Review
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Title: Future Day Saints: The New Arrivals
Author: Matt Page
Illustrator: Matt Page
Publisher: Matt Page
Genre: Graphic Novel/Sci-Fi
Year Published: 2023
Number of Pages: 100
Binding: Hard
ISBN:
Price: 35.00
Reviewed by Andrew Hamilton for the Association of Mormon Letters
Future Day Saints: The New Arrivals is part three in Matt Page’s “Future Day Saints Trilogy.” The series started in 2020 with Future Day Saints: Welcome to New Zion. Welcome to New Zion set up the Future Day Saints story and cast of characters. Set shortly before the year 3000, the Future Day Saints stories take place on the planet New Zion in the Kolob star system. Humans and many of the other beings created by the Celestial Parents have gathered there under inspired leadership to fulfill the old prophecies of gathering in the last days. Written in the style of a 1980s comic, the story introduced readers to a variety of good and bad characters based on Mormon lore including “Good Bishop,” “Bad Bishop,” “Hot Drinks,” “Liahona,” “Z,” “Triple Combination,” and many others. Part Two, The Gnolaumite Crystal, was published in 2021 and brought more adventures between good and evil characters and saw to the ascension of Triple Combination and the beginning of a change of heart for the wicked Hot Drinks.
In Future Day Saints: The New Arrivals, a new group of the Celestial Parent’s children (Zioneers instead of Pioneers) arrive on new Zion and are incorporated into the Zion society. Hot Drinks continues her character journey. Enemies become friends. The origin of the Liahona is revealed! Lots of fun and adventure ensue. This book did come out in 2023, but in case you have not read it, I do not want to give any more details and spoil the story. I will just say that it is a fun, heartwarming, and very entertaining story.
All three Future Day Saints books are fantastic. Page is a very creative writer and an AMAZING artist. All three are presented in a beautiful, hardbound, graphic novel style. I believe that anyone who picks one of the Future Day Saints books up will fall in love and want to collect the whole series, but if you remember or grew up on the comics of the 60s, 70s, and 80s, it will be especially easy for you to fall in love with these books. Future Day Saints are filled with all the things that made those old comics great. Along with the stories that include adventurous tales, strong heroes, touching moral lessons, and good overcoming evil, Future Day Saints books include great artwork, bright colors, silly and even cheesy advertisements for action figures and other collectibles (IF you ever wore underoos or were tempted as a kid to send away for sea monkeys or x-ray glasses you will TOTALLY LOVE Page’s classically styled “advertisements”), and so much more. IF you really want to go all out (and if you start collecting the series you likely will!), Page has an ashcan to go with the story, pogs, trading cards, and a Triple Combination holographic sticker!
SADLY, Future Day Saints: The New Arrivals didn’t win any official awards for 2023. In a pay-to-play world, it didn’t get a chance. BUT it wins Andrew Hamilton’s award for being the most awesome bit of amazing super-duper lovely Mormon kitschiness to come out of 2023. This is the best comic associated with Mormonism to come out of 2023 (there were a lot!). It captures a special bit of weirdness of a peculiar people that brings my heart great joy. Matt Page deserves to be spoken of in the same breath as the likes of Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Chris Claremont, John Byrne, Sergio Aragonés, Mark Evanier, Todd McFarlane, and Bill Watterson. He may even someday have his own catchphrase. Do yourself a favor and if you haven’t started, collect the full set of Future Day Saints.