By Zack Quaintance — Black Star — as the promotional material reveals — is a comic born of a repurposed screenplay from writer Eric Anthony Glover, illustrated here by Areille Jovellanos. This is no value judgement whatsoever on the graphic novel, but my first thought when I finished this book was, “well, I can certainly see why that didn’t work as a film.” There’s a couple of intertwined reasons I thought this.

First of all, this book is science-fiction in a relatively pure sense. There are set pieces on doomed ships in space, there are characters placed into suspended animation, and there is a treacherous foreign planet, becoming even more treacherous as it heads toward its inhospitable summer. These are all ingredients that are expensive to put to film. Original blockbusters that cost a lot of money are a rare thing in 2021, even more so when said would-be original blockbuster takes a major risk with its plot at a conceptual level — which Black Star by Glover and Jovellanos certainly does.

I, however, am not going to reveal the exact nature of that twist in this review. I will only say that it’s a bold one, one that requires subtlety as well as a big leap of faith being made by an intelligent audience. That’s not something major Hollywood studies seem all that eager to invest in these days, at least not without a built-in audience and extensive mythos coming along from another medium. Black Star is a book that aims to shatter traditional narrative expectations, and, in the strictest sense of that, it certainly does.

Whether that risk paves the way for a rewarding reading experience, well, that’s another question, and one we’ll certainly get to in a moment. First, I think I’ve gone far too long in this review without praising the excellent cartooning work done by Areille Jovellanos in this book. Black Star — published by AbramsComic Arts, which has been putting out stellar work this year — straddles an interesting audience line, not quite YA but able to flex that way if you squint. And Jovellanos artwork is a big part of why. It’s accessible and interesting, yet deeply complex when held up to further scrutiny.

Every panel layout in Black Star is welcoming, yet the the visuals put within those relatively simple layouts are detailed and startlingly complex. It’s great work throughout from Jovellanos, and, really, probably the deepest and most clear strength of the book. It essentially means readers can sit back and easily enjoy the visual facet of the book as they contemplate the big moves being made with the characters and the plot.

Which, again, it is not my intention to spoil here. The last thing I’ll say before wrapping up is that the same reasons this book is a tough sell as a big budget Hollywood blockbuster may preclude it here from finding a super broad audience, although comics is an entirely different set. It’s a skunkworks of ideas with an audience who is game to have their expectations thoughtfully subverted. That’s the type of reader who will not only like Black Star but will potentially outright love it, imbuing it in the best case scenario with a cult following, which — who knows! — might eventually give it the cultural cachet it needs to make the jump to cinema after all.

GRAPHIC NOVEL REVIEW: Black Star by Glover and Jovellanos

Black Star
Writer: Eric Anthony Glover
Artist: Areille Jovellanos
Publisher: Abrams ComicArts - Megascope
In the future, interstellar travel is past its prime and sending shuttles beyond our solar system—even for vital scientific research—is a life-threatening gamble. However, in order to retrieve samples of an alien flower that may hold the key to saving countless lives, Harper North and her crew of scientists must journey to Eleos, a dangerous planet in deep space. But as they approach Eleos, their ship is caught in an asteroid storm and as it hurtles towards the surface, its reserve shuttle detaches, landing over 100 kilometers away. When the rest of the crew perishes in the burning wreckage of the ship, North races towards the rescue shuttle built for one, hoping to fulfill their mission and survive. But North isn’t alone: The team’s wilderness expert is still alive and hell-bent on hunting North down and claiming the shuttle for herself.
Now, North has no choice but to reach the shuttle first—and fast. The fuel is leaking. Her GPS battery is dying. And the planet’s deadly seasonal change is coming. As she battles the flora and fauna and tries to elude her ruthless former crew mate, North will find the cost of survival is dear . . . Will she be willing to pay that price?
Publication Date: May 11, 2021
Price: $24.99
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Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.