I have been a fan of science fiction since about age 11, when I read The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet. In recent years, I've embarked on a reading project to sample a large selection of fantasy and science fiction literature, starting with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and working my way forward in time. So this graphic novel should have been perfect for me.
Unfortunately, the author took an interesting subject and a usually fun format and turned it into a dull slog. The artwork is unexceptional and the print is teeny. It consists largely of well known writers lecturing about the history of the genre. I can see where it would be difficult to create action appropriate to a graphic novel from the subject matter, and he struggles mightily to create some movement. There are large blocks of text, quite different from most graphic novels.
The information was good and accurate, but I feel that the author tried to cover too much material. Most of it lingered on the very earliest days of the genre, rather than the vibrant and diverse modern scene. The inclusion of women and people of colour into the mainstream has enlivened the genre delightfully. I did appreciate the focus on the British science fiction of the early days.
In short, I think this was the wrong format for this particular subject.
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