Review: Black Star – Eric Glover and Arielle Jovellanos
Black Starby Eric Glover, Arielle Jovellanos
Publisher: Abrams ComicArts - Megascope
Publication Date: May 11, 2021
Genres: Graphic Novel, Science Fiction
Pages: 176
Source: NetGalley
I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
My rating:
Stranded on an alien planet, two astronauts must battle deadly elements and each other to recover a reserve shuttle built for one
Black Star is a debut graphic novel by Eric Anthony Glover, based on his original unproduced screenplay, and illustrated by Arielle Jovellanos. 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?
Content warnings: View Spoiler »
A team of four women are on the way to Eleos to retrieve an alien flower that has near-miraculous medical properties when an accident causes their ship to crash on the planet, with the auxiliary shuttle landing almost 200km away. Alone and with few resources, scientist North has to navigate the unforgiving terrain to make it to the shuttle before the planet’s deadly summer season starts. But there’s a wrinkle: the ship’s wilderness expert, Parrish, has also survived, and she’s also heading for the one-person shuttle. Between floods, fires and alien creatures, will either of them make it out alive?
The story follows Dr. North as she navigates towards the shuttle. There’s flashbacks, courtesy of her visor, that explain some of the dynamics between her, Parrish and Fletch, who North left to die on the ship (there’s also a fourth crew member, but she doesn’t do much besides die on impact). As the book progresses, North and Parrish’s attempts to survive both the planet and each other take on an increasingly desperate tone, and there’s a sinking sensation that at least one of them isn’t telling the whole truth about what happened on the ship. There’s lots of tension, between hailstorms, floods and setting traps for each other, so it’s definitely a page turner.
That’s helped along by the art, which is detailed and dynamic. I especially loved how the flashback visor scenes were done. My main problem is that the ARC was in black and white while it appears that the final version will be in color. I didn’t realize this until reading the notes at the back, where the illustrator talks about using uniform colors to distinguish between North and Parrish. I’m completely stumped as to why the publisher would chose to do the ARC this way as I think it negatively effects the story. There’s definitely scenes where the art is confusing in black and white where I think it would be perfectly clear in color. Based on the gorgeous color cover, I think this would’ve a huge difference for me.
Overall, I enjoyed the story, but find it hard to rate due to the fact that it’s basically incomplete. If time allows, I’ll plan on checking this book out from the library once it’s published and update my review.
