Shifting Earth – Cecil Castellucci, Flavia Biondi, Fabiana Mascolo, Steve Wands
Twenty years in the future of our Earth, the population lives with the effects of climate change in ways more extreme than most of us can imagine. One botanist fights for the planet against increasingly small odds, before she is transported to a parallel Earth, different from ours in unimaginable ways, but eerily similar in others. Shifting Earth is a new graphic novel from Cecil Castellucci (Batgirl, Shade The Changing Girl) and rising star in comics Falvia Biondi (Ruby Falls, Generations).
Climate Change
At present, there are unprecedented forest fires across the world. Flash flooding. Heatwaves. Crop failures. Drought in many parts of the United Kingdom. But this is merely the start… Shifting Earth takes us into the near future, when many varieties of plant have died out, and Earth is on the brink of collapse. Scientist Dr Maeve Lindholm is doing her best to fight back, via her specialisation of botany, but as she tells one former colleague:
Science takes us one step forward and stupidity takes us ten steps back
Despite this, Castellucci manages to retain a sense of hope throughout Maeve’s story, even as she is transplanted into a parallel Earth, unlike ours; in that they have avoided the trap of fossil fuels, utilising the power of the seas, trading resources and farming their crops sustainably. Each Earth has it’s similarities though, with faces from her past reappearing, and relationships long lost on her own planet rekindled on this other Earth.
Castellucci’s writing is aided and abetted by the lettering of Steve Wands, who is given a lot to do here with not only the spoken word, but diary entries, letters, and the innermost thoughts of the main characters. These various elements expertly weave together to create a broad and all-encompassing story, that leaves plenty to think about with regards to how we treat our one and only planet.
Climate Catastrophe
There is a dark side to both planets in Shifting Earth though, and for all the good things she finds there Maeve still wishes to return home. While I don’t blame her, the view of our Earth created by Biondi is not a positive one. Her art throughout the book brings both planets vibrantly to life, even as ours is clearly dying. I especially enjoy her backgrounds, with little sprinkles of ‘real life’ throughout, from the government signage adorning buildings, to plants and birds of each planet.
Even with a range of characters – some of whom appear on both iterations of Earth – Biondi still manages to make each of them unique and easily identified people, and her fashions for the future reflect the different approaches to life on Earth taken by each population group. Her faces and expressive and enigmatic, and she makes great use of body language throughout the entire book.
The colours provided by Fabiana Mascolo (Alice Ever After, Cyberpunk 2077: Blackout) help to clearly delineate which Earth we are on, with the subtle browns and washed out tones of our own broken planet providing a stark but beautiful contrast to the lush greens of the parallel planet.
Climate Challenge
If there is one thing that this book provides, for all of its catastrophic predictions for the near future, it is hope. Hope that enough people will recognise the climate emergency before we make it to the world Maeve lives in. Hope that the smart will outweigh the stupidity. Hope that, even in the face of insurmountable odds, we can retain hope for the future. Read it, and be hopeful.
Follow the creative team on Twitter for more comics goodness:
Cecil Castellucci – Writer
Flavia Biondi – Artist
Fabiana Mascolo – Colourist
Steve Wands – Letterer
Karen Berger – Editor
Dark Horse Comics – Publisher
