[ARC REVIEW] Light by Rob Cham

Title:  Light

Author:  Rob Cham

Genre:  Adventure / Fantasy / Friendship / Horror

Year Published: 2016

Year Read:  11/3/2016

Publisher: Magnetic Press / Buno Publishing 

Source: eARC (NetGalley)

Content Rating:  Ages 13+ (Some Violence and Scary Imagery)

I would like to thank NetGalley and Magnetic Press and Buno Publishing for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Introduction:

Now for years, I had read many graphic novels that would have written dialogues from the characters to help us understand the story being told in the comics.  However, even though I had read many children’s books that had no text and the story was being told through the artwork, I had never read a graphic novel that did not have any dialogue spoken by the characters and lets the artwork tell the story.  Luckily, I was able to come across such a graphic novel called “Light” by Rob Cham that was graciously provided to me by NetGalley and I have to say that I was quite impressed with this wondrous story!

What is this story about?

The story starts off with two explorers (a white big nosed creature and a grey leaf looking creature with large eyes) going on a journey through deep inside the earth to find five magic gems that would bring back color to the surface world.  Along the way, the two explorers meet up with various dangerous and strange creatures that get in their way of completing their mission to find the magic gems!

What I loved about this story:

Rob Cham’s story and artwork:  Wow!  Everything that Rob Cham did in this graphic novel was just fantastic to read through!  Not only was this a nice quick read due to the story not containing any text, but I found the story to be extremely creative and exciting!  I loved the way that Rob Cham told the story through the artwork as we get to see the two explorers go through various obstacles in order to obtain the five magic gems.  I like how the storytelling is similar to a video game mission where you have to find all the items to complete the game (sort of like how with “Sonic the Hedgehog” you have to find all the chaos emeralds to get a complete ending for the game).  However, in this case, the video game mission is given a more coherent plot and you get to experience the journey with the two explorers through the artwork!  Rob Cham’s artwork is what really sold this graphic novel to me as the characters look so strange yet wondrous at the same time and I really loved the appearance of the two explorers as they look so adorable compared to the other strange and dangerous creatures in  this story.  I also loved the colorings for the artwork as the surface world is drawn in black and white colors as it represents the lack of color in their world, while the world below the earth has neon colors, but the coloring is against a black background that gives that world a dark and frightening feel.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

For those of you who do not like violence and scary imagery, this graphic novel does have several moments where the explorers have to stab and cut their enemies in order to survive the journey.  Also, there are images of some frightening creatures such as the large bat that chases the explorers and night creatures that try to eat the explorers that might creep out some readers.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Light” is a truly fantastic and creative story that anyone who loves fantasy adventure stories will definitely get a kick out of!