The late and amazing Rod Serling once said “There is nothing in the dark that isn’t there when the lights are on.” There is one thing that isn’t available in the darkness. This would be our sense of sight. A humans we receive information about the world through a limited amount of sources. Cutting off one of these senses drastically limits our awareness. We are not afraid of the dark. We are afraid of the unknown.
Lumen Issue 1 Review
Lumen is a four-issue series created by Tony McMillen. The first issue premiered on September 19th, 2018. The book is published by Bounce House. Lumen is a horror-fantasy centered on a world shrouded in darkness.
Esteban Vela lives in Nocterra, a realm where there is no light. Monsters roam the landscape. All of the most famous heroes are nothing more than an urban legend. Esteban is sent on a quest by the Science Witch to acquire a rare and important material. Lumen is a magical light force that powers machinery in Nocterra. A steady source of Lumen is a crucial element to surviving the darkness.
I am not sure where to begin here. There are so many awesome aspects to Lumen. In the editor’s notes, McMillen says that the story was originally going to take the form of a video game instruction manual. This makes perfect sense to me. I can totally see Lumen as a Metroidvania-style platformer. I am glad that McMillen decided to share this information. It brought back memories of reading the booklets for my Super Nintendo games.
Lumen provides us with a great setting and interesting characters. I am a huge fan of harsh environments, such as dystopian and post-apocalyptic settings. Settings that are dark and brutal keep the excitement live. The world is unforgivable and one wrong move can end in disaster.
The art in Lumen is gritty and sketchy. Many artists use hatching a as form shading. McMillen takes it one step further and creates many of the objects out of hatch lines. I like sharp lines and traditional shading as much as the next reader, but I love artists who take an abstract strategy to their work.
The book’s color is mostly black and shades of blue. Oranges and pinks are used for lighting. I thought this was an excellent choice of palette. A lot of the panels look like sunsets. The art gives the book a bleak and chaotic aesthetic which works perfectly with the story’s content.
Though the story of Lumen is dark and scary, there is a lot of humor to be found in the dialogue. Esteban and Science With speak very casually with each other. They are not big fans of each other and their dialogue is full of witty sarcasm. Also be sure to read the editors notes at the end of the issue. They are hilarious. In case you don’t believe me, they are called Nocturnal Submissions.
Also, there is an Apple Owl. That is all I am going to say about that.
In case you couldn’t tell, this book hooked me. I will be reading all four of these issues. I really hope McMillen decided to make a video game booklet for this story as well. I think it would be a really great addition to the comic.
Where To Find Lumen Issue 1
Lumen is available on Comixology.
Tony McMillen’s website can be found here
The post Lumen Issue 1 Review – Indie Comic Reviews appeared first on Effective Nerd.
