THE LONGEST DAY OF THE FUTURE review

(Reviewed by Melody Werner)
The Longest Day of the Future is a 2015 original graphic novel by Lucas Varela. Published by Fantagraphics, it tells a sci-fi story in an age of late stage capitalism and a war between two rival corporations. What's especially cool about it is it is almost entirely absent of dialogue. I read this in my local library in a little bit, and enjoyed reading it.


Varela's artwork is fairly basic, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The book's aesthetic feels like a more cartoony version of something Moebius might have drawn, with all its oddity and imaginative visuals. And it reflects the spartan narrative quite well, so you have that synergy between the visuals and the story which is always cool to see. What's more, Lucas brings a lot of color to the book, which helps make it easy on the eyes.


Being a pretty much wordless book, one could be tempted to just write a few sentences and be done with their review of it. And there's nothing necessarily wrong with that, but there is plenty to talk about here. The story on display in TLDotF is well executed, even if it never had me particularly floored. It's still interesting from start to finish, and is elevated by its social commentary. There's a meme on the Internet, when discussing socio-political commentary, about how such commentary is only good when it is suitably cloaked in coding and metaphor--a meme which ignores the value in having some blunt commentary that is able to just say what the author(s) is/are trying to say without potentially diluting their message or sticking their heads up their asses. TLDotF would not work if it was bound to some form of obligatory coding, and would've been seen as toothless if the message had to be veiled. As is, it gets its point across in an interesting and charming way that is much appreciated.


I won't say that The Longest Day of the Future changed my life or anything. And it's not like it changed my perspective on corporations running amok--I agreed with it from the outset. But it did tell an interesting tale that I think is worth experiencing regardless, and I will be rooting for whatever Lucas may turn out next, since this was his debut. The Longest Day of the Future gets an 8/10.

Solid

Summary:
Nice art and effective storytelling, drenched in well articulated anticapitalism.

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