Skin & Earth Vol. 1
Lights: story, art & lettering
Dynamite Entertainment, 2018
Singer/songwriter Lights created this debut graphic novel as part of a multimedia project to accompany a concept album of music portraying the same themes. Probably not my usual thing--either musically or visually--but it came with some impressive recommendations, including comics creators Gail Simone and Brian K. Vaughan.
This is Lights' debut comic, and it has to be said that it is a very well-made comic. Research, hard work and talent have resulted in a book that does not look like the work of a novice. It tells the story of a dystopian future where the habitable area is shrinking, and the Tempest Corporation is in charge of the desirable parts of society. It is an extreme version of the 1%: the upper crust don't just have most of the money, they also occupy the privileged part of the city ecologically. They have a life that is entirely apart from the rest of society.
Enaia Jin (call her En) has lost her mother, and feels alone in the world. She finds love interests that seem bad for her--and it becomes increasingly apparent that there is something special about her, as well as her mother. The first part of the story seems to be about the social divisions in this world. But as the story develops it becomes much larger. There is a division between our world and another, founded upon a bargain with the Tempest family.
At this point the narrative becomes increasingly metaphysical, and En's role may be far larger than she could have imagined. The final scene finds her escaping from the other world, setting up a potential sequel.
The comic is made up of 14 Chapters, spread out over six original monthly issues. Each of them has an associated song. There are QR codes at the beginning of each chapter. My Android phone got me an introductory video from Lights at the first code, but the others only linked to a brief sample of the album tracks--although there were other options, including a full live video. As I said in my introduction, this is probably not aimed at me, but at the young adults who are part of Lights' audience. Still great to see a comic aimed at a young audience that may not be comics fans.
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