Afar

by Leila del Duca, Kit Seaton (Artist)

Overview

Boetema suddenly develops the ability to astrally project to other worlds, unintentionally possessing the bodies of people light years away. Inotu, her inquisitive brother with a pension for trouble, finds himself on the run after he's caught eavesdropping on an illegal business deal between small town business tycoons and their cyborg bodyguard. When Boetema accidentally gets someone hurt while in another girl's body, the siblings are forced to work together to solve the problems they've created on their planet and others.

AFAR is a coming-of age fantasy tale about two siblings. Boetema can astrally project, and her brother, Inotu, is forced to grow up when their reckless parents leave to work as salt shepherds. Boetema is tasked with figuring out why she dreams she's in other people's bodies, and in doing so, makes matters worse on a planet hundreds of light years away. Inotu struggles to become a confident and supportive brother while they've been left alone by their parents. Poor, sleep-deprived, and on the run from a cyborg, the siblings work together to overcome their own personal obstacles, making their way across the desert to the thriving metropolis, Yopan.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781632159410
Publisher:	Image Comics
Publication date:	04/04/2017
Pages:	168
Product dimensions:	6.60(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	13 - 16 Years

Editorial Reviews

05/01/2017 When Boetema sleeps, she finds herself in the bodies of strange alien creatures, but she isn’t merely dreaming, and she doesn’t know how to make sense of what’s happening. Her life is already more difficult than she would like: her parents are moving the family to a new home in Yopan, a city of luxury and goods, and her brother, Inotu, has a habit of getting into trouble. Comics artist turned writer del Duca explores a post-industrialized desert landscape that mixes technology, mythology, and supernatural powers, a fascinating blend of influences made all the more vivid through Seaton’s depictions of the intermeshing of past and future. With little direct exposition, the story depends on Seaton to illustrate the complexity of a setting that features advanced technology, new or mutated animals, and the wildly diverse planets Boetema explores while engaged in what she eventually learns to be astral projection. It’s a rousing adventure set in a world that would seem to have many more tales to tell. Ages 13–up. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

NPR — Del Duca determinedly keeps her characters down-to-earth and her story small - universe-spanning though it is. ... And it works.





BOOK RIOT — My biggest quibble with Afar is that there's not enough of it.





SEATTLE REVIEW OF BOOKS — Afar is a cosmic space fantasy that also incorporates a complex political dynamic as the AV CLUB — This is a comic that takes full advantage of the medium's creative possibilities to craft an emotional, invigorating story, and it would be wonderful if the industry embraced it and opened the door for more original graphic novels executed with this level of care and ambition.

siblings try to survive in a punishing desert culture. With her head in the stars, Boetema finds it more and more stressful to take care of her brother while also intermingling her consciousness with alien cultures halfway across the universe. It's a perfect read for those kids who are perennially daydreaming, because it's a story about what you can do when you allow your mind to wander.





AV CLUB — This is a comic that takes full advantage of the medium's creative possibilities to craft an emotional, invigorating story, and it would be wonderful if the industry embraced it and opened the door for more original graphic novels executed with this level of care and ambition.

From the Publisher