Nnedi Okorafor and Hear Her Read the Book

I'm e'er on the lookout for new comics. I don't follow the industry particularly closely, and then a lot of titles slipped my attending. But I kept hearing about Nnedi Okorafor'southward LaGuardia. It was office of Dark Equus caballus Comics' Berger Books imprint, a line of titles spearheaded by Karen Berger of Vertigo Comics fame – an editor whose work I've adored. It was a sci-fi comic that imagined an alternating World where aliens had integrated themselves among humanity – a premise that'south correct up my aisle. And it simply won Eisner and Hugo Awards. So, I finally read it. And, human, it's adept. While I wish it was a bit longer, LaGuardia is a superb read. Featuring gorgeous artwork and intriguing globe-building, information technology'due south reflective of our current societal bug and a wildly captivating read. (iv out of 5 wands.)

(NOTE: This review may contain spoilers.)

LaGuardia (written by Nnedi Okorafor, illustrated past Tana Ford)
In an alternate world where aliens have integrated with society, pregnant Nigerian-American physician Future Nwafor Chukwuebuka has simply smuggled an illegal alien plant named Letme Live through LaGuardia International and Interstellar Airport…and that's not the only thing she's hiding.

She and Letme get part of a community of human and conflicting immigrants; but equally their crusade for equality continues and the birth of her child nears, Future—and her unabridged world—begins to modify.

LaGuardia follows Time to come, a heavily-pregnant Nigerian-American woman, who smuggles an alien plantform, Letme Alive, out of Nigeria and into America to protect them from an ongoing war between various plantforms. Upon arriving at LaGuardia Airport, Future encounters an America that is both prejudiced against and hostile to alien life-forms – in addition to America's seemingly endless prejudice against people of color. Future returns to her grandmother'due south dwelling and settles downwards in America with Letme Live. And from at that place, we witness America'southward descent into fearfulness.

The rhetoric used against the aliens in LaGuardia is intentionally similar to that used against immigrants and people of color in America today. There are anti-alien protests, travel bans to and from countries with high alien populations, and various businesses and establishments with a stiff anti-alien bias. I found this approach to alien immigration securely fascinating and depressingly realistic. For equally much every bit we'd like to think we'd welcome aliens with open arms, we wouldn't. Something like this is exactly what we'd exercise and information technology was fascinating to run into a comic explorer that thought in such detail.

I would honestly read several more comics featuring Okorafor's conflicting politics. Her worldbuilding in LaGuardia was beyond fascinating; it's my favorite aspect of the story. She doesn't overwhelm with exposition; instead, she chooses to drop readers into this living and animate world and have us piece together all that is happening. It's a nifty way to convey the exposition while getting audiences invested in the sociopolitical climate of the comic. I loved every piece of the conflict she provided even if I wanted more of it. I dear science fiction politics, whether they're hopeful or whether they're bleak, and I loved what LaGuardia had to say about our current sociopolitical climate in America.

Unfortunately, I found the plot and most of the character development a bit less successful. Now, to be fair, the plot is intriguing enough, with in that location being a bit of a mystery involving why Futurity left Nigeria and her fiance, and what's going on with her kid, merely much of that gets rushed in the story's four issues. There's simply not enough room in these issues to explore everything that Okorafor wants to, so some things get a fleck rushed. In that location's not a great sense of the passage of time and a few subplots aren't explored anywhere nearly as thoroughly equally I similar – namely those involving some of the aliens Future'south grandmother houses and the one involving Citizen, Time to come's fiance. The same is true for much of the character piece of work. Futurity'due south arc is solid, but near anybody else also suffers from this lack of time with which to develop them. Now, neither of these issues comes shut to ruining the comic. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and I found its bulletin powerful and its earth then interesting and well-built that these problems registered as mere speed bumps – but they're worth mentioning. With a few extra issues, I think they could have been solved. Merely such is life.

The artwork, drawn past Tana Ford and colored by James Devlin, is beautiful. Ford creates an engaging world that's a perfect blend of alien and familiar. Locales are immediately recognizable and the conflicting design is as varied every bit human life is. Her artwork makes Okorafor'due south world feel every bit alive every bit it reads. Devlin'south colors are the final piece of this puzzle. The colors are vibrant and popular off the page, imbuing Ford's art with that final breath of life. Combined, the artwork is but gorgeous. It deftly facilitates the agreement of the comic's story while being beautiful to behold.

Ultimately, LaGuardia is a great read. Its short consequence count hurts it a niggling bit, limiting the room it has to fully develop its plot and characters, simply the world created by Okorafor is one well worth visiting. It presents a mirror to our mod society, transplanting our current prejudices onto alien beings. At times, it is depressingly realistic, but there is an aura of hope that emanates throughout. LaGuardia is a must-read for all sci-fi and comic fans and is a please from start to finish.

4 out of 5 wands.

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Source: https://thoroughlymodernreviewer.com/2020/09/04/laguardia-review/

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