By Cat Wyatt

Solar Flare is described as the Walking Dead, but with science (and without zombies, but given the title that’s probably obvious). It’s a dystopian graphic novel, bordering on the post-apocalyptic side (sounds all doom and gloom, I know). It ponders the question; what would happen to the human race if we suddenly lost access to all forms of power and electricity? Could we survive without our precious electronics? Or would society collapse?

The title probably makes the cataclysmic event pretty obvious, but I’m going to talk about it anyway. A massive solar flare occurs; taking out any electronic that isn’t shielded (which is most of them, of course). Out of curiosity, I took some time to fact check some of the data cited when they were explaining what happened. I was very pleased to see that everything was verified as accurate. I love a series that does its homework!

Jake Clifford (the main character) has a lot of connections to help him survive this technologically absent time. None of that changes the fact that his child is in another state and with no mode of transportation minus walking (or horses, but good luck finding them in the city), getting to her is going to be no easy task.

It’s Jake’s friends who inform us about the flare – it’s their job to be monitoring for such activity. If their lab hadn’t flooded they likely could have warned people of it ahead of time (figures, one natural event helped to conceal another). I’ll admit that the whole flooding office part seemed a little too convenient for me, but hey, life happens right?

I’m both not surprised and happy about their inclusion of Jake’s uncle. He’s the conspiracy theorist, survivalist type that would relish having a chance to finally prove himself. I absolutely believe that people like him exists, and would likely act the same way he did. One can argue that perhaps they took his actions too far to be believable, but honestly, I’m not sure they did. Can you safely tell me that nobody would cross a line in order to ‘protect their friends and family’? Granted, he had no problem including his family on that list of people that are safe to be targeted, but that had more to do with the fact that the disrespected his authority (can’t have that now, can we?).

We’re already seeing a lot of indications for how society would handle this sort of event (according to this creative team, that is), and it isn’t well. So far the cast has mostly stuck to a limited range, though obviously a select team is preparing to go on a mission (Jake to get to his daughter, and his friends to get to their lab inside a Faraday box, which may have shielded the last tech).

What I’m really looking forward to is seeing the expedition – seeing Jake and his group of friends traveling out of the city/suburbs and to another state. Not only will this open up a lot of room for instances and adventure, but it’ll also give us a chance to see how other places and people are handling the lack of power. I’ll admit it’s gotten me very curious.

This was a pretty great start to a new series. I’m already invested in what is going to happen next, which is a fantastic sign. I do think some more character development could be used, as so far only two characters have really been fleshed out. I’m sure that’ll be remedied shortly (I’ve gotten the impression they won’t leave things like that hanging, but I could be wrong). I’m thrilled about the facts for solar flares being more or less on point that is such a refreshing change. That alone got this series huge brownie points in my mind.

The artwork is a bit odd, if I’m being honest. It almost looks like photographs were taken, and then had a drawing overlaid on top of it (like in that movie with Keanu Reeves). I don’t exactly dislike it, but at times it just looks…wrong? It certainly breaks the immersion at times. But if that’s my worst complaint about this series, that actually isn’t too bad. I do love the color pallete chosen, it’s darker and gives an eerie tone.

Score: 4/5

Solar Flare - Season 1: Fort Myers
Publisher: Scout Comics
Author: James Haick
Artist: Branko Jovanovic
Colorist: Song Ye
Letters: Andworld Designs