(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)
This was another graphic novel that I picked up at random at the library based on the cover. At this point, I'm looking for interesting panels that I can incorporate into a class slide presentation or worksheet or just something that I could recommend to the students.
This book isn't one of those things. I could use it as an example of poor dialogue placement, but I already have several of those. What I mean by this is that the tails of some word balloons go behind other word balloons to the point that you aren't sure who is speaking.
Other than that, I have no complaints about the layout, which seems to be standard with many graphic novels.
The book is about a "faux-pocalypse". They don't call it that. I just did. It looked like it was going to be about more than it actually was.
The story takes place over the course on one night. There are pink streaks coming out of the sky. Everyone is wearing hazmat suits, or "hazzies". The hoods have face masks that can be opened to use an inhaler (one character has for no stated reason, and it never comes into play) or to take a drink or just about any reason outside. Also, one guy (not shown) urinated behind a dumpster outside a club.
The only thing that this apocalypse seemed to do was turn all the squirrel into zombies with glowing red eyes that attack humans -- except that none are ever struck. The squirrels are always batted down and crushed behind someone's heel.
Of the four main characters, two are budding filmmakers, making a documentary about the squirrels, the end of the world, and a missing friend who went to live off the grid (and claim a reward for finding him). One of them has a secret -- she's decided to move away to go to Brooklyn College to study film-making. (Side note: I am a BC alumni, and I know that BC has one of the two best Film Departments in the city. The other is at NYU, which is about 10-20 times more expensive. One had Robert Redford as an advisor; the other had Paul Newman.)
The other two boys are friends and one of them secretly has a promise ring that he has to work up the nerve to give. As far as B stories go, it's pretty pedestrian. There are no complications, tension, drama in this.
The four follow a few clues and find the guy, who already knew the world wasn't actually ending but wanted to disassociate from the world anyway, and they make it back home by morning.
The artwork is pretty cool, primarily with pinks and purples for the night sky.
One scene that stands out was when two of them are in the club -- the boy who's 18 and the girl who's underage because the club lets in underage girls. The other two boys are outside (by the aforementioned dumpster). The couples are mixed, so everyone is free to spill what's on their mind. And here's were it goes wrong. The writer tries to do a movie trick of intercutting the two scenes and mixing the dialogue. This sometimes works in movies, because the jump cuts are obvious. It's less obvious here with the dark, near empty backgrounds with the "camera" close-up on whichever teen is speaking. It jumps from inside to outside back inside again to give the impression that the outside teen is responding to the inside teen's dialgoue. It doesn't work.
Luminous Beings was an okay read, and not something that I'll recommend. I wouldn't discourage anyone from reading it -- maybe it'll mean more to them.
If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. A fantastical foursome of flash fiction and short stories.
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