For some, the world as we knew it ended after the 2008 presidential election. Whether that was good or bad depended on their political allegiance. When the financial system collapsed, the nation struggled with the repercussions of a logical error that assumes if B follows A, then A caused B.
Four years and an Obama re-up later, we face a complex sociopolitical landscape: Apple products and food stamps are more popular than ever, and values based on the economics of agriculture and manufacturing are waning in the face of information-driven urban lifestyles.
This may seem socially disorienting, but if you follow — or, like Honolulu artists Jon Lewis and Spencer Toyama, actually create — science fiction, little in 2012 America is surprising.
Two years ago, Toyama asked, "What would America look like if it were a Third World country?" Together, he and Lewis have come up with the first chapter of a well-developed answer that is both visually and narratively compelling.
"Home of the Brave" is a graphic novel that invites readers to explore an alternate history in which America never recovered from the Great Depression. As a result, 9 percent of the population has access to electricity, literacy rates are abysmal, most people live below the poverty line and three children are sold into slavery every minute.
This first chapter establishes the story of a young girl of tremendous potential named Aria who is sold into slavery by grandparents who can no longer afford to support her.
Illustrator Jon Lewis marries powerful graphic design (used to great effect in a two-page infographic that concisely explains the history of their future America), a loose but expressive drawing style, and the screen tones of manga to create richly textured pages with strong visual rhythm. Lewis mixes traditional panels that handle story exposition with more abstract visual fields that give an emotional and cinematic feel.
Toyama’s crisp writing easily introduces the reader to characters and situations, and the dialogue is efficient without sacrificing its speakers’ personalities. Interactions between Aria and her tutor are particularly smart, and we get a deep sense of her intelligence.
As we move from the tomato fields of Northern California to the tutor’s classroom to the auction block, Lewis uses different tones to communicate the distinctions between these parts of Aria’s life: blue for education and rationality, earth tones for agrarian life and a red that borders on dried blood for her introduction to slavery.
"Home of the Brave" isn’t setting itself up as a parable, propaganda or public service announcement. Given today’s economic and ecological landscape, people may be more inclined to explore this world populated by strong characters that are set to lead us along the arc of a solid story. "Home" is dystopian fiction in the tradition of George Orwell’s "1984," Suzanne Collins’ "Hunger Games," Allan Moore’s "Watchmen" and Frank Miller’s "Dark Knight."
"Home" can also be classified as what contemporary marketers call "transmedia," or a creation that exists in or connects to multiple formats. Traditionally, transmedia links creative properties and merchandising, but in this case the link is between Toyama and Lewis’ fictional world and the reality of human trafficking being challenged by organizations such as the Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery.
This collaborative approach to content and promotion should come as no surprise given that Lewis and Toyama both haunted The Greenhouse Innovation Hub on Auahi Street in Kakaako’s budding creative entrepreneurial zone.
Though they met during a "Showdown in Chinatown" 24-hour filmmaking competition, both strongly endorsed the need for spaces such as R&D, 808Urban and Indigenous International Gallery so that creative people can consistently, casually and easily develop ideas. The Internet has extended this model, and the crowd-funding site Kickstarter.com played a key role in getting their project off the ground.
Who needs a fictional account of America "gone off track" when there are popular websites dedicated to the topic of U.S. collapse under extreme liberal or conservative leadership?
"Home of the Brave" is more than that because fiction offers a unique space for the exploration of ideas that contemporary political reality does not allow.
The positive community and critical reception in and outside of Hawaii is a broader indication of what can happen when creative folks take a chance on adhering to a vision that transcends locality.
