Upgrade Soul

Starred review from August 20, 2018
In this innovative and exquisitely drawn sci-fi graphic novel, an aging couple grapples with what it means to be human. Molly, a brilliant geneticist, and Hank, a famous comics creator, celebrate their 40th anniversary in a most unusual way: undergoing an experimental operation to clone themselves. Under the eye of an unsavory scientist, the operation goes awry, leaving Hank and Molly mentally and physically weakened—and their clones as “mutant fetuses” who retain their sparkling intelligence but resemble fleshy potatoes. Daniels originally serialized the story on an interactive iPhone app, complete with an original musical score. The adaptation to the printed page doesn’t lose that inventive spirit, while cunningly executed expressions make each character feel deeply real, with warm and thoughtful coloring throughout. At the heart of this complex, cutting-edge comic is an old-fashioned tale: that love gives life its meaning. On a bed that resembles a life raft in a chaotic cloning clinic, Hank returns from a conversation with his doppel-brainer to hug Molly tightly, their wedding bands touching on their knotted, wrinkled hands. “I’m so lucky to have you, Molly,” he says. “Just the way you are.” This immersive, touching sci-fi narrative weaves around central philosophical questions about identity, appealing to both genre and art comics fans. Agent: Chad Luibl, Janklow & Nesbit

Starred review from November 1, 2018

An aging sf novelist and his research scientist wife agree to help fund an impetuous scientific wunderkind's attempts to provide patients with a longer life span and enhanced endurance and intelligence through an experimental gene therapy with the caveat that they themselves serve as the procedure's first human subjects. But things don't go as planned, and soon the couple are both physically diminished and face-to-face with horribly malformed clones of themselves. The foursome's predicament is complicated by the reveal that the clones share a strange psychic dependency upon their genetic source material. Daniels (The Changers) delivers a skillfully told, beautifully illustrated tale that is all at once a love story; thought-provoking sf; a meditation on aging, identity, and race; as well as a terrifying, visceral thriller. VERDICT Originally serialized as an iOS app, and winner of the 2017 Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity, this work arrives already internationally acclaimed and poised to be one of the most discussed releases of the year.{amp}mdash;TB

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