COMIC REVIEW: Before We Sail

BEFORE WE SAIL
by Carlos Yacolca, illustrated by Michelle Lino
Available now

Digital publishing will always be a double-edged sword; but, more than anything, it's a promising tool to help new voices get their work out there. V for Vendetta co-creator David Lloyd uses this to good advantage in his digital magazine Aces Weekly, presenting serialized fiction and comics for a low weekly price. Among the recent stories to appear in its metaphorical pages is Before We Sail, the inaugural work of writer Carlos Yacolca. And this apocalyptic one-shot packs a punch.

The comic follows Jonathan and Kath, two survivors of a globe-spanning apocalypse. Their best hope for survival is to escape Lima and take to the seas. Together, the pair brave pirates, monsters, and (chiefly) their own trauma. Because even if they do make it to safety, is there really a point to it all when the world is falling apart? The story takes place alongside Jonathan's own letters as he ponders this exact question.

As someone who began my tenure as Sci Fi Magazine's book reviewer right in the thick of lockdown, I have read a lot of "COVID Narratives." So I come from a time professionally when zombie and plague metaphors were thick on the ground and, by and large, got very samey. But Before We Sail dodges this in two important ways. First, it's a localized story: while our heroes may be escaping Peru, it's still rooted there - in a place where, frankly, I haven't seen a lot of stories told in English.

Secondly, and most importantly, Before We Sail is timeless. There will always be something happening in the world, and nowadays it feels more than ever like the world is falling apart. But Jonathan and Kath's story never feels like a "period piece" that echoes one tragedy too much. Rather, it looks inward to the effects of those tragedies. Sadly, depression and hopelessness will always be with us. And no matter what we face down, we will always wonder if there's a point to going on. Before We Sail examines those feelings unflinchingly, but it also comes away with an answer of sorts.

Stories like these are why amplifying indie art is so important. Before We Sail will reach you no matter what you're afraid of or what you're going through.

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