This graphic novel is a collection of ten short stories set in a world where outcasts and the dispossessed get to live their lives as “exiles” on floating capsules, “Dandelions”, with all of their living requirements met… except that they can never again land on solid ground.
This is an ambitious concept - the creation of a two tier society (in this case, as literal is it is figurative) caused by the pressures of climate change and job losses through automation. And it tries to pack a lot in: the psychological and societal impact of creating and underclass of people who are forced to live separately from the rest of society, the impact and opportunities that this will provide for criminality and surveillance, and the adjustments and sacrifices that normal people and families would have to make. Woven through this is a thread of the supposed inventor of Dandelion, Jen Nakamuto, and her reflections and regrets over the impact that the Dandelions have had.
I was looking forward to reading this. It should have been great. Unfortunately for me, it fell short of the mark. I think this is mostly due to how short each story was: ten stories in 120 pages barely allows each story to start developing before it hurtles towards its conclusion. Each story felt rushed and, leaving little space for emotional development of any of the characters or situations, with the result that I found it very difficult to engage with any of it.
This is such a shame, as the concept has the richness and potential for a novel length treatment. And there is such a collection of artistic talent; using different artists for each of the stories showcases a broad range of excellent artwork, and the change in visual style matched the change on point-of-view for each story.
Despite all of this, two things did stand out. Running between the main stories are snippets of the “Excerpt from the Statosphere podcast” interview with Jen Nakamuto. This set of reflections of the supposed inventor of the Dandelions, rendered in black and white was a nice counterpoint to the action in the main stories. And I found “The Bird” poignant and emotional (the fact that it had a talking octopus and lizard that was aware that its existence was within a graphic novel also helped). For me, though, these were just highlights in what felt overall like a missed opportunity.
Thank you #NetGalley and Image Comics for the free review copy of #Dandelion in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
My rating: ★★☆☆☆
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