Skin & Earth is an immersive experience to the core. Not only does each track of her album refer to part of the comic book, but the comic itself has QR codes within to link you to her music and bonus features. This makes reading a whole new level – one that I adored. Is there really anything Lights cannot do? There are all these gorgeous little world building details in the panels, and at the heart of the comic is so much more.

There’s layers of environmentalism, of heart break, and dystopic settings. It is way more complex that I expected. There are these large overarching storylines that span the entire book. At the same time, there are these webs of stories that layer on top of each other making this complex and hypnotic web. We fall into it gladly. Lights’s music lulls us in and soon we are right there with her main character Enaia. It is a richly woven tapestry of myths, legends, and beliefs.

I have to say I was not impressed by this new-age-y comic from a singer who is evidently well-established, but of whom I'd never heard before. The story supposedly is supported by a dedicated soundtrack (a 14-track corresponding album) and there were 3D bar codes in the comic in various place which you were supposed to be able to scan with your phone and then go listen to (as I understood it), but every one that I scanned went to the same place, which was some sort of news page which offered no prospect of music that I could see - and I was not about to read through all the material in search of a song or two that ought to have been up front and center.

After the third time of going to the same web page from a different bar code, I gave up on this, forced to conclude that it was some sort of a bait and switch to get you reading somebody's web site! I got this review copy in electronic form, but there's no clickable link for the e-version! That seemed a bit antique to me. For that matter they could have included the songs right there in the e-version! But comic books are all about the print version, make no mistake, I guess comic book writers really don't like trees very much!

The comic itself wasn't any better. The artwork was fine enough, but the story was non-existent. As far as I could tell, it was supposed to be about a journey of self-discovery - a girl looking for hope in a hopeless world we're told, but if that's really the way you think, then you're already doomed.

Besides, the journey was far too boring and I gave up on it about halfway through. I think some writers view their own lives as way more interesting than they actually are, and can't wait to lay their personal story on as many others as they can. You could argue that this is what writers (prose, poetry or songs) do as their stock in trade, but I'd disagree.

If that is what you're going to do though, you'd better make the journey interesting. It can't just be a pictorial diary of your random thoughts which is what this felt like. I just read this one a short while ago and I literally cannot remember a single thing about it now. Obviously, it made no impression on me whatsoever! I wish the author all the best in her career, but I can't recommend this aspect of it.

This was such a cool concept. I had no idea when I requested it from Netgalley, that it was a graphic novel with an accompanying soundtrack. The story takes place post apocalypse, or it least it seems that way, with a smoking hot heroine named En. She is trying to make life better for people like her that aren’t pink. Without spoiling this too much, there is a very cool supernatural element to it. Great cliffhanger at the end and I’m looking forward to reading the next one.
There were a few fall backs for me. The comic was too small and blurry when stretched out. It made it difficult to read, especially the red writing. I also couldn’t get the codes to work for me so I wasn’t able to listen to the soundtrack.
Regardless, I enjoyed it and I’d recommend.

I have to admit I am basing my rating on the entire package, namely, the graphic novel and the music that accompanies each chapter. Having said that, I did not listen at the beginning of each chapter as suggested, I didn't want to stop reading and in my world, one pays attention to what one is reading if reading and one pays attention to what one is listening to if listening. So rather than pause my reading or, even worse, playing the music as background, I waited until I finished the book to listen to the entire album.

Skin & Earth takes place in a post-apocalyptic world. The people have been divided and the divide is extreme. While this certainly speaks to the perverse inequalities in our current society between the haves and the have-nots, this is not all darkness. The ultimate theme is hope. Hope in the face of declining odds, in the face of perceived personal slights, and hope in the ability of beauty and good to survive the darkness and rise again.

The graphic novel on its own was very good, the style of the drawings was wonderful and changed with the location and the action. In other words, the art didn't just illustrate the story, it helped to tell it. Lights is an enchanting musician and the music works very well with the story. That said, even if you don't connect with the ethereal music the graphic novel is well worth your time.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

Alas... I had to abandon this one because due to the size of the provided ARC it was just too blurry to read the text properly (and I am not going to give myself a headache trying). Really sorry, because I was looking forward to this one.

I got an ARC of this book.

I saw Lights perform when I was first starting college. I was front row, right by the speaker. She was the opening act and I ended up going out and buying her CD. I got a wild urge to listen to her again a few months back and discovered her Skin & Earth album. I was in love, then I learned it was also a graphic novel. Normally I don't go for graphic novel or other media tie ins like this. Art Pop ruined that idea entirely for me. 

This however worked and it worked SO WELL. Every song is a chapter in the book. There is even a chapter for the interlude. It was amazingly paced. I read slightly faster than the songs, so I would have to wait to continue reading or I would have to skip to the next song, but it still worked. Multiple times I read the line the character said that was a lyric in the song, gave me chills every time. 

The art isn't perfect, the plot isn't either. Yet it feels like some of the open ended plot points are intentional. There is a great deal of world building that doesn't bog down the story. If there is a sequel (PLEASE BE A SEQUEL), then it would hopefully explain some more of the world. There is clearly a caste system in place, just like so many other dystopian novels. This one was introduced with En coming home from school. It isn't made super clear how bad that difference is until much later in the book. It was really interesting watching how things would come out. En didn't know much about the world and the reader learns with her. 

There got to be a bit of supernatural, cult stuff near the end which can be hit or miss with me. The ending felt a bit rushed, so I am really hoping a sequel will be able to address that. It was much to easy for En to get away, there has to be a reason for that since so much of the book seemed so well thought out, this stood out as my main issue with the plot. 

En was obviously flawed and had to confront some of those flaws, though not all of them were confronted yet. En's desire to be loved no matter the source was just starting to be confronted. It was clearly from the loss of her parents, but the ramifications were so large. It was amazing to see a flawed character in a dystopian. It was En's flaws that made the story progress. If she had been more wary of people for example, then she would not  have run into a lot of the trouble she was in. It was wonderful. I want more of En, if that wasn't painfully obvious by now.

There were some queer minor themes. En being cannonly not straight. She dates a male character and then starts something with a female character. The gender wasn't the focus, but more her desire to be loved and her inability to be alone. It was a non-issue in the plot which I crave in any book with a queer character. It is so refreshing when sexuality isn't a huge focus, but is instead allowed to just exist.

In a near-future Earth ecologically devasted, a young redhead goes from college through a nice neighborhood and reveals that she’s part of a lesser caste, to the point where she has to wear a mask so that she doesn’t breathe on this society’s higher-ups. A guard at the checkpoint back to the poor area, who should be more sympathetic considering he’s no highborn, provides further exposition while trying to bully her.
Of course she’s in love with a jerk. There’s a lot of talk and exposition, but nothing much happens. She doesn’t seem particularly smart, considering she tried to take a tattoo off with a knife. Then she meets a mysterious woman in a dream and they go off to get their revenge on the guy.
I did do a little research after reading the intro; turns out this is written by a musician, and the main character is kinda based on her, at least the visuals; the artwork, especially her red hair, is very true to life. The rest of the eye candy is okay, not meant to be realistic.
Favorite line: “I’m never drinking again!. . . boobs look nice, though.”
Other worthy utterings:
“It’s like some fucked-up Renaissance painting.”
“Show him what it’s like to fuck with a goddess.”
“Are you saying you’re forever years old? You look good!”
“I don’t know what this is all code for, but if you’ve got pills, I’ll take them.”
“You have a dangerous blend of sadness and curiosity.”
“I have other plans!” (I need a plan.)
Good use of chain metaphor.
Problem: if she’s not wearing the mask, how does anyone know if she’s a pink or a red? And I don’t mean her hair.
More to the point: each chapter has a Qcode for songs that go with the book, but as of my reading of this review copy, they only take you to the same general website of what looks to be the publisher. No worries, I found them on youtube, with a couple having videos. I found the songs, like many nowadays, overproduced; acoustic versions might be better, but there are some good hard-rocking melodies in there. As for the videos, one of them shows her making the artwork, while another has a couple of the panels recreated in real life, like the part when her “ghost” leaves her body.
3.5 pushed up to 4/5

In this graphic novel you get half dystopian and half fantasy.that don't jive together. Hopefully another volume will tie these 2 different genres together.

Great art.

An interesting graphic novel about a young woman who lives in a divided and dying earth.

En encounters lovers and mysteries and strange worlds, and in doing so she discovers that she has the powers to put things right. She is not who she thought she was but she doesnt really know who she is. All she knows is that she somehow has powers.

I thought this was an interesting graphic novel. It started off well but the second half was complicated because En gets to know the truth about who she is. All of a sudden there is a mystery world and other beings and it all became a bit too complicated for me. If you enjoy sci-fi then you might enjoy this book.

It also has music which can be listened too by using the bar codes in the story. It didnt work for me but it seems like a very creative idea. Overall it was an interesting story.

Copy provided via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

First things first, Lights is an amazing singer. I was introduced to her music a few years ago. Her voice is ethereal, as light as the name. When I discovered that Lights had created a graphic novel in the manga-style inspired by her album, I was thrown. How can anyone be bright enough to combine music and novels in such a unique way?! You literally can listen to her album while you read, the album's tracks are laid out in the chapters of the novel. The music inspired the reading, and the reading adds even more depth to the music.

The story is a post-apocalyptic tale of a decrepit city shrouded in disease, a classic tale of have and have-nots. I am so in love with the way the story unfolds with the music that though the story itself is a little basic it blew me away regardless. I hope many more artists combine art in this way to inform a new kind of reader.

the art was really good. the story was interesting enough to make me curious about what happens next.

To be honest, this emerging trend of recommended listening with chapters, is not my cup of tea at all.
The graphic novel wasn't... I'm not sure what it was or wasn't. The story was okay, the artwork very detailed, but overall it lacked *something*, although I can't exactly put my finger on what it lacked.

Doesn't Break New Ground, But Well Done

This is a concept graphic novel joined with Lights' concept album of the same name, and the package is well crafted and interesting.

I can't comment in any useful way on the album except to say that I've sampled all of the tracks and they complement the novel well and, judging from comments and reviews, have been very well received by fans. The novel has a table of contents that ties each track to a chapter in the novel as a listening guide, and I always think that's a clever and sort of funky bonus.

Anyway, as to the novel, it seemed to me that you could read it literally as an apocalyptic fantasy adventure, or metaphorically as a take on a young woman's journey to self discovery and empowerment, (or, here's an idea - both ways).

Enaia Jin lives in a city divided into concentric circles, with the inner circle the most poisoned and despoiled, and other circles leading eventually to a city of grace, beauty and ease. The damage has been caused by a vaguely described but typical rapacious and evil corporation. En is led first by a lover and then by a mystical spirit sort to discover the foundation and history of this ruined world and then to be challenged to do something about it. NO SPOILERS, but En's journey involves betrayal, confusion, double-crosses, misdirection, twists and surprises. The twists are especially clever and imaginative, and for such a familiar overall premise there are still some surprises to be found in this telling.

There are plot holes here and there and some jumps and bumpy parts, but the storytelling struck me as generally clear, fair, and comprehensible. Lights doesn't hide out in artsy-fartsy mumbo jumbo. She is both trying to make some points, (about stress, turmoil, doubt, outsiderness, responsibility, trust), and set out a substantial fantasy adventure that is empowering and inspirational. Fine by me.

The artwork struck me as serviceable. Pencils and inks are clear and colors are a bit muted. While the panels and spreads aren't ever drop dead arresting, that doesn't seem to be the point. The art frames and illustrates the story, which is, after all, its main job.

So, this didn't strike me as a vanity project, which is sometimes what you get with these multi-media concept undertakings. En's journey is interesting and well told, and Lights does a nice job keeping it all together. An interesting find.

(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

Thank you to NetGalley and Diamond Book Distributors for the ARC to read and review!

For my first foray into reviewing a comic or graphic novel, I think this one is a great place to start! I’ve been a fan of Lights for a few years now, and so I was excited to come across Skin&Earth on NetGalley. I downloaded the PDF, and as soon as I started reading… well, I didn’t want to stop!

In fact, I flew through Skin&Earth so intensely that I only stopped when I realized I needed to leave the house in 20 minutes and I was still in my pajamas! Much to my chagrin, I had to stop with only 27 pages left to go, and as soon as I got home I eagerly finished those pages.

I’ll admit that I haven’t listened to Lights as much as I used to in recent years, but she’s always sort of been in the back of my mind, whether it’s because I have close friends who love her, or because she’s just very visible in the fan communities I am a part of. I did see her live, though, in October (2017), when she (and Flint Eastwood, who you should definitely check out if you’ve never listened!) opened for Pvris, the main act I’d gone to see. She was phenomenal, and the song Giants has really stuck with me ever since that show.

Even though I haven’t been a very devoted or hardcore fan or anything, I still think it’s really incredible, what Lights has done here with Skin&Earth. I mean, come on- to not only make an album that’s incredible, but then to also make an entire comic to go along with that album, start to finish, all yourself? Lights even discusses in the introduction to Skin&Earth how she literally taught herself how to do everything in regards to making a comic. She was given advice and sought out assistance when needed, sure, but a lot of hard work and dedication (and YouTube university, as she says!) went into this project. If there was ever a time to use the phrase “passion project” to describe something, it would certainly be now, when describing Skin&Earth.

Really my only gripe with Skin&Earth was that I wasn’t a big fan of the art style. The thing about that, though, is that it wasn’t unbearable, it didn’t detract from the story at all, and I can 100% respect the fact that this was Lights’s first time doing anything like this, and she did a way better job than I could ever even hope to do! So really, my dislike of the art style is a non-issue. Other than that, I enjoyed reading this very very much (as you could probably gather when I mentioned how quickly I flew through it!).

The story in Skin&Earth is interesting and easy to follow- En is a protagonist that you really want to root for, and you’re intrigued to know what’s going to happen to her next, how she’s going to react next. The world built for the readers was bleak and dismal, and really built up a sense of hopelessness, which worked extremely well for the story.

I also very much appreciated a lot of the message behind Skin&Earth. Lights is very open about the fact that these characters, this world, all come from within herself, that they are facets of herself that she has laid onto the page so lovingly and so carefully and then held it up for the world to experience for themselves. That takes a certain kind of openness and bravery that I can do nothing but admire, and hope that one day I might be able to follow suit. The meanings interwoven into the story of Skin&Earth, the symbolism, it is all so rich and so personal that it feels as though you are experiencing that same sort of darkness yourself, and eventually, that same sort of renewed hope. I very much appreciate Lights’s candor with Skin&Earth, and really, just her candor in general.

I would certainly recommend you check out Skin&Earth if you like Lights, or if you just want a really kickass female-led sci-fi/fantasy comic. The hardcover and trade paperback editions are out in July, available for preorder now, and come with bonus content and interactive content as well (think QR codes). You can also find the individual issues on Lights’s website or at a comic store near you.

4 stars

So I've never even heard of Lights but I saw this book on NetGalley and I liked the cover and it sounded interesting so I figured I would give it a shot. Now this is a special edition that has the codes printed on the page so you can listen to the concept album as you read it, but I'll admit that I didn't actually listen to the music because I think it would have distracted me during my first readthrough. I'll probably end up listening to the album at some point because I did really enjoy this, but I rarely like all the tracks on any given album so usually me and concept albums don't get along that well.

For the first few issues this seemed like a fairly standard sci-fi / dystopian story, but once Mitsuki showed up everything got flipped on its head in the best possible way. I really like where the story went and I will definitely check out the next volume when it comes out. I really liked the character designs as well and while the art is a bit rough at times I think there are some really great layouts and panels in this volume so it was still really pretty overall. Also I think it's just really impressive that a musician with no prior comics experience put this together, really great for a first book.

<i>Time only matters in places where it runs out.</i>

This was pretty cool. And Lights is a pretty amazing artist. (That’s her name. Lights. In case you didn’t get that.)

But this is more an experience than a comic.

First of all, the comic was a different and creative take on the dystopian world. The story pulls you along with some great art to match. But it’s pretty amazing when you realize that the writer also drew and inked the book.

Oh, and she also wrote the soundtrack to the book. You’re supposed to be able to scan the QR codes to take you to the song for each chapter. But I was able to find the album on Spotify and listened to it while I read.

All together it makes up a pretty cool experience - as I said at the beginning of this review.

Oh, and then watch the video for the song <i>We Were Here</i> and enjoy the scene from Chapter 7 of the book in live action.

The whole thing is pretty badass and makes you realize Lights is quite the artist.

Check out this comic, the accompanying album, and the video.

<i>Thanks to NetGalley and Diamond Book Distributors for a copy in return for an honest review.</i>

This is a graphic novel for a very specific type of person. I like the gritty art and story, but overall it's a little too strange.

I like the story and illustrations are really good. I like the color scheme. The only problem is writing is blurry. Overall is a good graphic novel. I enjoyed it.