Review by C.J. Bunce
I’d thought Abrams ComicArts’ Phenomena was the best sci-fi comic since Copperhead when its first volume debuted back in 2022 (reviewed here at borg). Phenomena Book Two: Matilde’s Quest drives that point home. It arrives in comic shops this Wednesday and is available for pre-order now here at Amazon. In the first volume, The Golden City of Eyes, readers met a pair of “Littles” who become a part of another traveler’s epic “hero’s journey.” The worldbuilding continues the sci-fi and fantasy adventure stories found in Jean-Claude Mézières’ Valerian and Laureline, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Cowboy Bebop, with writer Brian Michael Bendis and Portuguese artist André Limr Araújo shaping something pretty special.
Readers find a future Earth where a kid named Boldon from Borzubo (which used to be Toronto) arrives in the metropolis of Versalani and encounters Matilde, a mix of Spider-Gwen’s attitude and Lotus’s skill set from Legend of the Condor Heroes. They pick up the third member of what will be their band of travelers, Spike the Cyper, a lumbering Drax type alien. They come together against common foes on the way to the City of Golden Eyes, which is London of the future, complete with a giant eye in place of the London Eye ferris wheel.
The second volume is subtitled Matilde’s Quest, but the story is just as much about the backstory of both Spike and Boldon, with both Matilde and Spike confronting individuals from their pasts. They make their way back to Valentia Verona–once London–and find their exploits have become the stuff of legend. Matilde and Boldon don’t like it, but Spike essentially tells them “this is the way.”
The event known as the Phenomena (not Phenomenon?) was supposed to change the world for the better, yet the Littles note that everyone is still fighting. They meet a new leader, a man drawn to be played by Jack Black in a film one day, who has kept a museum of artifacts from the past. Why is there still conflict? Why don’t the masses sit around and enjoy telling stories to each other? Does peace really need to take anything more than sharing the idea of peace to get effectuated? Can it all be summed up in a Beatles song?
This story is full of questing and energetic interactions rather than the worldbuilding of the first book. It makes the artwork stand out more and holds the reader’s attention, with something happening off in every corner. Araújo is on his way to becoming the next Alex Niño, filling in almost every bit of each panel with dense fantasy imagery.
As in the first book, this has the fantasy adventure feel of the D&D duo Minsc & Boo and their friends, a hero’s journey, rooted in Asian cultures, like Akira Kurosawa movies, Hayao Miyazaki anime, and Jin Yong novels. But this time the feel is even more in the classic science fiction territory of Jean-Claude Mézières’ Valerian and Laureline. The fantasy characters are drawn more like the flying, soaring warriors of big superhero comics, and the action is just as sweeping and fun.
With black and white (uncolored) artwork you’ll not forget, Araújo’s work should be considered for Eisner Award status later this year. My only wish is that it had bits of watercolor throughout. One of the best science fiction books of 2024, Phenomena Book Two: Matilde’s Quest arrives in comic shops this Wednesday and is available for pre-order now here at Amazon. Catch up on the first volume here. And it’s not over with Volume 2 as a third volume is in production.
