Lost On Planet Earth Review – A+ Art, Lost Plot
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Set in 2381, the comic series “Lost On Planet Earth” by Magdalene Visaggio, Claudia Aguirre is so far in the future that, if it weren’t for all the aliens and intergalactic space stuff, you’d think it’s set in the 1920s. Because the morality and attitudes in the story are pretty old-school and regressive, despite the story not being dystopian in nature. At one point, the protagonist’s mother says, “it’s not like anybody needs a job in this day and age,” meaning the world has progressed far enough for people to just do their thing and not worry about working hard to feed themselves. There seems to be no hunger, or poverty on the planet. But despite that, everybody is lining up to join the ‘fleet force,’ marry, have kids, settle down, and then retire into the sunset. Because the fleet pays well.
Divided into five chapters, “Lost on Planet Earth” follows Basil Miranda, an exceptionally brilliant student who works round the clock on her grades and hopes to become the youngest captain in the fleet. However, on the day of her fleet exam, she panics and runs out before finishing the test, deciding to throw her lifelong dreams away, realizing they weren’t really her own. Basil then befriends an alien and goes on a journey to discover what she really wants, learning some life lessons the hard way.
I really liked the bright, sparkly artwork in this comic series, however, after the first three chapters, it became exceedingly difficult to keep my interest up in the story. Even a nice cup of coffee couldn’t stop me from feeling disinterested and sleepy while reading the glossy, prettily drawn pages of “Lost on Planet Earth”. The plot just didn’t work for me, the themes and settings were inconsistent and all over the place. For example, despite being set in a seemingly progressive future, queer relationships are looked down upon, male superiors are prone to harassing their female juniors, and people are expected to be married if they want to rise in military rankings. But at the same time, alien and human relationships aren’t frowned upon. What is even happening?
It’s not like I have anything against science-fiction and intergalactic tales, I really enjoyed reading “Mariko Between Worlds” by Matthew Erman and Liana Kangas, an outlandish romance between a human girl and a blue alien. However, “Lost On Planet Earth” is a bland confusing mess, fortunately, it’s got great artwork.
Rating: 2 on 5. “Lost on Planet Earth” is also on Kindle Unlimited.
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