Eden, an original graphic novel from Humanoids, is written by Christopher Sebela, with art by Marc Laming, colors by Lee Louridge and letters by Troy Peteri. This book is a taut thriller packed with an impressive amount of twists and admirable commitment to tone.
In the future, hope is in short supply and the major corporation in charge of seemingly everything sells hope in the form of a lottery that promises to take winners off of Earth and transplant them to the paradise world called Eden. We follow a family’s desperate attempt to take the place of the latest lottery winners in order to get off of a doomed Earth. The main thrust of the plot takes place after the family experiences problems aboard the ship, and each twist sends the reader revolving around the idea of hope and whether it’s misplaced or not.
Sebela writes a bleak story that is furthered by the drab color palette employed by Lee Louridge. I don’t think it was intentional, but I also found Peteri’s lettering dull, a victim of the age old “lettering should be invisible” adage. It doesn’t need to be invisible, that’s an oversimplification. Lettering is as important as any other part of the medium of comics. It can accentuate what is happening on the page via personality in the narration boxes. Merely coloring the boxes to sort of match a character is a dull choice. There’s a chance for real depth to be added by being a little creative in the employ of narration boxes. Yes, most people won’t notice, but they will feel it, like when the panel borders change in Saga. You feel that, and it enhances the emotion being conveyed. The lettering guides the reader so why not guide them through the feelings too?
In keeping with the bleak tone, the Oximenkos are dull and far from exciting. This isn’t exactly a knock because stories don’t need to feature likable characters, as that’s another oversimplification; they are serviceable, and while this wouldn’t necessarily be a failure of the book, these characters are just missing something deeper. If this were a movie, a trio of actors could probably pour some life into these folks, because tonally, there’s nothing wrong here. These characters fit this world, they are products of this horrible future, and the characterization reflects that.
I liked the father’s deathgrip on his hope, for example, but I also wish there was a moment where we could cheer for these people. The victory of escaping the horrible situation on Earth is not celebrated, and I wish it was. I loved the twists throughout, however, especially with the reveal soon after the family awakes from cryo too early. This is a moment that makes the book, and then the rest of the twists spill out after it. The whole of the arc is well constructed and executed. But it’s still missing a little oomph. Even a little push would really catapult this book further.
I think the misstep comes from the unwavering dedication the book has on a bleak tone, but even then, it fits the father’s character arc, so maybe it just doesn’t work as well as it should for me. Everything is working in unison to convey this bleakness but for something that is clearly about the reverse (escaping a dying planet), maybe that stranglehold should have slipped a little in the back half.
I think the simplest way to tell if you’ll like this book is to decide what you want from sci-fi in general. Not all sci-fi is science fiction, as in fiction with a focus on factual science. Some sci-fi uses the genre as backdrop and some times you can find things that straddle the line really well, like Alien. In the case of Eden, it’s more The Island than The Expanse. This story has a heart that doesn’t require a science background to appreciate.
