Arca

This was a pretty good little sci-fi/dystopian/apocalypse story dealing with the search for paradise and a new home after Earth is ending. A compelling story and a protagonist that is easy to root for helped this story along to a satisfying/hopeful conclusion. I liked the artwork, but I will say that some of the panels were a bit hard to read due to their small size.

Not a wholly original story to be honest, but it was done well and I did really enjoy this graphic novel.

Thank you Netgalley for sending me this advanced copy. The dystopic premise sounded really good so I decided it could be my first read of 2023. I kinda discovered half of the mystery of the book super fast, but the story was still gripping and I felt on the edge of my seat for the entire reading experience. I enjoyed a lot how the book explores themes of citizenship, class privilege, politic propaganda, slavery, and even the power of questioning the system in place. My advanced copy still had a lot of colouring left to do, but the artwork is really good, and I am sure the final version will be amazing. I just wish this had more pages or hope it is the begginning of a new series because I think there is still a lot of questions that need to be answered.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the chance to read and review Arca by Van Jensen! Arca is a sci-fi graphic novel published by IDW Publishing. It comes out on the 11th of July, 2023, and will be 176 pages long. If you liked Snowpiercer, this is the sci-fi graphic novel version! Arca is one of 9 original comics series that of IDW will publish in 2023. On on the one hand it’s said to be an attempt to mitigate the loss of major comic licenses, like the “Ghostbusters,” “Transformers,” and “Star Wars” books, according to one source! On the other hand, it could be a really interesting way for the publisher to experiment with its already fairly successful graphic novelists. I liked some aspects of Arca. The art style isn’t my favourite, but I did enjoy it! I wish the ARC given to us had been fully coloured because the black and white stuff became a bit harder to read. I loved the references to literature such as Dorian Grey and how the written word is still so powerful regardless of where humans go. I liked the introduction to the setting, which was a good way of ensuring the reader didn’t get too confused. That being said, the graphic novel was far too rushed and not significantly different from other things I’ve seen or read. Like I said, Snowpiercer but space. I feel like the contrast between the rich and the poor wasn’t made too evident; for the longest time, I thought after turning 18, the kids would become regular citizens. I didn’t understand the point of Meda and meeting Effie’s mentor. I also didn’t understand the ending and what I thought was a pregnancy reveal. If I find Arca on a platform like comixology I’ll probably read the rest of the series. If you tell me I need to shell out money for it separately, that’s unlikely. Of course, this is also because I’m not a huge fan of sci-fi or graphic novels. If you are, then you might feel completely different!