Generational Storytelling
Astronautical!
By Brooklin Stormie
published by Annick Press
What can an art student learn from this book?
Fast pacing for a fast paced world - The storytelling in this book is crisp and free flowing. The story beats change very quickly between ideas. It can take a moment to adjust to the rapid pacing but it keeps the story moving and allows for a lot of narrative content to be shared. And it feels authentic, like the story is being told from a child’s perspective.
Creativity goes a long way - The art style is economical, with contour lines doing most of the work of communicating the characters, action, environments, and emotions. There is very little modeling or rendering – mostly flat colors. But the book offers a lot of bang for its buck because of the rich, vibrant and creative use of color, pattern, and stylization. Drawing graphic novels is a lot of work, but this book looks like drawing it might be an almost reasonable endeavor – while not compromising on quality. Despite the economy of line, or because of it, the visuals in Astronautical! are full of richness of story, character, and idea.
Show not tell - I was not surprised to find that the author and artist, Brooklin Stormie, is an art university graduate. The overall concept of the book is well grounded in critical theory and progressive thinking. Communicating social theory, or more specifically making it interesting and not boring is a challenge. It can be easy to be too didactic, which can make the content feel preachy or off putting to some audiences. However this book does a good job of communicating deconstructed social and cultural theory in an easily digestible and open way by sandwiching the social ideals in the childlike action and adventures of the characters and the story.
Generational storytelling - I had a brief opportunity to speak with one of the graphic novel editors at the publisher of this book. She mentioned the idea that aspiring artists should be cautious of looking at well established artists and writers for inspiration. Superstars may be able to get away with more than a beginner could because of their fame and record of success. A lot of my students want to do this kind of book, a graphic novel aimed at a younger audience. Looking at new published works by young contemporaries such as this graphic novel by Brooklin Stormie makes a lot of sense for aspiring illustrators and writers.