Review
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Title: Future Day Saints: Welcome to New Zion & Future Day Saints: The Gnolaumite Crystal
Author: Matt Page
Publisher: EPluribusMormon;
Genre: Graphic Novel
Year Published: 2020 & 2021
Number of Pages: Welcome to New Zion, 57; Gnolaumite Crystal, (pages not numbered)
Binding: Hardback
ISBN: 978-1-00-693593-0
Price: Welcome to New Zion, 25.00; Gnolaumite Crystal, 30.00
Reviewed by Heather Harris Bergevin for the Association for Mormon Letters
The other night, my youngest was lying (flopping) on the couch attempting to not go to bed. Now, if you don’t know my irrepressible thirteen-year-old, he loves to do many things, but reading is not one of them. It takes a great deal (possibly miracles) to get him fascinated. He does enjoy sarcastic fantasy – Terry Pratchett’s books have been one of his favorite series, lately, and we’ve just finished The Watch arc of five audiobooks. But picking up a book on his own is rare, which is why when he asked me to hand him Matt Page’s “Future Day Saints” from where it was displayed on the bookcase, I was happily surprised. Moreso when he began flipping through and laughing happily, asking me questions about characters, bits he didn’t understand yet.
“You’re just going to have to read it,” I explained. “I can’t tell you everything about it.”
“Ok,” he replied…and then spent a happy hour turning pages and laughing maniacally at the funny, sarcastic in-jokes he recognized from our LDS culture.
I’m going to say the same to you – you really do have to read it! Page’s witty and tongue-in-cheek humor is hard to describe, but that’s what makes it so delightful. His graphic novel with “extra words” is littered with wonderful characters, from a pioneer alien woman wielding scythe weaponry, Bigfoot, a Good Bishop (not to be confused with a Bad Bishop), and a horrible monstrosity name The Natural Man, who has a trollike appearance, deeply set eyes, and an orangey-yellow swoop of a toupee (you’d recognize him on sight, I promise). Jokes flourish in the manuscript, like the lovely holiday for New Zion which is called Zioneer Day, or the heroine, Liahona, and are extremely Mormon-centric. Pictures and story are approachable and, well, have the edge of cuteness without being cutesy. They take themselves as seriously as needed, without taking themselves too seriously, with a slight nod of fourth wall glances.
In other words, my favorite kind of humor.
Continuing in The Gnolaumite Crystal, both books are filled with action and battles, and above all else, world-building. Page is headed towards specific commentary on our world here by describing his world, and even the faux advertisements in his comic support the narrative and the culture he’s parodying. However, Page isn’t sarcastic with a sardonic bite – rather, he’s lampooning LDS culture with a side of love. We are, after all, a peculiar people, and we sometimes take ourselves far too seriously. His intrepid kid side-kick heroes, More Good and Kid Kolob, soon find themselves in a pickle. Liahona is in danger. Can they rescue their friends Triple Combination and Z?
Page’s characters are alien, yet approachable. I paused a moment when seeing Triple Combination, who is depicted in very stereotypical 1960s “American Indian” form, albeit with three heads. I had to remember that, again, Page’s goal is satire, and he works to make sure that we realize the most ridiculous bits of our LDS history, with a side of eyebrow-raising. It might not always be the way I’d do it, but that’s part of the interest! Page isn’t trying to justify past happenings. He’s telling a new story, where he has focus on a multicultural world, where many different types of beings live together in peace (mostly), and where neither skin color nor number of appendages is a stressor, but rather whether the intention of the heart is good or evil. He’s created a Zion where varying religious cultures all intertwine, all are correct, and all are beloved of the people. He wants children and adult readers alike to enter his enjoyable dream, where six-eyed creatures and no-eyed creatures, those in futuristic wheelchairs, those with three heads, and a few with tentacles, can all be a team together to fight against evil. I love the aspect that when the children/sidekicks decide to fight against evil, they give themselves superhero names.
For most of humanity, the same qualities that create interesting humans who are complex, brilliant, and good can also be the same qualities that create evil, villainy, or just being a jerk. Page knows this. His characters are doing the same things that most of us do, every day, and making the same choices. Do you want to be a hero or a villain? The same qualities can create both, but it matters which side you want to be working to create.
Who will love this? Anybody with a sense of humor. If you don’t allow your family to use the word Mormon because you think it’s offensive, or if you don’t like puns, jokes like a band named “Adam Ondi Skaman” might go over your head. But if you, like me and my kid, find it absolutely hilarious to see a teacup with a face and weapon who is named Hot Drinks, a creeper-like creature called Hinderhooks, and if you know that not all Bishops are good guys, then you should truly love this series. While the first book is world-building and the formation of characterization and storyline, there is story setup within it as well, and it’s not to be missed. The second in the series continues and ramps up the adventures, with a sly snakey energy monster, and threats to agency and the self, which attempts to destroy all of society!
Ya’ll — support creative, clever artists and writers and go get this set! It’s appropriate enough to stick in your Sunday bag for smaller folks, engaging enough that my cynical teenager thinks it’s brilliant and delightful to me and other adult readers who have been raised in LDS culture and will get all of the wordplay. Dr. Sunstone recommends it.
Happy Reading!-HB