Author: Matt Page
Title: Future Day Saints: Welcome to New Zion
2020. 8” x 10” hardcover picture book. 58 pages, including stories in comic book format, storybook format, pin up illustrations, coloring pages, and activity pages.
Reviewed by Christopher Angulo, July 2020
Future Day Saints: Welcome to the New Zion is the recent creation from Matt Page. Matt is known for his excellent art work, as well as satyrs on figures within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (he has a fun card set called “Garbage Pail Saints”). Future Day Saints is his first endeavor to create a story around his illustrations.
The story takes place in the year 2929. The planet earth has long been abandoned, and her former inhabitants have made their home on a planet light years away, in the Kolob solar system. This is their story. But also the story of the other diverse alien cultures they share the planet with. They are all children of the Celestial Parents and this is New Zion.
When Matt first announced the book I was thrilled because the illustrations he shared piqued the peculiar part of my imagination. The images did not disappoint any of my expectations. I am particularly fond of the Dr. Sunstone and Unity Tower images. If you love the quirky side of Mormonism, your eyes will have a feast with each turn of the page.
I did not not know what to expect from the stories that would accompany the drawings, but was pleasantly surprised. Initially, I thought that the stories would be more towards the edgy, more cynical side; I was grossly mistaken. There are touching stories that range from a boy standing up to his evil father, to a beautiful rendition of the classic story found in the hymn, A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief. The book is filled with compassion and hope.
The stories and images are layered. Anyone can enjoy them on a superficial level. I read “Zioneer Day” and the origin story for “More Good and Kid Kolob” to my 3 children (ages: 7, 4, and 2). They all sat still and listened, which is something that they fail to do every other night I read them something else. For the person more immersed in Mormon culture, there are subtle references to many contemporary topics like Christ’s image, women and the priesthood, etc. These references do not overpower the lightheartedness of the book.
As a side note: I also collect books. There is nothing better than a well made book. This book is aesthetically pleasing. The cover has a nice texture and the image wraps from cover to the spine. The binding is sturdy and the pages are thick and hold the color well. My favorite part of the physical appearance of the book is the library card holder inside the cover with multiple stamps from various people that had checked the book out. The book is definitely sitting safe next to Claudio Sanchez’s Kid Crazy and the Kilowatt King (except when I take it out to admire every now and then).
You can order this book from Matt Page’s Etsy page: https://www.etsy.com/
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