Ephemera

Ephemera is a melancholy graphic biography that portrays the author's struggle to handle her mother's mental illness. It poignantly blends memoir, magic realism, and graphic medicine with ethereal artwork. From the early days of her childhood, Brianna had to get used to her mother being physically absent from her life to being psychologically absent. Her mother never got well and Brianna accepted as much of her mother’s behavior as she could. I thought it odd that none of the characters had names. However there was only author Brianna, her mother and her father. There wasn't much dialogue either. The story took place in a garden, a forest, and a greenhouse. The story drifts among a grown woman, her early memories as a child, and the gossamer existence of her mother. 

I was sad after reading this book. It was highly recommended by reviewers so I obtained a copy of it. I wish I hadn't, though, because it is a story with no happiness whatsoever.

3 out of 5 stars.

Arca

In this dystopian comic thriller, planet earth is burning up but the rich and powerful have a plan to save humankind. When society fell apart, a select group of billionaires had an escape hatch: a rocket aimed at the nearest habitable planet, a ship equipped with many of the luxuries of life on Earth—why survive if you can’t survive in style? Their every need is tended to by teenagers who are willing to act as slaves in return for the promise of a new life. This is a good story. But, like so many stories, it is not true. Inside a great, sealed survival chamber, one slave, a teenage girl named Persephone, discovers that the promised future of comfort is a myth. And with that knowledge, she must fight for her survival against the billionaires, who would gladly kill her to protect the hidden truth.

Arca is an entertaining story with a fast pace and plenty of twists. Our heroine Effie, nickname of Persephone, has three months left serving the rich inhabitants of Arca before graduating to a Citizen when she turns 18.  As a Citizen, she will be served instead of serving. She begins training her replacement but begins to wonder why she has never seen on the ship any Settlers who have graduated. Effie knows she can't ask too many questions to her superiors but discusses the issue with her Settler friends. They have been told that the spaceship is heading for Eden and that it has been flying in space for several decades.  Effie finds proof that the spaceship has been traveling for 157 years and secretly starts looking for where these graduated Settlers are living on the ship. She is constantly being monitored and this makes her quest dangerous. Effie would be severely punished, maybe killed, for her efforts to find the answers to her questions. 

Arca is a page turner and even though it is a graphic novel, I recommend it for all readers.  It has an extensive plot that many will enjoy. 5 out of 5 stars. 

The Many Deaths of Laila Starr

The Many Deaths of Laila Starr  explores the fine line between living and dying in Mumbai through the lens of magical realism. Humanity is on the verge of discovering immortality. As a result, the avatar of Death is cast down to Earth to live a mortal life in Mumbai as twenty-something Laila Starr. Struggling with her newfound mortality, Laila has found a way to be placed in the time and place where the creator of immortality will be born. Will Laila take her chance to stop mankind from permanently altering the cycle of life, or will death really become a thing of the past? This 2021 5-part series was written by Ram V and Filipe Andrade. 

Our Laila has died several times during her time on earth as a mortal. Each time she has had contact with Darius, a child who was expected to bring immortality to all upon his birth. In the beginning, Laila wants to kill Darius when he is born so that death can continue. However, something keeps her from killing him, a humanity that she did not know she possessed. The reader watches Laila as she grapples with the emotions of mortals. 

During the series we see Hindu mythology as a theme. There are characters such as the funeral bird, a talking cigarette and a Chinese temple. These characters are fun and give the series a light feel. The artwork is colored with bright hues that also contribute to the hilarity of the story. With each issue of the comic the reader gets a full story but they all fit within the plot of a larger story.

Highly recommended. 5 out of 5 stars.