Convoluted. Filmy. Formulaic. Confusing. You can’t really describe Retrograde better than this.
The beginning of the graphic novel is bearable but by the time you are through flipping some pages, you end up scratching your head to know what really is going on?
The idea of an advanced techno war, a global power shut down, a solar flare hitting Earth and the human race sent back for a reset with survival only for the fittest — all of this from an Indian perspective — acceptable. But the book itself is still heavy stuff with a random storyline and a predominantly lingering American lingo.
The publishers have undoubtedly laid a foundation to our much-delayed and much-anticipated era of an individual and contemporary take on issues through superb inter-weaving of graphics in novels, but they seriously need to tone down their content and make it more reader friendly and less Hollywood-inspired. Commendable art by Avik Kumar Maitra in this one and the second volume comes with a bonus reprint of the first one as well, but the content is not really worth the spend.
The publishers have undoubtedly laid a foundation to our much-delayed and much-anticipated era of an individual and contemporary take on issues through superb inter-weaving of graphics in novels, but they seriously need to tone down their content and make it more reader friendly and less Hollywood-inspired. Commendable art by Avik Kumar Maitra in this one and the second volume comes with a bonus reprint of the first one as well, but the content is not really worth the spend.
Graphic Novel
: Retrograde
Price
: Rs 150
Published by
: Pop Culture Publishing