On a Sunbeam

What a beautiful graphic novel (though I had it in hardback - I'd be a little worried about the structural integrity of a paperback since it's a huge book with panels that encourage gazing - I had to restrain myself from making this review entirely pictures of those beautiful panels).

The story is, ultimately, about women and our relationships with each other, and outside of that lens, not much happens. It's very much a quiet, internal book. It's so specifically rooted in and about that, actually, that I'd be hesitant to recommend it to a boy/man. They might like it, but some of the quiet beauty would be lost. There are no men in this universe, it seems - all women fall in love with each other. But there's all kinds of love and show more relationships represented between the characters, and it flows through their interactions with each other. Mia's relationship with Grace was beautiful in its purity - two souls finding each other that you can truly believe she'd still think about Grace after all those years but genuinely be OK just seeing her to say goodbye.

While the length of the book allows for all of the interconnected narratives to breathe, I wish the timeline had been extended. Mia and Grace are about 14 when they meet, and while I can believe they'd fall in love quickly, being SO in love after the course of only a year is a little too quick. Of course, 14-year-old emotions run high, but that depth of love generally takes time. But I could accept Mia's integration into the crew being so quick, because they rely on each other so much and need to trust quickly.

The interconnected narratives and flashbacks (which, I think, each had a slightly different color scheme, which really added to the dreaminess of the reading) were wonderfully done; the repeated themes and motifs were subtle but rich (the Lux game reappearing as the card game the crew teaches Mia; the way Mia's life with the crew mirrors her life at the boarding school) yet each story was it's own. Unfortunately, where they converged is where the narrative lost strength.

While I love the idea and the visuals of The Staircase (Jules' adventure in particular), everything quickly became muddled. Walden tends to draw very similar characters across narratives, so sometimes it was tough to tell who was who or which narrative we were in when all the characters were in close(er) proximity. And when everyone split up it just became a little too much. Jules's encounter with the glowing creature and the giant cat thing was beautiful and very true to her character, though it raised a lot of questions about The Staircase and those creatures that I wish had been answered, just like Elliot's backstory/adventure. They're an outlaw for killing one of the foxes, but did that fox kill their aunt? Why did Elliot kill it? Why is that such a sin if the foxes are untameable and kill people? And what traumatized Ell so much that they didn't talk? When did it happen? I was also unhappy that, once they reached The Staircase, Ell became chatty and defiant when that seems so out of character for them (like telling Mia to leave, going defiantly into the square). I would have loved more exploration of The Staircase: what makes the women who live there so dedicated? How isolated, community-wise, is it/how many people live there? How dangerous is it? Why did Grace want to leave so badly, and why did her family make an exception for her? Is her family an offshoot of the Hills or are they truly the family that founded the planet and prevent anyone from leaving?

But, really, what impressed me the most was the gorgeous art of this story. The palette is muted, even between the different narratives, with liberal use of blues, grays, and muted reds/purples/yellows. This lends a kind of dreary, dream-like quality to everything, making it more arresting when Walden inserts a panel with a different palette. The backgrounds are beautifully realized as well, with the strange goldfish ships taking center stage, often flying through darkness or in clouds of dust.

While not a perfect graphic novel, On a Sunbeam is very close, and it's strengths more than make up for it's flaws. show less

On a Sunbeam delighted and moved me. Walden takes the boarding-school story and the group-of-disparate-people-have-to-work-as-a-team-in-space story and makes something new in putting them together. Add a beautiful romance and even more beautiful art, and you have something quite amazing, something that even though it has many familiar elements, feels utterly unlike anything else I've read (except for maybe Moto Hagio). Great stuff.

On a Sunbeam is set between two timelines with Mia. First, as a freshman in an all girl's boarding school as she meets her first love, Grace. Second, when she's with her first adult job on a construction crew in space. The stories go back and forth and sometimes mix up a bit in the first half, and then it focuses on the present time with the crew in the later.

I loved Grace and Mia's relationship and was so sad when they ended up getting seperated. I also loved all the badass women and nonbinary persons that were in this book. Nobody took shit from anybody else and the people on the construction group stood up for each other. It was great to see and read.

My only problem was that the characters seemed to look so similar. Maybe it was just show more the way they were shrunk and put into the book, but I would get Mia and Char mixed up a lot and for the life of me I couldn't remember which one was Jules. I'd also sometimes get Ell and Alma mixed up to.

I loved the artwork in it, but I think the darkness of the panels is what sometimes would confuse me about the characters.

Overall, I would recommend this book for those who like science fiction graphics. There's space, there's strong, powerful women, and persons, there's love, there's adventure and suspense. show less

Prime impressioni a caldo che poi rimetterò in ordine. Forse.
Questo per ora e per me credo si sia il capolavoro di Tillie Walden. Le sue tavole hanno una potenza evocativa assurda, e qui si accordano perfettamente ad una storia che dall’inizio alla fine regge alla perfezione.
C’è tanto dentro: amicizia, amore, e quanto questo contribuisca alla crescita dell’individuo.
Tutti i personaggi evolvono e acquistano sicurezza nelle proprie capacità: crescono come individui singoli ma anche come parte di una comunità. La situazione non si deteriora fino alla tragedia, ma comunque tutte su trovano a fare delle scelte difficili e a dover in qualche modo valutare e il male minore e la propria coscienza.
E tutto questo, con una narrazione show more semplicemente stupefacente: perché Tillie Walden riesce a emozionare semplicemente con l’uso del colore. show less

What a stunning book. It was originally a web comic, which explains its fannish Millennials-on-Tumblr feel. (I don't know how else to describe this tone, and I mean it with all the love in the world. People who spend a lot of time in online fan culture develop a certain set of storytelling conventions that if you have also spent a certain amount of time in online fan culture you can sniff a mile away.) I'm so grateful to First Second for publishing it so beautifully. It's one of the most gorgeous book objects I've seen in a long time. My only quibble is that the hand-lettering is sometimes tiny and hard to read. [b:Nimona|19351043|Nimona|Noelle Stevenson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1412626919s/19351043.jpg|27411330], another show more webcomic-to-book title, has the same problem. There must be something going on here?

I love that it's a futuristic space exploration story that still feels cozy. I love that it's entirely without dystopian elements. And I love that I'm pretty sure there's not a single cis man in the entire story -- not main characters, not side characters, not unnamed teachers or uncles mentioned in passing -- and I didn't even realize until the day after I read it. show less

This is not the sleek monochrome world of mainstream sci-fi. Despite a limited color palette—perhaps because of it—this is a universe awash with warmth and color, filigreed sparingly with the complexities of stars and circuitry, so that every establishing panel is a fresh source of astonishment. And these beautiful illustrations are grounded by our protagonist, Mia—a thoughtful, almost mousy-seeming young girl who blossoms in front of our eyes as we follow her past and present in an interwoven narrative that ultimately brings together six misfits in a radical family of choice.

Honestly, this is the queer Ghibli story I could have used as a kid, evoking all the wonder and awkwardness and romance of a young girl coming into herself show more and her power—not through force, but through human connections with (specifically, solely) other women and non-binary people. And yes, these are connections forged in spaceships shaped like koi fish and on daring rescues on far-off planets, but they're also found in sports teams and school dances and late-night RPG sessions. Each character in this book has unique strengths and weaknesses, and every one of them benefits from reaching out to others and from striving inside of themselves for courage and kindness. It's a powerful story and a vital message, and it makes this a book to savor and to cherish and to give to every young woman or enby person in your life. show less

Through the journey of Mia, a 19 year old girl who just got a job with a reconstruction crew, Tillie Walden tells a - not so linear - story about love, family and regret. In the beginning, On a Sunbeam follows Mia in two narratives that take place five years apart, but it eventually splits up, following minor characters and establishing a unique path.

The skillful storytelling is complete with the remarkable artwork, that uses not only the drawings, but colours and lines to help tell the story, set the tone and embrace the reader into the universe. At the same time, the dialogue is written in an impeccable way, not only sounding natural, but working in distinctive ways to distinguish each character, Walden makes sure that each character show more has their own way to express themselves, tha being verbal or not.

I do not usually like graphic novels, but On a Sunbeam made me revisit my preconceptions. The book made me feel in ways I rarely felt before, especially through fiction. Each character made the way into my heart and when I closed the book I felt like I belonged to that family as well.

The universe created by Tillie Walden has a way of challenging our preconceptions and our internal biases, at the same time making sure we take a piece of it with us on the way out. Although I would not recommend the book for anyone with a tissue shortage at home, this is a book that reminds us that it is alright to hope. show less