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Posted in: Ablaze Publishing, Comics, Indie Comics, Review | Tagged: ABLAZE Publishing, astronauts, rock and roll, science fiction, The Prism
The Prism: A Sci-Fi Saga Where Astronauts are Literally Rock Stars
The Prism is light and breezy SciFi series where astronauts are literally rock stars as they resist an evil corporation
Article Summary
- "The Prism" merges sci-fi and rock in a unique comic series
- Astronauts double as rock stars fighting a corporate villain
- The narrative offers light-hearted, fun escapism with a message
- Merging European & Japanese styles, Matteo De Longis crafts a visual spree
The Prism is a Science Fiction comic series where rock music and outer space unite. Do you know how astronauts are often considered rock stars? In this Sci-Fi future, the astronauts are literally rock stars. It begins with a pair of astronauts on a distant planet, seemingly on a routine mission of exploration, before one of them crashes down from space onto a stage for a big rock gig at a stadium. That first issue is the series' mission statement: space and rock and rock.
The astronaut heroes of The Prism are a rock band under contract to a megacorporation seeking to exploit a resource and hide the discovery of a weapon of mass destruction. Aren't they all? The heroes' mission as astronauts and as rock stars are inextricably linked, and it's the tension that drives the series. The official synopsis says, "Noise pollution is crushing life on Earth. The largest megacorporation on the planet finances a crazy project called The P.R.I.S.M. (Purifying Recording Interplanetary Space Mission) to combat the phenomenon: sending a musical supergroup into space to record an album that will produce sounds able to push back the threat known as S.O.T.W. (Smoke on the Water) and save the planet. Where rock'n'roll excess and the survival of all life on Earth collide, there is…THE PRISM!"
It's a huge relief to encounter a Science Fiction comic that's just fun. It's not about huge cosmic events or genocide or racism metaphors, thank God. It's like every Science Fiction book, TV series, or anime and manga is about genocide, war, and racism now. Of course, those issues are important to tackle, but plenty of series are out there already. That doesn't mean The Prism is entirely empty. It's still broadly political – there's a light anti-corporate theme in its plot about a greedy megacorporation that wants to own everything and a group of plucky young artists who oppose them. Yes, there's a plot about an alien weapon that's dangerous to everyone, but it's not heavy-handed or leaden like most comics that insist on being so IMPORTANT these days. Comics aren't supposed to be just for angry, tired middle-aged men. They should also be breezy and fun for everyone.
Matteo De Longis is a one-man band here, working as both writer and artist, and he draws to his strengths: widescreen cinematic vistas, pretty-looking young people playing in a band, spaceships shaped like giant electric guitars, and a leisurely pace. De Longis is part of the generation of artists who grew up on anime and manga and have taken its stylistic influences – the look and the storytelling techniques – and synthesized them into a combination of European and Japanese comics dynamics to create a fluid aesthetic that feels natural and organic.
The Prism is published monthly by Ablaze.
The Prism
7.5/10
A light and breezy Science Fiction series where astronauts are literally rock stars, eschewing the doom-laden tone of most comics for a fun story about a rock band whose gig is tied to their space mission as they resist an evil corporation that's bankrolling their mission and gigs with an art style the blends manga and Europrean art and storytelling dynamics to create its own thing.
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