No One's Rose #1 Advanced Review

Writer: Emily Horn & Zac Thompson

Artist: Alberto Jimenez-Alburquerque
Colorist: Raul Angulo
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

 The Apocalypse. It’s an idea that has been prominent in entertainment media for generations. From flesh-eating zombies to frozen wastelands it's a genre that’s been no stranger to the comics medium. No One’s Rose, the newest series from Vault Comics, takes what is commonly an oversaturated concept and adds an extra layer of eco science with a threat that we as readers can directly relate too.
 

Centuries have passed since the vegetation of the Earth was stolen. Those few hundred thousand that remain, now reside in an isolated and controlled dome, with the only green that remains. No One’s Rose first few pages of its debut issue introduce us to a life outside the dome. The desaturated landscape of what’s left of the world is a cruel and eerie reminder, familiar even as if a warning of what can and may come out of our own planet should we not change things. Although I’ve been getting better at it, lettering in comics is something I find myself glancing over very quickly, yet in this series, there’s a fine attention to detail from the issue’s letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. Specifically, in the series’ opening pages there are moments of lettering that beautifully merge with the gutters of its pages creating a seamless transition from panel to panel. Effective if not at times frightening connections from the fantasy world the creative team has so effectively crafted to ours is something No One’s Rose does particularly well.
 

No One’s Rose beautifully transitions from it’s a bleak wasteland to the lively and colorful setting humanity has created for itself which writer Zach Thompson describes as “Solar Punk”. It’s here that we’re introduced to our two very contrasting main characters. There’s Tenn, a bright and hopeful young Eco-Scientist who wants nothing more to revitalize the green and return the world to its former grandeur. Then there’s Seren, Tenn’s brother. Unlike his sister, Seren views the world in a different way and wants nothing more than to dismantle the classist system of the Green Zone. Seren is also unapologetically queer, and is shown in a relationship with another male character. I wouldn’t highlight the fact so prominent if his character didn’t break the mold of the common male masculinity and genderqueer role which is just a nice change of pace when it comes to queer characters in comics.
 

In the debut issue, we begin to see the foundations of Seren and Tenn’s relationship, as well as just the base foundations of the Green Zone. Although we’re merely scratching the surface of the extensive world the creative team has given us, we’re introduced to the idea of a classist social structure in No One’s Rose. Different levels of the dome feel reminiscent of the structured train cars in the similarly post-apocalyptic series, Snow Piercer. It’s an idea from series writers Zac Thompson and Emily Horn that I can’t wait to see more of and is something I hope is extended upon in future issues. The first issue’s cliffhanger in particular and it’s the introduction of these plant hybrid humanoids, in particular, have me eager for the next issue in the series.
 

What’s different about No One’s rose compared to most Dystopian stories is that rather then focus on the doom and gloom, the series creative team instead turns its focus toward the optimistic change it’s characters were forced to make and the change they make towards the future. Alberto Jimenez-Alburquerque’s harsh and yet stylistic linework paired with Raul Angulo vibrant colors feels like a metaphor for the series as a whole. No One’s Rose is a refreshing take on an otherwise oversaturated and stale genre taking it to another level even and flips everything we know about it on its head.
 

No One’s Rose #1 is available both digitally and in your local comic shop on March 25th!