while pursuing job leads as salt shepherds. Her brother runs afoul of a local thug, forcing the children into a dangerous desert crossing alone.
Review
It looked like an interesting and original concept in a unique setting, and for the most part that's what Afar delivers. The artwork and design is very imaginative, almost hallucinatory at times, full of bright colors and unique worlds. Boetema and Inotu make for decent protagonists, occasionally a bit slow on the uptake but always with good hearts and determination behind their actions. At times, the jumps back and forth through worlds can be a bit confusing, and it takes a bit to sort out the Earth side of things - radically altered by an unspecified disaster several generations past - but overall the story moves nicely, even if a few elements felt incomplete by the conclusion. Part of me thinks it could use a sequel, while another would rather leave things as they are; from what I can determine so far, it's meant to be a standalone. Overall, despite a little wavering, I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt with a Good rating, for overall originality and imagination.