This is the fourth volume of non-fiction comics put together by a large team at the University of Luxembourg, under the guidance of Nicole Plaschek (Project Manager DESCOM, Faculty of Science, Technology, and Medicine). DESCOM is a “training programme in science communication for doctoral candidates”, of which LUX:plorations #4 is an outgrowth.
It begins with a framing sequence starring Charlie, a teenage girl, and Zamara, an alien girl, (which deftly ties together the other chapters) and the story ‘Echoes of the Future’ (below) both of which are written by Citlali Bruce Rosete and Monica Laisun Louie, and drawn by Nora Back. This first chapter examines sustainability in the form of “upcycling”, which is explained as recycling old materials for new construction, or even 3D printing new parts for satellites from space debris. The writing on all the chapters is quite clear and accessible to we laypeople, especially so with this chapter where the creators juggle a lot of charts and anthropomorphic satellites to put forth a compelling account without a lot of action. The art by Back is cartoony in a way that is perfect for this sort of story, they really have a knack for driving the story forward with all the facts clearly laid out.
‘Misread, Misplaced, Understood’ (below) is written by Anxela Sulaj and Claire Gigleux and painted by Vincent Biwer. The story is a vivid journey through Charlie’s dual battle with dyslexia and anxiety. Biwer makes good use of the comics form in his limited space: the clever use of a musical stanza and floating notes and letters to represent the confusion of dyslexia; following, is an efficient page with a woman talking Charlie through an anxiety attack, with two rows of descending word balloons and a parallel sequence of three panels showing Charlie’s body language. The effortless beauty of Biwer’s painted art is a wonderful contrast with the frustrating symptoms of both anxiety and dyslexia.
‘The Neuronauts’ is written by Melanie Jorge Canelas and Amaury Borillon and drawn by Marion Dengler. Charlie sure has a rough go of it in this comic! After her and Zamara’s spaceship crashes, Charlie loses consciousness and Zamara sends three of their classmates into Charlie’s brain to fix what’s wrong. Dengler provides some astonishing imagery: from a panel filled with musical notation as the students attempt a harmony between the motor and auditory cortex to a M.C. Escher-esque cityscape depicting the prefrontal cortex. A quite lively art style from Dengler, who succeeds in her aim to blend her Franco-Belgian, Manga, and “American indie graphic novels” influences.
‘Gutham City: A Malignant Story’ is written by Hugues Escoffier and Maria Stepanyan and drawn by veteran cartoonist Pascale Velleine. This story casts anthropomorphic cancer cells in the role of a corrupt family and the protagonists as detectives uncovering their evil plot to take over Gutham City one cell at a time. The art by Velleine is firmly in the classic Franco-Belgian tradition, but all her own in its attention to detail and ability to relate a lot of information with panels of widely varied shapes and sizes.
Nicole Plaschek and the team at DESCOM have certainly succeeded in their goal of communication training for scientists. Most educational comics are adequate at conveying information, while the art is more perfunctory than imaginative. LUX:plorations exceeds both these by channelling beautiful, clever sequential narrative in the service of dramatic and informative stories.
Nicole Plaschek (Project Manager/Editor), Citlali Bruce Rosete (W), Monica Laisun Louie (W), Anxela Sulaj (W), Claire Gigleux (W), Melanie Jorge Canelas (W), Amaury Borillon (W), Hugues Escoffier (W), Maria Stepanyan (W), Nora Back (A), Vincent Biwer (A), Marion Dengler (A), Pascale Velleine (A), Jeff Hemmer (Cover, Portraits), Valerie Minelli (Spot illustrations), Ancy Genen (Spot illustration), Veronika Mischitz (W, Mentor), Jessica Burton (Mentor), Eglantine Denis (Graphic design), Serge Haan (DESCOM), Olive Glassi (DESCOM), Bruno Teheux (University of Luxembourg) • University of Luxembourg (DESCOM), Free
Download LUXplorations Volume 4 here
Review by Gary Usher
