We Promised Utopia #2

We Promised Utopia #2

Literati Press 2021

Written by Adrian Morales, Robert Holman & Charles J. Martin

Illustrated by John Eric Osborn, Chloe Elimam & Jonathan Koelsch

Lettered by Martin, Koelsch & Osborn

The era-spanning sci-fi epic returns in present day with fractures in Isabel Bari's poise after the early roll-out of the carbon-based currency, the ECC. In the titular utopia, Mangus encounters surprising resistance in his investigation of the cryptic Yggdrasil, while in the far dystopian future, the family struggles to survive the first leg of their journey south.

This very much isn’t your standard science fiction fare and instead it’s a fusion of science, what if and what could be from the understanding of our world as we understand things today. Almost historical fiction if you will and this makes it much more powerful than I would have or could have hoped it would be. Climate change is a very real problem, conspiracy theory nutters aside, and we have to do what we can now to ensure that the human species has a home to continue living on and in. This is Isabel Bari’s mission, to ensure the world will go on and it will be a better place for the generations that come after hers. A noble endeavour and one made infinitely harder when it comes to holding countries accountable for the destruction they do daily instead of finding new efficient ways to run the world. So there’s drama, intrigue, hope and sorrow all woven throughout this book and it’s infinitely fascinating to see take shape.

I’m a huge supporter of the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information are presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter which does a magnificent job fleshing their personalities out even further. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the page revealing the story the more we want to see.

I’m impressed with the way that this is being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. I’m also liking the way that these layers open up new avenues to be explored as this adds some great depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward are handled impeccably.

The interiors here are interesting. There are three arcs running throughout the issue and each one has its own artist. So while the styles are all unique they still seem to flow into one another with such apparent ease. Mr. Skåber’s being the one I am most parietal to as it fits my own aesthetic rather well. How we see backgrounds being utilised to enhance and expand the moments as well as how they work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is magnificently rendered. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show some seriously talented eyes for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a spectacular eye for how colour works.

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While it’s great to see three different focuses throughout the book and we see life from all angles in different era’s it is Mr. Skåber, his actions and his attitude that both fascinate and annoy me the most. While I am still trying to figure out the kind of woman Miss Bari is, yet with him it’s easy to see what type of man he is and he’s not a good one. This is all thanks to how incredibly well this is being written and how strong and distinct the characterisation comes across while the interiors really manage to bring each era to life in its own bespoke way. This is a spectacular book and it’s one that you need to be reading.